Page 57

MARA

A whistle blew, and then I was on the floor, pushing up from the ground and then dropping back in controlled motions. Push-ups had to be my least favorite exercise, but there was nothing that could dampen my mood after the night I had.

Rincon and Jada were acting as our drill sergeants, and they paced as they watched the four of us break a sweat in the cold air outside of the estate. Storm clouds were rolling in, and Wes mentioned rain was on the way.

Thirty.

Thirty-one.

Thirty-two.

I stole a glance to my right, catching sight of Wes as he muscled through his set.

He must have felt my eyes on him because only a moment later, he was looking at me.

His eyes smoldered like molten amber and gold, and the deviant smirk that played across his lips told me he was replaying images from last night.

I turned away, smiling like an idiot with flushed cheeks. What number was I on again?

Forty-two .

Forty-three.

Forty-four.

Last night had been…I couldn’t even begin to describe it. But for once, I felt completely unashamed of the scars on my back. For once, I felt beautiful in every single way, with absolutely nothing to hide. And the way Wes loved me… The way he cherished every part of me…it was incredible.

Forty-nine.

Fifty.

I slowly brought myself to the ground, and then got to my feet. Matias grunted as he rose on my left, and Javier was on the other side of him.

Giza had been keeping his distance, but as everyone got to their feet, he stepped forward.

His formal uniform always gave him a regal appearance, but his graying goatee and hair made him look like a kick-ass grandpa.

I was always holding back a desire to hug him, but I let myself play with the idea that, one day, when this was all over, I was totally going to.

“Good morning, soldiers.” His eyes roved over us. “We have three weeks to prepare you for Operation Troy. In that time, you’ll be following a strict training schedule, and all four of you will be assigned special instructors to help you prepare for your specific role in this operation.”

Giza slowly walked the line, scrutinizing each one of us.

“Mr. de la Puente and Alvarez, your primary responsibilities are to set up the explosives in the transmission tower. Each one of you will be trained to work with the bombs, including how to disarm them and how to troubleshoot potential issues.”

He walked over to Jada and placed a hand on her shoulder. “Sergeant Williams is a bomb tech for the Libertarians. She’ll be training you on the explosives you’ll be using. Pay attention and take advantage of her expertise. You have little time to learn a wealth of knowledge. ”

He turned his attention toward me. “Miss de la Puente and Mr. Calvernon, your assignment is to deliver the package. Sergeant Jeremiah Jackson has worked tirelessly to create our Trojan horse. He’s going to teach you how to upload it into the computer terminal at the site, and how to work through any potential pitfalls.

Mara, you know the Telvian system better than anyone here,” his eyes shifted to Wes, “but you do not. Should something happen to Miss de la Puente, you need to understand the system enough to complete the mission.”

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Wes lift his chin at the mention of something happening to me. That was the sole reason why he was going—to make sure I came back alive.

“Do you all understand?”

Everyone nodded, mumbling agreement.

“Good.” He placed his hands behind his back. “Your training schedules have been uploaded to your mini-tabs. Good luck.”

***

I had forgotten how much I hated mission training.

Edith called it hell games once before, and that had to be the most accurate description for the experience.

Every day consisted of running, squats, push-ups, lifting weights, marksmanship, and sparring.

And when we weren’t training, we were recovering.

Just like before, we guzzled special recovery shakes that worked to repair our muscles and combat the lactic acid build-up.

At night, I practically passed out next to Wes, fighting to keep my eyes open but failing to do so.

And god freaking bless him, because he never pushed me.

In fact, he encouraged me to sleep even though I knew he wanted more from me.

Heck, I wanted more, but my body was always too exhausted with muscles that ached for rest .

“Sleep, love. We start early again tomorrow.” He would wrap his arm around me, pulling me into him. I rested my cheek on his chest, listening to the strong, muted thud of his heart.

“I love you,” I always said.

“I know,” he always responded. “But I loved you first.”

Then sleep would carry us both away.

My mom helped with training, too. I was getting to spend a lot of time with her, which felt good. She was an exceptional marksman, and she gave me several tips on how to improve my accuracy and aim. Matias always told me I was a natural, and now I knew why.

Jeremiah was the tech expert who created our virus.

So Wes and I spent several hours with him the week before the mission to understand the Trojan horse we would be uploading into the computer terminal.

It was simple enough. Nothing I didn’t already understand or know, but Wes struggled a little more. Computers were not his thing.

Liddy and Edith both worked with me on blades.

Edith was amazing at close-range combat with a knife or a sword—or anything sharp, for that matter—while Liddy was wicked at throwing them with lethal accuracy.

They both helped me understand the differences between the different kinds of knives and encouraged me to develop a love of them too.

“But I have a gun and a stunner,” I argued.

“Except guns run out of ammo,” Edith pushed back.

“And stunners run out of charges,” Lin added. “But a blade will never fail you. It’s the best, last resort weapon to have, and you need to know your way around one.”

That was the end of the argument. My ability to use them in close combat was rudimentary for sure, and my aim was atrocious when it came to throwing them.

After nearly three weeks of working with the sisters, I could understand why they both preferred the elegance of a dagger or the sharpened edge of a knife, though.

But there was no way I was ever going to master the art of swordsmanship like they had. A gun was still my weapon of choice.

Sparring was interesting because I was paired up with Matias, while Javier and Wes were always paired on a mat next to us.

I had a funny feeling the matching was very calculated, since Jada and Rin appeared to gain great delight in watching Javier and Wes circle each other like two male lions preparing to fight for control of the pride.

They were roughly equally matched. Wes was maybe an inch taller, but Javier was slightly faster.

I couldn’t blame Rincon or Jada, though, nor could I blame anyone else in the gym that stopped to watch them circling each other on the mat.

In so many ways, they reminded me of a yin-yang, dark and light.

Javier was black hair, onyx eyes, and olive skin.

Wes, on the other hand, was blond, golden-green hazel eyes, and fairer with skin kissed by the sun. But the differences didn’t end there.

From what I remembered of my cousin, he was absolutely a lover and a flirt.

Always making charming, suave comments to the girls at the Academy.

Wes was not. He could be sweet, and tender, and so incredibly loving, but everything was hidden behind his wall of stone.

And Wes was fierce in how he loved—profoundly deep and incredibly intense.

But that wasn’t Javi. He wore his emotions on his sleeves, unafraid of people knowing what he felt or why.

Liddy said he was passionate, too, but different—open and endearing.

I was doing an okay job of paying attention to Matias, but when Wes pulled off his shirt, I gawked like a schoolgirl.

Javier had lost his shirt first, of course, just like he’d done when he sparred with me and kicked my ass.

That drew a crowd—mostly women. And then when Wes responded in kind?

Forget it. Nobody was doing their workouts anymore and were way too focused on what was about to go down on the mat .

I was equally guilty, and before I knew what was happening, my legs were swiped out from under me, and I was on my back, pinned by Matias as he straddled me.

“Are you going to be so easily distracted by a pair of pecs on the mission, Mara?” he teased. “Or are you going to keep your head in the game?”

“No,” I shot back, but my cheeks colored.

He chuckled, still holding me down with his weight. “Are you sure? You don’t sound too convinced.” His shaggy dark brown hair fell on either side of his face, while his familiar brown eyes carried a smile all their own.

I tried to play off my embarrassment. “Aren’t you curious to see who’s going to win over there?”

“Nope,” he said as he rolled off and offered me a hand. “I’m curious to see if you learned anything new when you were in prison.”

Up on my feet, I tugged the wrinkles out of my shirt, tossing a quick glance at the other mat. “You have no idea,” I said as I dragged my attention back to him.

Matias shifted his weight and then crouched, letting me know that he was ready to begin. I mirrored him, trying to keep my focus. If guns, stunners, and blades failed, being able to manage hand-to-hand combat was essential.

“So,” I started, scanning his body for any sign of movement. “How are things between you and Chelsea?”

He gave me a crooked grin. “You’re trying to distract me. It’s not gonna work.”

He lunged forward, sweeping out a leg in a wide arc.

I jumped to avoid it, almost getting taken out.

Right as my feet touched solid ground, I swung my leg forward and delivered a side kick straight into his abs.

He grunted, taking a step back, but I pursued him, stepping forward into my punch.

Matias was fast, swiping his forearm in an upper block.

An ache ran through my arm from the impact, and I stepped back just as Matias went to deliver his own side kick.

I went to block it, but just missed. His foot hit me square in the chest, and I fell to the floor.

But before he could pin me again, I rolled, coming onto my feet as he started to deliver another blow with his foot.

Catching it, I twisted it fast with a grunt, throwing him off balance and sending him careening to the floor.

He let out a kiai to prevent the air from being knocked out of him, but that didn’t stop me from passing his guard—getting past his knees—and pinning down his upper body and arms, rendering him defenseless.

Matias squirmed underneath me, trying to use his strength to overpower me, but in this position, it was hard for him to do anything but lie there.

He finally stopped moving and sighed. “I tap. You got me.”

I smiled. “Good. Now let me ask again…how are you and Chelsea?” His eyes found mine, and that boyish smile of his reminded me of so many stolen moments in our past.

He chuckled. “Are you going to let me up?”

“Nope. Not until you tell me how things are going.”

He looked up at the ceiling with another sigh that sounded more like a laugh.

“What’s there to say?” He shifted his eyes back to mine.

“Chelsea and I…it’s always been us. We lost everything together, and we’ve been living this life alone, only ever having each other.

And when I thought I had lost her? When I thought she was never going to be herself again…

?” He closed his eyes, swallowing hard. “I realized how much I missed her.”

My body slackened as I listened. I knew Chelsea and Matias had history together—a very long history. But it wasn’t something he or I ever talked about. Hearing it from him now…it was achingly beautiful.

“Don’t hate me, Mara, but I’m glad you didn’t pick me that night at the gala. I care a lot about you, and I always will, but…”

I smiled. “But you love her. ”

His eyes widened for a fraction of a second and then softened as he finally nodded. “Yeah, I do. I think I always have.” He paused for a heartbeat. “Do you hate me?”

I shook my head. How could I possibly hate him?

I had my own tangled up love story, and I wasn’t going to throw shade at him for being confused with his own.

“No. I’m glad. I want you to be happy, Matias.

You deserve that. You both deserve that.

” I lowered my face to his, bringing my lips to his ear.

“Now don’t let her get away this time. You have a bad habit of that. ”

He laughed. “Duly noted.” Another second. “Are you going to let me up now?”

“Meh…as long as you’re on your back, you can’t attack me. And that means I get to watch the other mat.”

He groaned. I laughed.