Page 251 of When We Fall: Part One

SEVENTY-NINE

ROSALIE

“Argh!” I let out a shriek and dodged Alessio’s fist as he came at me. He was relentless when he fought. I’d been stuck here for three whole days. Matteo said I needed this.

What I needed was to call my guys and tell them I was OK. They had to be going nuts with worry. I was barely able to sleep because I knew they were probably tearing the world apart looking for me.

Matteo said once he was satisfied, he’d let me go home.

Until then, I was forced to learn to fight because he said it was disgusting that I didn’t know how. A woman in my position should know how to save herself.

When Klaus had put the gun to my head, I thought it was game over. That I was dead, and they’d send my body back to Enzo and the guys as a way to hurt them. That Matteo was a liar and a killer. That he couldn’t be trusted.

When Alessio placed his hand over my mouth and Klaus reholstered his weapon, I realized I’d just failed a huge test. The look in Matteo’s eyes suggested he was severely disappointed in me.

Since that moment, they’d been giving me a crash course in self-defense. Klaus demonstrated a few moves while Alessio carried them out.

Alessio knocked me to the ground for the fifth time in an hour and leveled himself over me. I let out a cry as he forced my legs apart. I fought against him as he grabbed my wrists and pinned them over my head.

I was hysterical. He’d never done this to me in all the time he’d been working with me.

“Sweet rose,” he whispered as I went into panic mode. “Fight me. Do not cry. You have to fight. What did I teach you?”

“I-I don’t know. I don’t…” I sucked in breath after breath.

He slammed my hands down hard. “Rosalie.”

I looked at him, desperate to control myself.

“Will your tears save you?” he asked softly, still leveled over me. “Have they ever saved you?”

“N-No.”

“What will save you?” His dark eyes searched me.

I forced myself to breathe. To think. To get myself under control.

“Fighting,” I whispered.

“Then fight me,” he answered back.

I struggled beneath him to no avail.

“You know what to do,” he grunted. “So do it. Arm position. Leg position.”

I couldn’t get past the panic at having him on top of me. There was no way.

“Let her up,” Matteo’s voice broke in.

Alessio immediately released me and helped me to sit up. I stared at Matteo as he strode toward me in the gym, his shirt off. The man was ripped and tatted. I quickly averted my eyes and stared at my hands.

“Get up,” he instructed as Alessio moved to the edge of the mat to stand next to Klaus, who was eating a bag of popcorn as if he didn’t have a care in the world. He gave me a thumbs-up. I hadn’t sparred with him yet and definitely didn’t want to. He’d crush me worse than Alessio had.

I swallowed as I got to my feet. Matteo reached out and tilted my chin up so I could stare into his eyes. I was hot, sweaty, and starving. Despite my hair being in a ponytail, it did nothing to cool me down. Even the new workout gear Matteo had given me wasn’t helping. To make matters worse, my body ached from all the training they were putting me through.

“You will spar with me. If you can beat me, I’ll let you call home,” Matteo said. “So do well,bel fiore. Anything goes. Whatever gets you the win. Understand?”

I nodded, my throat tight. I’d never sparred with Matteo before. Terror didn’t even begin to cover how I was feeling as he stepped away from me.