The Queen of Hearts

CH. 11

Kylie Jones

After crashing my father's not so secret meeting about my past, we strolled over to the club's gym. Mia and Hector had been a part of our group for a long time, it didn't matter if they didn't see each other regularly, but as soon as we met up things went back to normal.

The abandoned hallways unnerved me, like small bells going off in the back of my mind. It wasn't usually this quiet when I grew up here. Men, young as old used to run up and down the halls laughing, and most of the time cursing.

Anatoly had been shocked by my extensive knowledge of cursing the first time he gave me a lesson in surviving torture. Weaseldick had stuck to the point where even Alex referred to his father as such.

All of us made our way down the last hallway, the boys in front teasing Mia with me walking behind them trying to take in the sights of my old childhood home. It has been ten years since I last walked these halls. I guess this will take some time to get used to.

The large wooden double door was slammed open as Alex jumped on Gio's back, sending them both flying. A loud thump of bodies colliding with the hardwood floor rang in my ears. That would hurt in the morning. Groaning, Gio sent a quick jab to Alex arm and the play fighting started up again.

Not wanting to be left out, Hector and Dominic jumped in. A blur of fists, legs and playful laughter filled the large room. The dark walls, combined with the large window gave the room a chilling feeling. The whole left side of the room was filled with mirrors, giving everyone the ability to observe the boxing ring in the corner.

I jabbed Mia, giving her a cocky grin as we ignored. Us girls had such more enthusiasm for training. It was probably the reason for us being as lethal as we were. Both of us had heard the warnings of females being weaker than men since we were young and it fueled the almost obsessive need for training.

We quickly wrapped our knuckles and stepped into the ring. Mia was my favorite sparring partner. I have sparred with the boys so many times that I could beat them blindfolded. Mia on the other hand was similar to me, always changing thing up to keep it interesting.

When we were gathered in Colombia a few years ago Gio came up with our now favorite game. How long could Mia and I spar before collapsing or losing. The record was around two and a half hour, going all in.

The strain I put my body through then was close to the feeling I walked around with as I lived with Anatoly. To be honest, I missed the feeling. The soreness and pain kept me grounded and calm in my rather hectic life. Mia was the only person who could get me to that point of exhaustion besides myself.

Our feet were quick and light moving around, throwing weak jabs in different combinations. The smile on our faces was blinding. We were both the happiest when we trained together, not worrying about anything else.

Gio and Alex joked about us being soulmates or twins several times a day, and I kind of believed them. Mia was my sister from another mister, through thick and thin. We had survived more than one mission together, always having each other's back. Not only that, but she gave the best head. Focus Kylie! This is not the time for that kind of pleasure.

I knew from a fact that my father was watching us train with the help of the security cameras placed around the entire clubhouse. It was my favorite pastime as a kid trying to locate every last one of them. I quickly realized that I had been foolish back then. My older self quickly spotted quite a few hidden cameras being dragged down to the basement.

They seemed to magically appear in different places now than they did when I was younger. You could almost feel the pressure of their stares as Mia and I kept moving. A nod at Mia was all it took for her to catch on.