Guess I could be brought down after all.
“How-”
“Always be aware of your surroundings.” Ty said holding his hand out to me, taking it I let him pull me up. “We tell you this all the time,” he huffed.
“But he came from behind me” I groaned.
“An attacker isn’t going to wait for you to turn to face them Kay,” Luke said shaking his head.
“Once you’re aware of your surroundings you’ll be able to feel them coming. You need to spin and incapacitate them.”
Feel them coming?
I nodded, trying to take in all of the information. But it felt like I was back at school trying to learn math.
“A hit to the solar plexus will give you the upper hand or time to get away.”
“Where’s the solar plexus?” I frowned.
“Here,” Ty pointed to the top of his ribs, in the middle.
“Okay.” I nodded.
“You could target their nose with an upwards palm strike.” He did the action on Luke, not actually touching his nose but showing me how to do it.
“What will that do?” I asked.
“You’ll break their nose”
I grimaced, I didn’t like the thought of breaking someone’s nose.
“Won’t that make them bleed?” I squeaked.
“Probably” he shrugged “Your aim is to be able to get away”
“So I’m just trying to hurt them to give me time to run?”
“Yep” he nodded “You’re still in training Kay”
“I know-”
“I want you to be able to get away if you’re coming on jobs. The rest will come with time”
“Okay” I nodded, but couldn’t see a situation where I’d have to do this. I was always with one of the guys anyway.
“Also remember that anything you have on you can be used as a weapon” Luke said as he stepped forward.
“Like the baton and pepper spray?” I asked.
I still hadn’t been shown how to use those properly, maybe I’d be shown now.
“No,” Ty shook his head. “Imagine that you don’t have your belt on.”
He rummaged through his pockets and pulled out a comb. I frowned, what was he going to do with that?
“If you hold it like this,” he held it with his hand around the top of the comb, the teeth pointing out. “Press it as hard as you can above their upper lip.”
“Does that even hurt?” I snickered.
“Hell yeah it does,” Evan said from the side of the mats.
“Really?” I asked skeptical.
“Try pressing it on yours, you’ll see” I plucked the comb from Ty’s hand pressing it onto my upper lip.
“Ow! That hurts.” I frowned at the comb and looked to Luke.
I’d get him back for attacking me from behind.
“Don’t even think about it,” he warned. My lips lifted into a sneaky smile.
I raised my brows and took a step forward “Kay. No.” he warned as he stepped back.
I laughed and made a grab for him. Obviously he was a lot quicker than me but that didn’t mean I didn’t try to catch him.
After what felt like hours, but was most probably minutes I bent over gasping for breath. Running wasn’t my thing, in fact no sort of exercise was.
I was so unfit. He didn’t even look like he had ran at all.
“And that right there means you need to start exercising.”
“Exercising? I gasped
“Yep” Ty nodded as he moved toward the gym equipment. “Get on” he nodded to the treadmill.
“I’m not getting on that thing,” I shook my head.
“You can either do the treadmill or we can go running in the woods and up to clearing”
I growled under my breath. This was so unfair.
“Fine” I stomped over to him and stood on the belt.
“We’ll go slow at first, just be careful of your leg” he pressed the on button, the belt starting to move.
It wasn’t so bad, I could probably keep up with this pace.
“I’m gonna put you on level 3.”
“What level is this? This feels good”
He chuckled “this isn’t a level, it’s just starting up.”
“Ugh.” I rolled my eyes trying to keep up with the belt as it whirled faster.
“What level do you do?” I panted
“The highest one,” he smirked “Fifteen.”
I managed five minutes on that machine. Five. Minutes.
It was a death trap. I was never going on it again. Hobbling off it I bent over panting whilst I tried to catch my breath.
“That’s a good starting point, each day you need to up it by thirty seconds.” Ty said as he walked back to the house with me, sweat dripping down my face.
“I’m not getting on that thing again.”
“You-”
“I’ll run around the compound but not on that killing machine,” I said as we went through the front door. “My legs are burning.”
“You should have a cold bath,” Ty said as I stumbled up the stairs “it helps.”
“Yeah, okay whatever.” I spluttered.
Cold bath.
There was no way I would be doing that.
What was today? Torture Kaylee day?
Chapter Twenty-One
I rolled out of bed the next morning with a moan hoping that I wouldn’t be put through that again, my body ached in places that I didn’t think it could ache and my leg was feeling a little tender.
I jumped in the shower, plaited my hair to the side and got dressed in my black jeans and t-shirt. Ty had given me a pair of combat boots “better for the job” he had said, so I pushed my feet inside them and took a few steps to test them out. They were comfortable and in better condition than my poor chucks.
After getting dressed I went and woke Eli up, gave him his breakfast and got him ready for preschool. Luke and Kitty were waiting for him outside the house by the car belting him in I gave him a kiss and watched as they drove through the gates.
Ty met me on the porch and we walked over to the warehouse together, having to jog to keep up with his long strides. My heart beat a little faster at the grin he flashed me when he saw me trying to keep up.
“How you feeling this morning?” he pulled open the warehouse door and waved me inside.
“Sore” I moaned as I walked toward the office.
“You should have had that cold bath like I told you” He snickered.
“Hey!” I spun and pointed “Don’t laugh at me” crossing my arms I looked away.
“Sweetheart,” he whispered taking a step closer.
“It’s not nice.” I whispered back.
“I wasn’t laughing at you.”
My eyes moved back to his, as they begged me to believe him. They pulled me in until I couldn’t breathe, the depths promising me things that I could only dream of.
He moved closer until we were almost touching. So close but so far away, if I moved a fraction I would be touching him. I watched his chest rise and fall with a quick breathe, I knew that this was affecting him as much as it was me.
“Ty,” I whispered.
His eyes flicked to my lips, my tongue coming out to wet my own on impulse. My eyes flitted up to his, I could almost feel the way his scruff would scratch against my face the way his hands would feel on my skin.
If his lips touched mine I knew that I wouldn’t be able to move on from him.
There would be no going back.
His hand moved to the small of my back pulling me closer, my hands landed on his firm chest. I lifted onto my toes and met his lips halfway.
They were gentle at first, testing, teasing.
His other hand clutched the back of my neck, while mine wandered in places that I never thought I’d be able to. Screw going back.
I swiped my tongue along the seam of his lips, begging for entrance. His answering groan sent sparks flying through me, my belly dipped as he opened
up his mouth and swept his tongue along mine.
He swallowed my moan, his hand moving down to my butt and squeezing. I was sure to have a bruise, but this was the kind that I didn’t mind having.
I could feel his hardness press against my stomach as he backed me up against the wall. We were a frenzied mix of arms, lips and tongues until I heard voices, I tried to push him back but he was a wall of muscle.
“Ty,” I pulled my face away, he followed dipping his lips down to mine again.
“Wait.” I held up my hand.
He tilted his head, just now hearing the voices.
“Office-” he said with a voice that was deeper than usual as he stole another kiss.
“Ty…” If I went into that office then I didn’t know if I’d be able to walk out the same person. I needed to keep my guard up, the last time I let my guard down it had disastrous effects.
I couldn’t go through that again.
He must have sensed my hesitation because he said “I’ll be out in a minute,” and stepped back, his eyes tracking me all the way down to my toes and back up then he turned and jogged to the office.
I didn’t have time to think about what we had just done because the door opened and the guys came into the warehouse.
Had we really been doing that for so long?
I joined them at the table as we all waited for Ty. When he came out a few minutes later his lips looked swollen, but that was the only thing that would indicate that we had done anything. He didn’t look at me any differently. He’d just tipped my world upside down, I was freaking out while he sat there cool as a cucumber.
“I’m gonna follow him today.” Ty said at the end of the meeting.
I couldn’t help but breathe a sigh of relief at having him out of the office for the day.
Until he said “Kay’s with me today,” and my respite disappeared.
I opened and closed my mouth several times before it registered that they had all moved from the table. I scrambled to the office shutting the door behind me.
“Ty.” I leaned against the door.
“Hmm?” He clipped his radio to his belt and hung the ear piece over his shoulder.
“I…I…can’t……”
“You can’t what?” he held out a radio to me but I just stared at it.
There was no way I was going out of those gates.
I wasn’t ready.
What if Max was there, just waiting for me to come outside of the gates? He was unpredictable when he was angry, and this time he’d had time to think about what he was going to do to me. There was no telling to what he had planned for me now.
For the first time I genuinely feared for my own safety.
“I’ve got stuff to-”
“Is this because of what just happened?”
“What? N-”
“If it’s all too soon then-”
“Ty, it’ not that,” I said twisting my fingers.
“What is it then?”
“The gates.” I croaked.
He widened his stance crossing his arms, arms that had been around me not long ago. I stared at the way his muscles tensed, at the veins that popped and the tattoos that always mesmerized me. When my eyes made it back up to his I saw the realization cross his face.
“You haven’t been outside those gates since-”
“I’m not ready,” I whispered.
He raised his brows. “You need to do it now, or you never will,” I shook my head.
I just need time. Just a little more time.
“Eli.” One word, that was all it took for me to take a deep breath and push up off the door “He wants you to take him to preschool, Kay.”
“I know.” I nodded and chewed on my bottom lip.
Could I do this?
“I’ll be there with you sweetheart,” his voice softened.
I never doubted that he would be there, but that didn’t stop the images that flew through my head.
Shaking my head I held my hand out for the radio and clipped it onto my belt.
The belt that I had reached for when Max-
“Good girl.”
I scrunched my eyes shut and choked out “Don’t… call me that.”
“Kay?”
I couldn’t look at him. If I did and it wasn’t his face staring back at me then I wouldn’t be able to look at him the same again.
“Sweetheart?”
I shook my head and turned to the door “Just don’t ever call me that again, please”
“I-”
“Let’s go.” I said pulling the door open and pushing the ear piece into my ear.
If I focused on something else then I wouldn’t freak out.
Who the hell was I kidding?
I was totally freaking out.
*~*~*
Turns out it wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be. Nothing bad happened when the gates opened, Max didn’t jump out at me. Nobody followed us or tried to run us off the road.
The sun shined through the windshield, the trees looking extra green today relaxing back into my seat I closed my eyes and took a calming breath.
We spent most of the day following Hugo Daley around.
His expensive suit was the kind that you had to have made especially for you and certainly wasn’t off the rack. He screamed money, his clothes, his car and even the way he carried himself.
His white blond hair was slicked back with his sunglasses covering most of his face. I snickered at his bright blue loafers, they were ridiculous and if that was fashion then I was glad I had no fashion sense whatsoever.
After hours of following him around the city, his driver finally dropped him off at the country club. Buttoning up his suit jacket he scanned the parking lot before ducking into the back entrance.
“The cameras can take it from here,” Ty said as he turned the car around.
“Cameras?”
“Yeah, Kitty installed them. Although we might have to go into the country club at some stage.”
“Into the country club?”
Ty turned and flashed me a smile.
“What?”
“You just gonna keep repeating what I say?”
“I am.” I frowned.
He chuckled and pushed a button on his radio “Evan, pick up the country club cameras.”
I sat back and watched Ty’s hands drumming on the steering wheel to the beat of the song that played on the radio.
He was a sexy driver.
Was there such a thing as a sexy driver? If there was then he was definitely one of them.
“Want to go and pick Eli up?”
I startled. Had he saw me watching him?
“Huh?”
“Want to go and pick Eli up?”
My heart hammered in my chest. I’d been fine staying in the car, but the thought of having to get out had me hyper ventilating.
“Hey,” his hand covered mine reassuring me with a gentle squeeze. “You’ll be fine.”
I nodded. There was nothing else I could do. I had to get back to normal, for Eli’s sake as well as my own.
I kept my eyes glued to Ty’s hand the whole way there, the rough pad of his thumb scratching against the top of my hand as he rubbed it back and forth. I closed my eyes and relished in the sensation.
Before I knew it Ty was parking in front of the preschool and it was time for me to pull up my big girl panties and get out of the car.
“It’s okay sweetheart, I’m here.” I took three deep breaths, gripped the door handle and pushed it open. Ty was out of the car and coming round to my side before I even put my feet on the floor.
“Hey,” I smiled.
“Hey,” he grinned back and held his hand out. I took it and let him lead me inside while searching the parking lot for any signs of Max. All that I could see were relatively normal people going about their days, pushing carts to their cars and ducking in and out of the shops.
Eli did a double take when he came through the security door and saw us standin
g there.
“Mama! You came!” he ran at me full force, I bent slightly at the knees and braced myself for his weight.
“Umph.” Wrapping my arms around him I picked him up as best as I could. His legs wrapped around me as he squeezed me with all his might.
“Hey sweetie” I croaked. My eyes burned with unshed tears, I didn’t want him to see me cry so I buried my face in his neck and breathed him in.
Ty winked when I looked up at him and tilted his head at the door to signal that it was time to go.
“So what did you do today?” I asked putting him down and held my hand out for him.
“Painted,” he shrugged and gave Ty a high five as we walked through the door.
“Hey lil bud,” he clicked the fob to open the car.
“So” Ty said when we were all in the car and on the way back to the compound.
“So?” I turned to him.
“Wasn’t so bad, huh?”
“Yeah,” I leaned my back against the headrest. “I guess it wasn’t”.
“So maybe you could phone Miss Maggie now?”
I blinked. After the day I had, I forgot that I was meant to invite Miss Maggie round for a dinner.
“I suppose,” I nodded and sat up “When shall I say for?”
“Friday?” Ty shrugged.
“Okay,” I nodded “I’ll do it when we get back to the office.” I said twisting my hands in my lap.
“Mama?”
“Yes sweetie?” I turned in my seat and looked at Eli glad that he could distract me from my wondering thoughts.
“Miss Maggie coming here?” he frowned.
“Hopefully” I nodded.
Pursing his lips he turned his head and looked out of the window.
“What’s the matter sweetie?” I shifted closer to him.
“How will she get here?”
“Well…err…” I flicked my eyes to Ty who had just pulled up at the gates.
“I’ll pick her up.” Ty said.
“Can I come with you?”
“Err…” his wide eyes shot to mine in panic.
“Who will help me cook if you go with Ty?” I smiled at Eli, it took all my strength not to shout no.
“Oh,” Eli nodded “Okay, I’ll help you mama.”
“Great,” I clapped my hands together turning back around in my seat.
“But what about Henry?”
“What about him sweetie?”
Fractured Lies: Book 1 MAC Security Series Page 18