"I'd like to think that you actually learnt something new from that session, but I doubt it considering what I just saw," Blake said as he reached for a water bottle from within the fridge, chucking a second one toward me. "Those punches, god it was like a full grown man was battering me."
"Well what do you expect when it's Luke that's been teaching me?"
"He has nothing to be worried about that's for sure," he said. "I dread to think about how many bruises I'll have tomorrow."
"Don't tell me that I didn't warn you."
"Who would ever take someone seriously when they claim to have beaten Luke to a pulp?"
"He promised me that he wouldn't block," I defended.
"You probably bribed him with kisses or something," he mumbled, causing my eyes to roll. "But I just think you were extra cranky today because you've been without him for nearly six days."
"I'm coping just fine," I stated simply, trying to convince not only Blake but myself also. He raised his eyebrow, giving me a questioning glance as a smirk carved its way onto his face. "It's nice having some time to myself too, I guess."
"Give over Adelaide. You're desperate for him to come home," he continued to ridicule as I took a seat on the counter. "You've moped around for the past five days. The only productive thing you did was put together my case file."
"What am I meant to do around here? We're in the middle of nowhere for crying out loud. At least in New York I could pop out and about, but the towns like a thirty minute drive. Besides, we've trained a few times, that's productive right?"
"If you think giving me injuries that could quite possibly affect my physical state in the long term, productive, then yeah I guess it has been."
"Give over," I mocked his earlier words. "You'll be fine."
"Yeah I mean it's not as if I'm about to go and be part of a mafia group sometime within the next few weeks, so like you said, I should be fine."
"Aren't you trained for this shit or something?"
Blake let a heavy chuckle leaves his lips, "If anything, you're the one that appears to have been. Anyway, I should probably head off; they could be back anytime soon."
My attempt to hide the grin that was twitching at my senses was futile following Blake's reminder that the team, or more importantly Luke, would be returning back imminently. I hadn't lied when I'd said that I had been just fine without Luke's presence, but it was more than obvious that to say his absence had been noticed was an understatement. Whether it was simply making two cups of coffee as opposed to one or subconsciously walking to his office in search for his adorning smile, it was evident that I wasn't used to not having him around, and in all honestly, I missed him. Amidst his hectic schedule while out in Morocco, we had only had the opportunity to speak for a second time on the phone yesterday, which in itself was anything but private considering my father saw right through Blake's pleas to omit him from the room, so we were left to converse over their successful break in at Legrenzi's place.
"I haven't seen you this morning yet Adelaide," my attention was veered over to my mother as she entered the room, sending a small smile my way. "You haven't been at breakfast with us recently either."
"I had training with Blake," I explained, reciprocating a smile. "So I'm about to make something now. Do you want anything?"
"No thank you," she responded politely. "I should probably get something ready for when the boys come back, they'll all be starving."
"Do you do anything other than cook for everyone here?" I chimed in a mocking tone, though my mind did puzzle as to what she spent her time doing. I saw her frequently, meandering from room to room, though I had never considered what she actually did all day long.
"What else do I have to do?" she said with a small shrug. Her statement was something that I could comprehend, given that I had very little to do around here myself. "I mean aside from giving your father help when he needs it, I just tend to hover, so I may as well make myself useful. Plus, who else is going to feed everyone here?"
I smiled at my mother, giving her a small nod as I rustled around the kitchen in search for something to eat. "When do you think this will be over?" I questioned suddenly, though I had tried to keep my question as nonchalant as possible.
My mother stilled her movements, taking a second to look me in the eye, "I can't answer that question Adelaide, because in all truthfulness, I don't know. None of us do, but we're all working to get Legrenzi out of the picture, then everything can go back to normal."
"It'll be nice to know what normal feels like."
"This can't go on for much longer," my mother assured. "Your father is working day and night trying to get us permission to go in for Legrenzi, but for the mean time we just need to hold tight Adelaide."
"I just want to go home, or more so know where home is."
"You will in time, then you can settle back into how things used to be and we can focus on getting your memory back."And Luke is coming back today, so at least you'll have that familiarity."
"I like that sense of routine," I mumbled quietly. "I'd like to go back to New York at some stage you know."
"You would?"
"Yeah. I really liked it over there, and the apartment was just perfect."
"So you'd go back even after the raid and everything?"
"When things go back to normal yeah, I mean it'd be weird going back to that apartment, because it's probably in a right state, but I feel like I'd be able to get over what happened there and just move on."
"I'm glad about that," my mother said. "I'd hate to think that this whole thing would be carried with you for the rest of your life. Which it will to some extent, but I don't want you to live your life in fear."
"I'm not going to," I affirmed, speaking the truth. I knew that this situation was only going to get worse, and considering what I'd seen already, then what was to come may be incomprehensible, but at the same time, I knew that I'd over come whatever was thrown my way and I'd do everything in my power to not let it swell with me for the rest of my life.
"Adelaide"? My ears pricked up at Blake's voice, beckoning me from the kitchen doorway. "They're back."
I sprang to my feet, any hope of appearing nonchalant disappearing the moment that the words had left Blake's lips. As my feet raced out of the kitchen, my mother failed in holding back a small chuckle, the sound morphing into an utterance as I continued my pursue to the front of the house.
"I'm coping just fine," Blake mocked, repeating my earlier words as he fell into step aside me. "Who were you kidding?"
I hid the smile threatening to overthrow my features as he laughed, leading me toward my father's office. Muffled voices could be heard as we neared the room, the slant that the door had been left at allowing me to catch a brief view of inside before we entered.
The room was scattered with all of those that had been on the trip, though my eyes discredited all of the eyes that briefly met mine as I trailed behind Blake through the door, with my mind being set in a search for one particular face.
"Blake, Adelaide," I turned my head to the side, spotting Michael as he coaxed us over.
"Hey mate," Blake responded as I nodded politely. "How you been?"
"Alright, we got everything we need done. Sure that boss will fill you in at some point," Michael replied, but I found myself oblivious to their conversation as my eyes continued their discreet pursuit for Luke. "And you two? You got your file sorted?"
"Yeah yeah, that's all done. All thanks to this one over here anyway." I laughed quietly at his comment, grateful for an excuse not to hide the grin stretching across my features as I finally caught sight of Luke, who was in a rather intense conversation with my father in the far corner of the room. Both Blake and Michael continued their conversation, oblivious to my clear disinterest as I watched Luke intently.
He eventually, after a moment or two, flittered his gaze mindlessly around the room, his attention toward whatever my father was saying evidently fluctuating, though it was lost completely the second that his eyes fell firmly upon my own.
His lips twitched up into a small smile as I scanned his face. The bags hanging deeply beneath his eyes were a clear indication toward the fact that he had worked relentlessly during his time away, while the unruliness of his hair suggested the countless times that he had racked his hands through his locks in frustration.
He searched my features too, his eyes somewhat hunting for anything out of place before he lost his gaze on me in order to momentarily look back at my father. He then cast a brief glance toward me again, subtlety motioning his head to the side a little, which was an action that forced my feet to steadily turn on their heels and exit the office, only pausing briefly to catch sight of Luke dismissing himself from my father.
Luke hadn't needed to be obvious with his intentions, as in my mind, they were more than clear and this was proven as I stalked down the corridor that lead away from the office, the sound of heavy footsteps meeting my ears merely seconds later.
The distance between my body and the presence behind me decreased rapidly as we covered more ground, the space dissipating the minute that I set foot into Luke's office. His arms flew instantly around my waist, clutching my back tightly against his chest before I was even given the opportunity to turn around.
His face nestled into the crook of my neck, a deep sigh leaving his lips as he did so, "You're okay."
I turned around in his arms. "Of course I'm okay," I said with a smile. "It's you that I should be worried about."
"I'm fine Adelaide," he replied, reciprocating a wide grin. His arms left my stomach to cradle my face, his gaze focused intently on to my own. "God, I missed you. I really am sorry that the stay was longer than expected, we just had so much to do and-"
"Hey," I said, catching his chin with my fingertip. "Don't apologise, I've been fine here. You did what you needed to."
Luke didn't respond, and instead crashed his body against mine in an iron clad hold. I relaxed into his arms, once again feeling his hair tickle the skin along my neck as he held me close. "Did you get anything from Legrenzi's place then?"
"We got a bit," he mumbled. "Nothing on you though. But I can't decide whether that's a good thing or not."
"The less they have on me the better right?"
"Yeah, if you're looking at it that way," he agreed quietly. "Hey, I heard about Blake's case?" He pulled away slightly to look at me, a clear change in tone being noticeable as he shifted from his previously concerned mentality.
"You did?"
"Hell yeah," he beamed. "Can't say that you're father's too pleased with your involvement though."
"Trust me, I'd know. I received the lecture too."
"Seriously though, you're made for this stuff," he urged, squeezing my waist playfully.
"I'm surprised that you're not scolding me like my father."
"Knowing me, I should probably be doing just that, but I feel safer you having experience with this stuff. It's the same with your training too. Speaking of, Blake mentioned you'd done a bit?"
"Did he include the part where I kicked his ass?" I chuckled, causing Luke to grin. "Let's just say that the upper cut you taught me came in more than handy."
"What have I turned you into? So you've been okay this past week?"
I nodded, "Yeah. It's kind of been nice to have some time to myself in a sense. Haven't exactly done much, aside from trailing after Blake trying to find something to do."
A scoff to the right of us caught our attention, forcing our heads to spin toward the door. "Mate literally, she hasn't left me alone," Blake said with a smirk as he entered the room.
"Back to that upper cut," I said, offering a smirk of my own as I sent a glance to Luke, who simply grinned at me. "You know Blake, you've been creating quite the habit of appearing out of nowhere recently."
"Better me than anyone else ey?"
"Is there a reason that you're here?" Luke questioned in mock irritation.
A guilty look passed over Blake's face as he responded, "You're wanted again, I'm afraid. Boss needs you to confirm the plans for my transfer to Legrenzi's."
"Why the hell do they need confirming? We've been through them and everything's already finalised with the contact."
"I don't know man," Blake admitted, throwing his eyes over to me momentarily. "That was all the boss said."
"Don't lie Blake," Luke requested calmly, removing his hands from me as he took a step to the side. "It's about Adelaide isn't it?" Blake didn't respond and instead chose to avert his gaze to anywhere but the two of us. Luke sighed in frustration, "That guy, seriously. What's his problem?"
"I'm going to have to go and see what could possibly be the problem with you doing a job that half of the men here couldn't even attempt to do. But I'll give you a shout the minute that I'm done, yeah?" he said, directing his words toward me again. He leant forward, placing a hand on my shoulder to steady himself as he peppered a fleeting kiss to my lips before he stalked out of the room with Blake in pursuit.
My feet padded quietly along the floor as I threw a jumper over my head, letting the warmth encase my body in an attempt to still the shivers pulsing along my skin. My eyes squinted along the corridor, only being able to find the staircase from memory as my vision had been obscured by the arrival of nightfall. A hushed utterance could be detected from downstairs as I descended each step, light soon seeping into my vision from a small lamp set on a chest of drawers in the main hallway of the house.
It was gone one o'clock in the morning, yet as usual the house was bustling with activity as if it were the middle of the day. I passed numerous guards, glancing at them briefly to send a polite nod their way before I continued my stroll to the kitchen, rubbing a hand heavily over my face as I entered the room.
"How come you're still up?" I tilted my head at the voice to find Blake stood by the counter, a steaming mug clasped tightly within his palms.
"I got hungry."
"That's what happens when you skip dinner my dear Adelaide," Blake scolded in a patronising tone, one that resembled talking to a child.
"I was busy."
"Catching up with lover boy?" he smirked as I sent him a mock glare. "What? You two were sat out on the front steps nearly all afternoon."
"We lost track of time," I defended. "Anyway what are you doing down here this late?"
"I'm covering for Michael. Figured he should get some sleep, with him having been away for the past week, it wasn't fair for him to be working tonight too."
"At least someone round here has an ounce of sense in them," I retorted, pouring myself a glass of water. "They deserve some rest, Luke being included in that, but you know what he's like."
"Oh, that reminds me," Blake chimed. "He came up earlier, said that you'd fallen asleep, which is presumably why he went back to his work."
"Any idea where he is now?"
"Should be in his office, he was on about finishing off some stuff before heading to bed. But you know what that guys like, once he starts, he doesn't tend to stop."
"I'll go and see if I can pry him away," I replied, placing my glass back onto the counter before bidding Blake a farewell and walking out of the kitchen.
The hallway that Luke's office was situated down was oddly dark compared to the rest of the downstairs, with the space being pitch black aside from the small rectangle of light that seeped out from under his door. The only sound in the area emitted from my feet as they ambled along the solid oak, mindlessly carrying my body outside the room in my half sleep-drunken state. I reached my hand out to grip the handle, pushing the door open not a second later.
My eyes took a minute to adjust to the brightness of the room before they flittered over to Luke's desk, only to find it empty. However, shuffling to the right of me caused my head to snap instantly to the side, my breathing getting caught in my lungs as my entire body went rigid at the sight in front of me.
Luke stood with his back to me, his wrists clenching tightly around the collar of a man that was pinned aggressively under his hold. His green eyes bore into Luke's with just as much hostility as I imagined Luke's to have while his chestnut hair lay scuffed above his eyes, widening at the notation of my presence in the room.