Today is going to be a good day.

All of Romeos' work finished early today, so I'm able to use his car to go to the 'gym.' I just have to hope he doesn't question me on what exercises I do, because all I know are squats and jumping jacks.

I made my way downstairs once I was changed, tossing Romeos' car keys up and down in the air as I did so. I jumped once I reached the bottom of the stairs, shocked to see my mom standing in the kitchen. I smiled at her, "Hey, mom. What are you doing home?"

"I came home during my break to have a conversation with you, Maribelle," a chill running down my spine as she called me by my legal name.

She's mad at me for something.

I nodded nervously, "Okay, what's going on?"

"I had a little conversation with the girl from Boston University that you did your presentation for," she told me, making me pause. "And it sounds like you put zero effort into it."

My mouth hung open as I tried to think of an excuse, "I have stage fright, mom. I got nervous."

She rolled her eyes. She let out a sigh, "You should be more like Romeo."

My heart hurt inside of my chest, the passive aggressiveness in her tone making me want to crawl up into a ball and die. Romeo went to that university, and the day that he graduated was the best day of my parents' lives. They were so proud of him.

They don't have these expectations for Rio because of his history. They've told him they would support him even if he decided not to go to college.

But they still hold the expectation for me.

I just looked down, avoiding her eyes, "Yea. I'll try."

"Glad to hear it," she forced a smile.

I kept my head down as I walked toward the front door, slipping my shoes on quickly before going out to Romeos' car.

To try and cheer me up, I plugged in my phone and started playing my favorite song that always cheers me up. But as the song went on, and I didn't sing along or smile, I shut it off and drove in silence.

Today is going to be a terrible day.

-----------

As I walked through the door, I saw Sin waiting for me in the middle of the room. He smiled at me, "Hey, Elle. How are you on this fine afternoon?"

"Good. Smuggled some drugs earlier, the usual," I replied, looking around as if Nico was actually going to be in the room to train me. But I scanned the entire room, and he wasn't there.

Sin put his hands up, "To each their own, I don't judge."

"Where's Nico?" I asked him. "He didn't give me an explanation on why he wasn't training me today."

"He didn't tell me, either. Cross is an ass," Sin shrugged. "He's one hell of a tattoo artist though. Fighter, too."

Fighter?

Before I could ask for him to elaborate, he got into a fighter's stance. He told me, "Come on, try and attack me. Show me what we're working with."

I looked Sin up and down. He was an inch or two shorter than Nico, and his muscles were slightly smaller, but my strength was still astronomically less than his. If somebody that looked like Sin tried to attack me, I'd be better off screaming my head off and running in the opposite direction.

I tried to run at him, but he grabbed my arm and flipped me onto my back before I could even process what was happening. He smirked down at me, "We've got a lot to work on."

For the next hour, Sin taught me what to do if I get attacked from behind, from the front, and from the side. But every time I would try to attack him, he'd flip me onto my back before I could even think.

My chest was rising and falling quickly as the timer went off. He reached his hand down to help me up, which I took, and he pulled me to my feet.

He smiled at me, "You did good today. I'll be here to train you tomorrow at 4."

So, once again, Nico doesn't want to.

"I'll see you then," I breathed, trying to make it sound like I wasn't out of breath and in need of an asthma inhaler.

I wiped the sweat off of my forehead as I waved goodbye to him, waiting until he was out of the room to start taking the deep breaths that I needed.

I grabbed onto my knees as I breathed heavily. Jesus Christ, I am out of shape.

I grabbed my water bottle out of my bag, chugging the cold water before slinging my bag over my shoulder. I limped my way out of the room, struggling to open the door since my arms felt like noodles.

I finally got it and started limping down the hallway toward the front door, cringing thinking about having to step out into the hot sun.

The sound of a door opening in front of me made me jump a little, but my heart started beating faster seeing that it was Nico. I swallowed my saliva as I removed my eyes from his and continued walking down the hallway as if he weren't there, the same way he had treated me yesterday.

Once he noticed me limping he came over to me to help. He put his arm around my waist to help me walk as he asked, "What happened? You okay?"

"Sins training is a little more intense than yours," I enunciated the word little. "My back hurts."

His dark eyebrows lowered, "Why are you limping if your back is what hurts?"

I paused, and he rolled his eyes before removing his hand from my waist, realizing I didn't need help walking. I shrugged, "I'm not active! All I know is that my body is sore."

As I looked at him, my heart hurt a little seeing that he was here at this time, but he just didn't want to train me. I bit my bottom lip while I looked away, one small thing from crying.

I started to take a step to leave as I said, "I'll see you around, Nico."

After two steps towards the front door, his hand grabbing my wrist stopped me and kept me in place. I looked at him, wondering what he could want to stop me for. To be rude? To make fun of me?

"Come into my office," he gestured toward the door he had entered through. "I have something that'll help with the pain."

"You have an office?" I asked, making him nod his head in response.

He turned around, entering the doorway. I stood there for a moment before finally entering, looking around while I shut the door behind me. It was the same colors as the training room, but the lamps lit it up with a warmer tone.

As he pulled something out of his drawer, he told me, "Come here."

For some reason, I did as I was told. I walked over to him, looking at the bottle in his hands. Before I could even ask what it was, he answered my question, "It's a pain relief serum. I use it after a workout if I'm sore."

Yea, me too. Cause I work out all the time.

"Lift your shirt up," he told me, and my brown eyes widened.

He noticed this and rolled his eyes, "Turn around and do it slightly, just so I can access your back."

And nothing more. Because he has a girlfriend, and I don't like him.

"I don't know...I don't think your girlfriend would like that," I spoke hesitantly, not wanting to upset her even though I don't know her.

"I don't have a girlfriend."

My eyebrows lowered. Then who was he buying flowers for?

"You gonna turn around now?" he asked, and I let out a small sigh.

I turned around and pulled my hair to be in front of me since it covered my entire back if it was behind me. I lifted my shirt up slightly, only showing my back and my stomach. A warm feeling formed in my chest as I felt his hands gently rubbing the liquid into my back, but he did it delicately as if my skin were made of glass. While he did this, I gathered up the courage to ask, "How come you had Sin train me today?"

I felt his hands' pause for a second before going back to rubbing against my sore muscles. It took him a second, but he finally answered, "Just didn't think I should."

"Why?"

His voice was nearly a whisper as if he were speaking to himself, "I don't know."

I didn't reply, letting his hands rub against my skin. For somebody with dozens of tattoos and rough hands and a deadly stare, he was being pretty gentle.

"Sin is a more fun trainer than you," I shrugged. "He threw me onto the ground as if I were as light as a pillow. It hurt, but it was kind of fun."

"Trust me, Elle," his deep voice spoke. "I could do the same."

With his height and strength, I didn't doubt it. But for some reason, I felt the want to keep the conversation going. I looked at him over my shoulder, "Don't act like you got those muscles by yourself. You probably got some steroids in that little drawer of yours."

"I can bench double your weight," he said after looking my body up and down.

"Well, I could bench you and your mom," I replied.

A slight smile formed on his face. He shrugged, "I could, too. I've seen your mom. Hey, she single by chance?"

A laugh escaped my lips as I told him, "Shut up."

It looked as if he were about to laugh, until the smile slowly left his face and his eyebrows creased in the middle. He removed his hands from my back and forced me to turn around as if it were the easiest thing on planet earth.

"What the fuck is that?" he growled, and I moved my eyes to see what he was looking at.

His thumb brushed the bruising on my ribcage slightly, and his jaw was so tense it could cut diamond. His thumb running up and down against my skin made my breath get caught in my throat for a moment, so my mouth hung open before I could get the words out, "It's nothing."

"Don't fucking lie to me," he removed his hand from my ribcage and put it on my jaw to force me to look at him. As his green eyes stared into mine, I watched as his face softened a little bit. "Do you need help, Elle?"

I shook my head, but he cut me off before I could speak, "Are you in a relationship? Did they do this to you?"

"No," I spoke quickly, watching anger seep into his eyes as he said that. "I'm not in a relationship. I've never been in one, actually, although one time on a cruise I had a one-sided relationship with this one-"

"Elle," he cut off my rambling. "What happened, then?"

The look behind his eyes told me that he wasn't going to let this go, no matter how hard I tried to make him.

"It's kind of embarrassing," my voice was soft and nervous. "So don't laugh at me, okay?"

He nodded. I held my pinky up and said, "I'm serious. Don't laugh at me, okay?"

He wrapped his pinky around mine. I took a deep breath before dropping my hand back to my side. He pulled the chair across from the desk out, gesturing for me to sit on it. I look a seat, and he sat on the desk in front of me, looking down at me. He crossed his arms, holding his elbows in his hands, with his legs parted slightly.

Stop letting his appearance distract you.

"I was walking to the bus station and this guy grabbed me and dragged me off of the sidewalk. He started hitting me before taking my wallet, and then he left me there. He gave me a black eye and bruised my ribs, and that's the reason why I want to take a self-defense class," I confessed, and it felt good to finally tell somebody.

A muscle twitched in his jaw as he looked to the side. I watched his hands clench a little, making the already prominent veins in his hands stick out even further. His hand rubbed up and down his jawline before his green eyes met mine again, "You know this guys' name?"

I shook my head no.

He thought for a moment before asking, "Where was this?"

"The road before the bus station connecting to Boston University," I told him, a little confused on why he was asking.

He didn't elaborate on why he asked, and he just nodded.

He got off of the desk, his boots hitting the floor. He turned around, looking around in his drawer for a moment before pulling something out. He held it up and told me, "This should help."

"Why do you have so much stuff like this?" I asked as he kneeled down in front of me, taking the cap off of what looked like a jelly-textured container.

He scooped his finger in it while telling me, "Cause I have a habit of getting into fights. Now raise your shirt for me."

His words made butterflies form in my stomach, but they also reminded me about what Sin said about him being a good fighter. I lifted my shirt up to show my ribcage, and he gently rubbed it against the bruising. I asked, "Who do you fight?"

"Bad people."

"Like drug smugglers?"

He shook his head as he muttered, "Worse."

"I'm worse. You should see my list of crimes," I told him, watching him remove his hands from my skin once it was rubbed in.

As he stood back up to his full height, he replied, "The only crime you've committed is probably annoying somebody to death."

"Thank you," I smiled sweetly. I was trying to use reverse psychology, thanking him as if he had just given me a compliment. I watched his face to try and see if he was thinking about whether or not he has just complimented me, but his face stayed the same.

He grabbed his car keys and said, "I've got to go now. You need a ride home?"

The fact that he was even offering made my eyes widen. I shook my head, "No, my Porsche is parked outside. Leather seats, and super smooth tires."

"Tires aren't supposed to be smooth," he nearly smiled.

Oh.

I wouldn't know. I just drive my brothers' Kia Soul.

I stood up, walking out of the room while he followed behind me. We both walked outside, but our cars were parked on opposite sides of the parking lot. He pointed to my car, "Nice Porsche."

"Thank you," I replied. Watching him fight back a smile made one form on my face.

I held my hand up, "I'll see you around, Nico."

As I turned around and started walking to my car, I heard him say under my breath, "Yea, you will."

Hopefully.