Claude

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

It's been a month and a half since the fight with Claude. It's also been a month and a half since I've spoken to him outside of work.

I took Nina's advice. It was hard at first. I didn't want to be strong.

But I'm doing it.

I convinced Raph to train with me in the mornings before breakfast. 5:30 we wake up, box, run, and lift. Opium teaches me to use a gun in the afternoons after work. I started mixed martial arts last week. I work hard. I haven't made a mistake at work once and I answer any questions thrown my way.

I keep the meds. I have to. I can't go to therapy without a guard being there to listen to everything I say so I journal instead.

But most of all, I don't stop. I don't allow myself to think. You can only do so much cardio before your brain tells you that you're still miserable. So I don't allow myself to be. I watch movies or tv shows at night to make up for the silence. I don't do any writing. There is no place for stories in the world of the Mafia.

Monday morning, I come down for breakfast after my workout and find the three men not eating. They're waiting for me, I can tell by the way their backs straighten when I come into the room.

"Morning," Raph says casually and I nod through a bite of toast.

"Miss Carmody, if we could have a moment of your time," Claude says.

He hasn't yelled at me since then. He speaks to me the same way he speaks to his other employees and never has any reaction to anything I say. He also doesn't say anything when I come back from lunch late which is rare or when I take too long in the bathroom which is often. When I got back that night, a new packet of meds was waiting on the bathroom counter.

"You're wanted for an assignment."

I stop eating then and for the first time in a month and a half, I look at him. I forgot how handsome he was. Everything on his face is chiselled, like a statue which makes sense with his personality. With his rings and classy way of dressing, it's almost impossible to not be attracted to him.

"Are we taking another trip to my mother's house?" I raise my eyebrows and Raph snorts beside me. I glared at him and he purses his lips, amusement still in his eyes.

"I'm afraid it won't be as simple as that," Claude ignores my little jab. "Raphael and Opium have informed me that you have been training hard."

This time I glare at both of them. Traitors.

"You want me to fight someone?"

Claude sighs. "Miss Carmody, if you could stop talking for a moment, I could explain."

Bitch.

"There is a nightclub on 22nd by the name of Kings Club. Have you heard of it?"

I nod. It's extremely exclusive and I've never met anyone who has gotten in though hundreds of people try each night.

"The man who owns it has the location of someone who owes me a large sum of money. Your job is to get it out of him."

"Torture?" I ask, mortified. I've been training hard but not that hard.

"If you wish, though I don't advise it. I suggest you seduce him but I will not dictate how you obtain this information."

"And how do you expect me to get into this club? It's very exclusive."

He tilts his head. "I'll be with you, of course. The owner goes by the name of Leith Roman."

"What do you mean you'll be with me?" I ask slowly.