Mafia's stolen arrows

Scars

Thiago's POV:
I was standing in front of my motorcycle and the moment she turned to look at me, she froze.
Her eyes scanned me and my baby.

"What are you waiting for?" I asked her and hopped on.
She came closer and a soft smile appeared in her face.
She confidently sat behind me and wore her helmet.
I was waiting for her to wrap her hands around my waist in order to hold herself but she didn't do it.

Oh, that's how you're playing the game, fighter huh?

I started driving but she still didn't want to hold me.
I increased the speed.
Still nothing.
I could see her evil smile through the mirror, so I grabbed her leg with one hand and started rubbing her calf in order to tease her.
She seemed to notice my intentions but she didn't react to my touch.
She's so stubborn.
I gave up.
For now.
We won't die because of her stubbornness.

After a while we arrived at my spot.
It's a small basement which I discovered with Hector when we were little kids.
We turned it into a training room just for us and we used to come whenever we wanted to get away from our parents.
Since then, it has been the place where I come whenever I need to let it all out, to clear my head from all that mafia staff.
Hector doesn't come often.
He has friends, he has free time.
And also he doesn't have to carry a whole mafia.
So, it is mostly my spot.
And I don't know why I decided to bring her here.
I just see in her eyes that she really wants to do something else rather than training for the missions and worrying about her mom.
And I kind of feel bad for being such a jerk.
She just wanted to approach me in spite of the fact that I technically kidnapped her and threatened her to join the mafia.
But that's what scared me.
How could she put her ego aside and want to talk to me?
That's why I pushed her away.
That's why I'm pushing all the people away.

We got in.
She looked around and a soft smile appeared on her face.
I turned on the lights and she started walking around.

"So, that's your secret spot huh?" she asked without looking at me.
I didn't respond.
I was just staring at her facing away.
Her leg is still healing from when Russel stabbed her.
Her hair was loose and she was wearing grey sweatpants with a black top.
She's casually dressed without any make up on and yet, she's really beautiful.
I know it's kind of weird of me to say that, but it's true.
She turned her look at me and smiled.

"Are you staring at me, Rodriguez?" she asked with a playful tone.

"Yes I'm thinking about all the ways that I can kill you" I answered with a serious tone.

"I'll kill you first" she said.

"Well, we will see about that" I said and approached her.
We started warming up.
Then I grabbed the boxing gloves and threw them at her.
She wore them and headed to the punching bag.

"Hit" I said and stood behind it in order to hold it still.
She looked at me, took a deep breath and started punching.

"Harder" I yelled after a while.
She continued harder.

"Focus on your feelings, fighter. Hit the fucking bag" I shouted.

I know that she's one of the best fighters and she doesn't need me to tell her what to do but I'm trying to help her decompress. And in fact, I'm better so she needs me.

"That's all you've got Alvarez?" I yelled.
But now she started punching with all of her strength and tears formed in her eyes.

"That's it" I said.

I let her continue for a while.
After some time she stopped.
She was crying but she seemed relieved.
She fell on the floor trying to catch her breath and I sat next to her.
I didn't talk.
We were both staring at the floor.
I turned my look at her.
She wiped her tears.
She's trying so much to not look vulnerable in front of me.
She avoided any eye contact, which reveals the fact that she is not ready to talk.

I noticed some scars on her hands, her back and her torso.
Someone would say it's normal for a fighter in the mafia to have scars. I have too.
But those were more like burning scars.
She noticed that I was trying to figure them out, so she wore her jacket, which was on the couch next to her.

"That was relieving" she said with a soft voice.

"See? I told you" I said and got up.

"Your turn" she said.

I took off my shirt.
I saw her eyes scanning my body.
Every tattoo, every inch.
A smirk appeared on my face.

"You like what you see, huh?" I asked.
I wonder what she's thinking right now.

"Not at all" she said and rolled her eyes.

I laughed and starting hitting the bag.
After a while, we decided to stop and go outside.
She sat down and so did I.

"Thanks for today" she said with a soft voice without looking at me.

"Look, fighter. I know that we don't get along and you hate me, but now we're on the same team. We have each other's backs." I said seriously.

She nodded and turned her look at me.

"How's your leg?" I asked.

"Better" she said.
"Can I ask you a question?" she continued and I nodded.
"What do you know about the Ganzos?"

"Not much. They're coming to help us with the mission, but I don't trust them. They just want the money" I said.

"Oh okay. And what about their leader?" she asked.

"What about him?"
Why is she asking me those things?

"Do you know who he is? Anything" she asked with a shaking voice.

"No. Is there something I should know, Alvarez?" I said. What's with her today?

"No nothing" she said trying to act cool.

"Alright" I said and pulled out a cigarette.
I saw her observing my moves.
She came closer. Our eyes locked and her hand held mine.
And then,
she took my cigarette and started smoking it.
I was there shocked for a while.
Not from the fact that she was smoking in front of me (which I have to admit made her look even more attractive), but from the close interaction we had.
I have to stop this.
I shouldn't care so much about her touching me.

"Thanks for asking me" I managed to say after a while.
She laughed and rolled her eyes.

"What are those scars?" I asked her.
I don't even know why.
I just couldn't get that out of my head all this time.

"What scars?" she pretended that she didn't understand.

"I saw them when we were inside" I explained.

"Oh.. Well, you know how those missions are" she said awkwardly.
I wasn't persuaded but I didn't want to make her feel uncomfortable.

After another cigarette, we decided to head home.
That was a long day.