Sapphire

Chapter 4

Noah took a gulp as Val wrapped her hands. Despite his urge to run when he first got to the mansion, he was now feeling pretty attached to the place. He didn't want her to kick him out back to the streets, though he probably deserved it after going behind her back.

Val, standing at five seven and weighing in at less than 150 pounds, was tougher than her size made her look. Even when she was wearing a pantsuit, Noah could see the slight bulge of muscle hiding underneath the fabric. Her dark hair was tied up into a neat bun and her blue eyes had seen things that not many people had the stomach to endure, giving her expression a hidden darkness that only those closest to her could detect.

Shay left the ring without a word, scooping up her gloves and watching from the sidelines as Noah squared off with a woman who was almost 20 years his senior.

This wasn't the first time they'd been in the ring together. Since she brought him here, he'd spent hours everyday training, mostly with her. He wasn't allowed to go on missions yet cause he wasn't ready, but he knew he was close. It would be too bad if he ruined it now.

Val threw the first punch. It came with the speed of a lightning bolt and almost took him by surprise, but he was able to duck underneath at the last minute. Noah's body was on high alert as he watched her, trying to read her expression as she taught him to do. He threw out a right cross and watched as she absorbed it with her glove, then saw her fist coming at his face too late to do anything about it.

She hit him in the cheek with enough force that he fell to the ground.

"Looks like you still have some work to do, Noah." Val said as she started taking off her gloves.

Noah could read between the lines. She wasn't kicking him out, instead punishing him with more training. That he could handle.

"And Shay, as long as you want to learn, I'm sure Noah will keep teaching you." With that, Val shot Noah one last look of warning before heading back upstairs.

When they were alone again, Shay hesitantly made her way over to Noah, who was still on the ground. It wasn't because of pain anymore though; it was more like shock at what just happened that kept him down.

"Noah, you just lost. To a girl." Shay's smile was wide and taunting, another thing he apparently taught her.

"Come here, you little shit." Noah grunted as he wrapped her in his arms, giving the kid a noogie.

Now he just had to get back on Val's good side.

****

"What were you thinking, bringing her down here?" Val demanded. After Noah had been done training Shay, she ran back upstairs to read.

That's when Valerie came back down, apparently for the sole purpose of reaming him out. They were standing in the workout area, Noah standing at ease while his boss had her hands on her hips and a frown on her face.

"She followed me." He knew that excuse was lame even as it came out of his mouth.

"A sixteen year-old girl was able to follow you undetected. You know that doesn't give me a whole lot of confidence about making you a part of the team, right?"

"I know, I made a mistake. It won't happen again."

"It's a mistake that can't be undone, unfortunately." Val sighed heavily as the implications of this seemed to run rampant in her mind. "One day, she's going to ask what I do for a living. I don't know how I can possibly explain it to her."

Honestly, Noah didn't even know exactly what Val did. All she really said when she took him in is that if he wanted a job that didn't play by the rules, she could help. That if he wanted to take down bad guys while having a whole team of people protecting him, that this was the job for him.