✧✧✧
A L E X I A D A L T O N
It takes three days to stop having nightmares of the intruder. But it's not always him, sometimes it's someone else, not being able to reach the gun in time. Other times I do reach the gun in time and I experience what I did over again.
Then I wake up flustered and sick to my stomach. I try to take what Lonzo said with a pinch of salt, that I shouldn't let it eat me alive. But I can't help it if it's haunting my dreams and forcing me to experience it again and again and again.
Gabriel pokes his head into my room early this morning. He smiles when he sees that I'm already up and places a hot cup of coffee on my nightstand. "Thank you," I say gratefully.
Last night was the first night I dreamt of something normal–almost normal–and it was about Lonzo. I haven't known him to be so soft as he was the other day when he opened up about his past, when he first killed somebody.
Considering what we did in the training room downstairs, I didn't think our weird friendship-relationship-whatever it is, would now turn to consolidation.
It's probably a one time thing. Lonzo is trying to make sure that I have my head screwed on so that if something like that happened again, I'm prepared. But a part of me is screaming that it's not true whatsoever.
"How are you feeling this morning?" Gabriel asks, leaning against my wardrobe and crossing his arms.
I nod. "Okay. Slept well so I'm ready to get my day going."
Gabriel purses his lips and studies me. "You sure?"
"Positive," I flash him a forced smile.
"Alright."
"Hey," I lean forward before he leaves my room. "I was thinking I want to go back to training, today. Will you train with me?"
I watch as my brother's eyes narrow into slits. "Lex, you've barely given yourself time to recover. Your ribs are still bruised and the doctor told you to rest."
"But I don't want to forget any of my training, for it to go to waste."
"Nope," he says loudly and pushes off my wardrobe. "It's not happening. Your face is still bruised, your ribs could take weeks if not months to recover. You need to rest your body, Lex. This isn't a game. This is real life."
I sink into the bed and nod. There is no point arguing with him when he has that tone. He's taken what happened to me and used it to beat himself up with. He thinks that it's his fault it happened, that he should have been here. But the damage is already done.
"Alright," I mumble.
Gabriel breathes out a harsh sigh. It's obvious that he hates upsetting me but he walks towards my bed anyway and presses a kiss to the top of my head. "Rest, study, watch a movie. We can get back to training when the doctor says that it's wise to. I'm only looking out for you, Lex. You shouldn't be in this mess in the first place and I don't want your recovery to last longer than it needs to be."
I glance up at him and offer a small smile. He means well. He always means well. He's the big brother who would go to the ends of this earth to protect me from anything that could harm me, whilst allowing me to fight my own battles at the same time.
Gabriel is the only person in this world that I trust with my life.
"I know," I finally nod in agreement. "Just wanted to get up and do something."
"I've got to step out for a bit but Lonzo will be here, Jace might head over later too. So you won't be by yourself."
I dig my teeth into my bottom lip harshly. "You don't think Landon would be as stupid to try and get at me twice?"
Gabriel tries to hide his grimace but fails miserably. He's always been crap at concealing his true emotions, he's an all or nothing kind of guy. "If I'm honest, I don't know. I think he's trying to play a little game but we're not having any of it. Lonzo has a plan and we're going to get rid of him."
My eyes widen in shock at his response. "How? I thought he's like some super boss."
He tuts at my words. "Don't even try to sing his praises," he brushes off shortly. "Landon is a fucking coward and trust me when I say he's not getting away with this. But it's something that you don't need to worry about. I know you'd want to stay out of it and the less you know the better."
"Yes," I rasp and bury myself back into the covers. "I know."
Gabriel flashes me another smile, one telling me to be good. "I'll see you later. Have a good day."
Doing nothing. Yeah.
I wave him off and wait for him to leave before I take a shower and head downstairs for some breakfast. I know Harriet will be open to cooking up a storm, I'm in need of the most delicious nutrients to help my recovery.
To my surprise Lonzo is sitting at the kitchen counter with his laptop in front of him. For once he's not wearing a suit and is in clothes which could be considered loungewear. His tight white t-shirt clings to his every muscle, accentuating his biceps to make them look ridiculously big.
His gaze flicks up to me as I stroll towards him.
He always looks handsome in a shirt and trousers, sleeves rolled up to his elbows. But this look, this relaxed look–it does something to me.
Harriet immediately pours me a glass of freshly squeezed orange juice and I perch myself on the stool opposite Lonzo. His eyes are still on me, they're dark but they're not as sinister as I have seen them in the past.
"How are you feeling?"
I ignore him and cut to the chase. "Can we train today?"
Lonzo tilts his head and pushes himself away from the counter, straightening his back. "Are you sure you're up for it? You haven't recovered yet. It's only been a few days."
Then he folds his arms over his chest and my eyes flick down to the building muscles and his tan skin in contrast to the white material keeping together around him. If only it would tear off that body of his.
I clear my throat and tear my eyes away from temptation. He's wearing a smirk when I meet his gaze again, he knows. Smug prick. But I shake my head. "I think it will be good to try and keep up with some training, before I forget everything I learnt."
He studies me for a long period of time and I can feel my body beginning to heat up under my oversized t-shirt and cycling shorts. Suddenly these clothes feel far too close to my body and I'm turning redder by the second.
"The doctor said you need to rest."
I roll my eyes. "I don't care what the doctor said. I just want to go over some stuff. Nothing too intense, I want to keep up with it."
Lonzo's eyes bore into mine intensely. "It hasn't been long si–"
"I don't care," I cut him off and he stares me down. "I want to go over what happened the other day. You could show me what I could have done to help my situation?"
He exhales a sigh he had been holding. "Fine. Meet me downstairs in twenty minutes."
My eyes light up at his response. At least someone is on my side.
After I get changed into something suitable, I head downstairs a little early. When I walk it hurts my ribs a tiny bit but it's mostly when I breathe and I stretch out my core. If we go over what happened the other night, I shouldn't put too much pressure on my bruises.
That's if Gabriel doesn't find out and he tears me a new one.
Lonzo appears on time, he's still in his white t-shirt but he's changed his bottoms into black shorts that flash off his muscular legs. I lick my lips and scold myself for doing it in front of him, then when I meet him in the middle of the mat he glances at me.
"Right, show me what happened." He says and I nod.
"Okay, well I was coming out of the patio door and walked through the kitchen," I start angling myself towards him so he can see my positioning. "I heard these footsteps and I turned and he tackled me to the ground here," I touch my waist. "And then we wrestled on the floor for ages."
Lonzo's eyes flick over my small demonstration and he hums as I explain. "So instead of doing this," he motions to what I said. "You could have done this."
He grips my elbow and raises it, showing me a technique that is good for defence and for sparing myself some time to get away. I nod at him and practice it again until I show him more and he gives me new ideas.
I keep them locked freshly in my brain. These could honestly save my life.
After an hour of trying out different techniques, I'm exhausted. Dripping with sweat. My ribs are throbbing painfully but I don't tell Lonzo, I don't want him to think I'm weaker than I already am.
"I have to admit," he says before chugging down some water, my eyes shamefully watching his throat bob. "I admire your strength to get up and do more to protect yourself."
I shrug it off. "Like you said, I can't let it eat me alive. It would be a stupid thing to do."
The corners of his lips curl as he places down his water bottle. "Well not a lot of people would get up and do what you just did so soon after. I know you put on this tough act but you don't need to put on the act if you think like you did today."
My head tilts at his answer, maybe he's right.
"Let's practice that last one again," I say, clapping my hands together in front of me.
Lonzo nods and I repeat what he showed me, something I could have done to make him unconscious, rather than shooting him dead. For me, that will always be the last resort.
He holds up his hands and I lean forward to grab his wrist but when I twist, a pang of heat and spikes of pain run through my torso. I release his grip and drop to the mat, clutching my hands to my ribs as I cry out in absolute agony.
I know I've overdone it. I overdid it at least thirty minutes ago but I stupidly wanted to carry on.
"S-Shit," I mumble through the excruciating pain.
Lonzo lowers down beside me. "What is it? Your ribs?"
I nod, gritting my teeth as I fall to my side. "Yeah," I rasp quietly.
His hand takes the hem of my t-shirt, I try to push him away but he doesn't budge. He throws up the fabric of the top, exposing my ribs that are covered in black, purple and yellow bruising.
"Porca puttana," he hisses as his eyes roam over my skin. "You needed to rest, not train."
(Porca puttana: fucking hell)
My eyes roll. "You sound like Gabriel," I grumble before wincing at a sudden shock through my core.
"You need to ice this," Lonzo's voice rockets through the room.
I focus on his hardened gaze but I shake my head. "It'll be okay."
His eyes darken heavily. "I said you need to ice this."
My lips part and I take a shallow breath. I can't take his tone or those eyes right now, not when he's been so soft the last few days. I've never seen this side to him and I wonder what has changed.
"Fine," I mumble.
I press a hand to the mat and attempt to push myself up, a small cry escapes my lips at the intense pain. My whole body shakes and I groan, gritting my teeth to use all my strength. Fuck. I've really over done it.
Lonzo grunts from beside me and takes my hand in his, pulling me up into his arms effortlessly. I flop my head down onto his shoulder, exhausted and defeated. My eyes close and I feel him carry us away into the house.
His body is so huge, he holds me like I weigh a feather. I don't mean to press my fingers into the muscles on his shoulders but I have to, otherwise I'll fall to the floor without holding on. But he feels good, he smells good. I sigh and then groan when the motion sends waves of discomfort through me again.
When we reach the kitchen he stops by the freezer, dipping his hand down into one of the drawers. I could most definitely walk now but I choose not to, being carried around by a huge mafia boss really is something.
He walks us towards the living room where he drops me down onto the pillows, my eyes glance up at him as he hovers over my body. I watch as he uses his fingers to flick up the t-shirt, exposing my ribs again.
A look of frustration or guilt–or something of the two–flashes across his eyes when he studies the bruises again, this time in natural light. I've barely managed to look at them in the mirror myself they're so incredibly horrific.
Lonzo places the ice pack to my ribs and I clench my eyes shut at the freezing sensation. "Twenty minutes," he orders. "Do it a couple times a day, it will help with the healing."
I purse my lips and nod. Then when I open my eyes Lonzo slides into the sofa spot beside me, still holding the ice to my skin. I could easily take over but he doesn't signal for me to, so we stay like this for a while.
"Thank you," I tell him after a while, when the pain begins to subside. "Please don't tell Gabriel about this."
Lonzo inhales deeply and quirks an eyebrow at me. "If he asks, I'm not lying to him."
"You practically lie and use manipulation for a living," I address. "You can't even tell him one white lie?"
"He's my underboss."
My jaw clicks. "You going to tell him that you made me come too?"
Lonzo's eyes flicker for a second, his hand clenching around the ice pack tightly but he doesn't press it into my skin any harder. "Yeah, that you begged for it like a whore."
I don't know why but my pussy throbs. Fucking throbs. Goddamn this man and his smooth tone that drips with seduction. I'm such a whore for liking degradation this much, even without the intimate touching.
He clocks my dilated eyes and my parted lips, my skin is probably flushed too.
"Fifteen minutes," he clears his throat and stands from the sofa, leaving the ice pack on my ribs. "And then you can take it off."
My eyes are glued to his face but he doesn't look back at me as he turns away and walks out of the living room, leaving me with everlasting memories of our time down in the training room.
✧✧✧
Read up to chapter 48 and bonus chapters on Patreon!
www.patreon.com/dreammcatcher
Link is also in bio!
Author's Note
Hello my loves, what did you think of this chapter?👉🏼👉🏼👉🏼
Lonzo CARESSSS I'm so here tor it!!
If you're excited for the rest of the book, drop an emoji HERE. It'll make my day❤️❤️❤️
Love Savanna x
Insta: SavRose.x
Patreon: dreammcatcher
Tik Tok: SavannaWritess