Hostile Takeover ❖ Jake Riley | ✓ [book 1]

11~ A Man's Own Mind

It is a man's own mind, not his enemy or foe, that lures him to evil ways.

~ Buddha

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6 hours

That's how long they spent in that apartment, and by the end of it, Jenna's hands were beet red and swollen, and her knees were achy from bending over and over. But Jake was overall pleased with her progress; she just had one more test to pass before he felt she was ready.

"I think you deserve a nice, hot meal, and a shower," he said. Jenna smiled and closed her eyes, daydreaming of being back at home in her comfort zone.

"That sounds absolutely wonderful. Do you have a magic carpet?" she asked. Jake shook his head as he slid on his jacket.

"Nope. But I'll see what I can scramble up. Before that, you have one more test," he held up his wallet again, showing Jenna the same set of fives, and then he slid it into his pocket again.

"You get the money from me, you're ready," he said. Jenna stood up off the bench, excitement in her eyes once again. She stretched her fingers in anticipation.

"Okay. Whenever you're ready, Officer," she said. They stood at opposite sides of the room, and they began to walk passed each other. When he reached the other side of the room, he stuffed his hand into his pocket, and to his surprise (and dismay) the wallet was still there.

"Wallet's still here," he held it up to show her. Jenna turned around and smirked, then pulled something out of her pocket.

"Money's not," there they were, the five ten dollar bills folded neatly between her fingers. Jake glared at her.

"Give me that,"

Jenna obliged happily, "What'cha think?" she asked.

"I'd ask you how you did that, but then again, why bother? A magician never spills her secrets, right?" he said as he stuffed the money into his wallet again.

"It's not a magic trick, Jake. It's physiology," she said, "While you've been training me, I've been studying you. The way you move, the way you walk, and I identify what movements make you most vulnerable to me," she spoke proudly, "You walk with a slight slant on your leg left, meaning you're right side is exposed a little bit longer. My advice? You don't want to get pocketed, you put your wallet in your left pocket,"

Jake could hardly believe it, but he was impressed. Everything that Jenna did was so... surprising. At first glance, you couldn't even tell how much of a deviant she could be, or how smart she was. So he smiled at her, took her coat off the couch, and chucked it to her.

"Come on, we're getting dinner,"

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Why did Jenna especially love food courts? Because a majority of the food kept in the fridges could be easily heated by any unskilled cook. So, Jenna sat on one of the till counters of a Chinese take-away booth while Jake friend a frozen set of chow mein noodles with vegetables.

"You know, I never really took you for the Martha Stewart type of guy," she said.

"After a while, take-out gets kind of old... and expensive," he replied.

"I know what you mean," she said, "I used to cook a lot with my mom. And after she died, I tried cooking for my dad, but I either always ended up burning the chicken or under-cooking the pasta. I guess it's a good thing I never went to culinary school,"