Chapter Twenty-three

Angel's POV

Once we got out of the corridor step out in the open space . " Lucas , I'm starting to think you are planning to kill me " I joke , but deep down I feel my insides churn .

He chuckles ," no , I'm not . We are going to the warehouse ." I snap out of my trance to look at him " warehouse? What about the gym ? Why do you have a warehouse ?" I ask all at once .

What is going on ?

There is a black jeep waiting for us . Lucas opens the door for me to climb in and we follows after . Inside the car they are two men , one in the passenger seat the other in driver seat .

" I have a warehouse because that is where all the purchases are kept . After the  factory they are kept here and the gym is in there too " Lucas explains . " Why didn't we come straight here then ? instead of going to Cargo trade? " This whole thing is confusing .

" From Cargo trade it's a shortcut . Since we moved , the warehouse is now far away , five hour drive . And to make it short we go through there ,"

The workers at Cargo trade thinks it's a safe room , which it is , but it also leads to the warehouse. "

The car stops infront of a three storey house . The colour of the bricks are worn out , cracks are all over it making it look like it's going to fall apart soon . We step out of the car and he leads me to it the guards sees him and opens the door .

The inside is what suprise me the most , It didn't look worn out at all . We walk in through a hallway and it has a light academia theme  beige walls , white light bulbs and black picture frames.

Images of different people  are hang on every wall men and women are huddle up into a arc dressed in all black . Who's funeral was It for ?

We walk up a staircase leading to multiple wooden doors , Lucas opens the second door , " here we are "

In here there is a gym the wall are painted black while there is a window providing lights . There is treadmills  , boxing bags hanging from the roof and in the centre there is a huge ring . " That is where I will teach you self defence " Lucas says from besides me , looking where my eyes are have settled .

" Why don't you show me what you got?"

~~~~~

We end up being inside the ring wanting to see how much punch I can serve .

Lucas stands opposite me in his short and tank top he had changed into . I have my sport thighs now .

Lucas stands opposite me already in a fighting stance " is it just me or this is weird " I say refering to the position as I do the same . It feels weird because I am in a weird position infront of him.

And  because you like him elsewell  and you don't want to do something embarassing infront of him

That too

He chuckles " it doesn't have to be weird , now your fighting stance " I spread my shoulders apart , one leg infront and the other behind

. I spread my legs about shoulders width apart and bend my knees i then place my hand into a fist , putting my thumb outside of my fist and raise my fist infront of my face lining my elbow with my ear . I see Lucas looking suprise at my correct stance .

I have done that before , the only difference was that my mum was opposite me .

Flashback

7 years ago

"  Alright, Angel . Before we start , I want to see you fighting stance get in your position , like you're getting ready to fight  " My mum said as we stand in the middle of the ring inside her warehouse .

I put my hands into fists and spread my legs apart  bouncing around her playfully still in a fighting stance .

" Stop playing around , Angel . This is serious " she says , with a stern look on her face . I groan.

" Mum ,this is useless . I don't need to know how to fight or defend myself " I complain . I was getting tired of skipping ballet class .

" It's not . This will come in handy once you face a situation where you have to defend yourself against bad guys " she yanks my hand forcefully towards her and wrap a bandage around it . She does the same with my other hand .

" I won't need to do that because I'll be pursuing my ballet career , " I say with  dreamy smile" i won't need to fight bad guys off in that "

" Well once you replace me in the gang , they will be lots of danger coming up .  People would want to hurt you so knowing to throw a punch it important . " She gives me that looks she does everytime we talk about her business , a very serious one .

" Now , that is a story for another time ." She lightly pats my cheek .

"Now is knowing how to fight " she grabs my face in her hands and press my forehead against hers , looking at me in the eye . A gesture she does when she tells me to be strong and brave .

She pulled away to demonstrate to me "  Spread your legs . Bend you knees slightly fists up ..."

End of Flashback

I did the exact position as the one my mum showed me that day.

" I won't go easy on you " Lucas warns me , I give him a funny look " I don't expect you to "

" Now throw a punch " Lucas tells me . I look at him and throw a punch at his face , he easily dodge it " again " I throw on his left side , dodges it again .

" Try doing as many as you can . "

I throw a punch at his nose which he ducks it they I go to punch him on his stomach but he is quicker and grabs my arm and twisting it behind my back . I let out a hiss .

" The forces in your punches weakens  the more you punch ,  and it doesn't have enough force  to inflict  a strong pain. " He says next to my ear as he stands behind me ,his hot breath fanning my neck .

" The are slow too . Which is an advantage for the attacker to deliver more punches and  knock you out . Everything is lacking strength and speed "

I scoff at his words feeling offended  .

I quickly punch him in his stomach and step on his foot  which gives me the upper hand to turn back around  , but he is quicker to flip me and land me on my back . A shock sound rumbles out of my chest at the impact on my back , I lay there breathless . Lucas appears in my line of vision .

" I'm sorry , I was a bit too harsh with that " he  apologizes and extend his hand out to me , I  grab it and he pulls me up .

" It alright . I haven't had that flip for years now ." I say slightly chuckling , I stop when he frowns at my words . " I think I'm just out of shape " I quickly add to dismiss whatever he was about to ask .

He nods " when was the last time you were at a gym " he asks . I ponder on his words , " few months ago "

I haven't been at the gym for a while now , with everything that went down these past few months , going to the gym was the last thing on my mind .

" Understandable , " Lucas nods " you were breathless just after few punches " he says amused . I glare at him " not funny " he only chulkles back .

" Before we get in the ring again  for self defence , I want you to be training a bit on treadmills , lifting weights a little to get you back on track " he goes out of the ring to were the machines are , I follow him .

" What ? You also have to teach me how to do that too ? " I give him a blank look . " No , he would . "

Out of nowhere a freaking bodybuilder walks in .

He is taller and much much more masculer than Lucas .

" Angel , meet Leo . He will be monitoring your every step into getting fit again " Lucas smiles at me I give him a worried look .

" Now if you excuse me , I have to get your other training sessions ready " Lucas lowers to my level and whisper " I'll be back when you're done " he kiss my cheek  then walks out . I turn to the bodybuilder and gulp

This is going to be a long day .

~~~

Hi there !

I hope you liked this chapter because this was fun to write . I honestly feel bad for Angel , she has a lot of training to do .

But she has to be prepared . There is a lot coming her way .

Don't forget to comment , vote and share this story too !

Thank you !

Yours truly

~ Esther Ali ~