Chapter 70: Arianna’s POV
My heart was racing as the beads of sweat formed and dropped from my face. My toes were shaking as the adrenaline pushed through my veins.
I shook off my fingers, waking them from the sleep they were starting to go into. The attack could come at any moment and it would be bad.
I had to be ready.
From the corner of my eyes, I saw movements and at the last second, I moved and threw a punch in the opposite direction with as much force as I could.
“Huh!” I grunted as my fist hit the padded glove. The resistance that came through was enough to send me howling to the floor but I stood my ground and threw another punch, hoping to get to his face but he held my hand.
“You need to feel the enemies’ aura and detect from which angle they will be attacking… Good job Arianna!”
Agostino said and patted my shoulder with his ungloved hand.
I dropped to the floor in a heap of sweat and let my breathing regain its original tempo.
“I need water!” I cried out.
Training with Agostino was the most tension-imbedding exercise ever. Sometimes I had to ask myself what made me sign up for it in the first place.
If anyone had told me it was going to be this difficult, I wouldn’t have bothered trying.
“Water! I am dying!” I cried out dramatically holding my throat.
“Here,” Niko said, passing me a bottle of water. He had a smug look on his face and I rolled my eyes at him.
“Thank you.” I grabbed the bottle from him and poured it all over my face.
Damn, I was full of sweat!
“Come, let’s go. It’s almost time for lunch. The boss will be home soon and we don’t want him to know this,” He reminded me.
I quickly pulled myself off the floor and ran out of the large gym. Shit!
If Gabriele found out about this, we were all screwed and grounded.
I saw from the corner of my eyes, Agostino snickering. If I had the time, I would have given him a piece of my mind but there was no time.
“Your assistant called,” Sofia said as I stepped out into the corridor. I didn’t slow down and she increased her pace to match mine.
“She said something about meeting with a potential investor.” She passed me the towel she was holding and I gladly took it.
I was more concerned about getting to the room and changing before Gabriele got home than I was about what she was telling me.
Lim and the others would sort themselves somehow. They were smart and competent enough.
But Gabriele would have my ears out if he found out I was training. Plus, like Agostino said he would feel hurt. Somehow his brain would interpret it as a failure on his part.
Meanwhile, it was nothing like that. It was just a way for me to learn to defend myself in case anything happened and Gabriele wasn’t there to save me.
“Do you want me to call her back?” Sofia asked as we reached my bedroom door.
“No, it’s fine. I will see them tomorrow anyway. I will talk to her myself,” I said to dismiss her.
I pulled the door open and ran into the bathroom at once. I peeled off the clothes on my body and placed them in the laundry basket.
I made sure it was way below the present pile. It wasn’t like Gabriele would search through the dirty laundry but I had to make sure I covered up every hole.
When I was done, I went under the shower and took a long bath with almost half a bottle of my shampoo just to remove all of the sweat clogged in my hair.
As I stepped out, I wrapped a fresh and bigger towel around my body and moved to pick a simple dress in my wardrobe. I let my wet hair frame my face as I allowed it to freely dry.
I was about to head out to the dining area when the door to my bedroom clicked open once again. I turned to see who it was but found Sofia waving my phone at me.
“You have another call, Arianna, I think it’s urgent!”
I rolled my eyes at the tone of emergency in her voice. Lim was a drama queen. There was nothing she wouldn’t do to pull up adorable chaos.
“Bring it over,” Arianna said. The sooner I sorted Lim out the better it was going to be.
“Yes, Lim?” I asked as I placed the phone against my ears.
“Hey, boss boo! I know you are not supposed to be at work today but I have something to share with you… Remember that deal with foreigners? We got it Everyone is so excited! We have a date tomorrow and we want you to come with us. I promise it will be fun!” She went on without a break.
“Slow down Lim, one thing at a time. What happened to the contract?” I asked with a smile already lining my face as I made my way out of the room.
“We got the contract, Arianna!” She squeaked happily.
“That’s great news.” We had been fighting for that contract for days. It was a good thing we finally got it.
“Yes, I know! That’s why we need to celebrate! You have to come this time… Please? Everyone is staring at me right now and waiting for your response!” She screeched.
I could picture her jumping around like a schoolgirl with her long ponytail bouncing against her back.
“Lim, calm down. I have to talk to Gabriele first,” I told her.
“Come on, it isn’t a big deal. I can talk to him myself if you want!” She said,
A burst of small laughter escaped my lips and I shook my head. “Fine, that’s fine Lim. Send me the location,” I finally said and I squeezed my eyes shut as I heard her scream on the other end of the phone.
I ended the call and proceeded down the stairs to the dining. I was taking the final bend when Gabriele’s gruff voice stopped me.
“What location are you talking about?” He growled.
I stopped in my tracks and my brows flew to my hairline.
“How did you hear that?” I squeaked.
Was Gabriele a werewolf?
“I am not joking with you Arianna. Where are you going?! Don’t you know how dangerous it is out there?!” He blurted out.
I could feel the heat of his anger from where I stood and I sealed my lips. I have learned that when Gabriele was angry, it was best to just let him be.
“I do not let you go to work so that you can leave the area and go where you deem fit! It is for your own fucking safety! The sooner you understand that the better it would be for you!” He spat before taking the stairs and disappearing on the next floor.
“What did you do this time?”
Agostino’s voice made me jump from where I stood.
“Agostino!” I cried out as I held my chest trying to calm my racing heart.
He chuckled at my reaction and stepped out of the shadows. He held my hand and led me to the kitchen.
“Why was he barking so loud?” He asked as he picked up a berry from the table.
I dropped on the seat closest to me and let out a long sigh. “He heard me talking to my assistant on the phone.”
“Your assistant is a man?” Agostino asked with another berry hanging above his mouth.
I glared at his action and wished I could smear the berry juices on his face. He was enjoying this little fight, I could feel it.
“Agostino! This isn’t funny!” I gritted out.
He let out the chuckle he was hiding and swallowed his berry. “Okay, okay, I am sorry. I know your assistant is a woman. But why is my Angelo getting worked up? She is a lesbian?!”
This time, I narrowed my eyes at him and launched a berry his way.
Like the showoff he was, he caught it and ate it.
“Thank you.” He winked at me and got up.
He started heading to the door and I glared at him in surprise.
“Are you leaving?” I gawked. He wasn’t going to leave me to sort Gabriele out alone, was he?
He turned to me like he didn’t know what he was doing. “What? You don’t want me to leave?”
“Agostino, please you need to help me speak to him. He doesn’t let me go out with my friends. I can take care of myself now, you know that!” I said jumping to my feet and going to join him at the door.
But before Agostino could reply, Gabriele’s deep voice filled the kitchen.
“It is for your safety, Arianna. There is nothing Agostino is going to say that will change that!”