Marked by Crime Rivalry Book2 [✓]

P5

AGAIN, Teresa smacked the grass-covered ground for the third time in a row. Damnit! She scrambled to her feet again and ran at him. One punch was missed, and two punches failed. Her foot swung at his hip, and his strong hands gripped her ankle and he grinned. "Teresa I'm flattered, really" He bit his lip in tease as he gripped her thigh and tugged hard into his body before her own left the ground and met the grass once more. Her foot swung, he avoided just as her next and he fumbled.

Then she kicked his knee and he fell. Seconds before he rose to his feet, she hovered and balled her fist tightly. Square in the jaw, she punched hard. A second later, that fist had been grasped in his much bigger hand simultaneously as he caught her knee between his own. "I'm offended" He chuckled as he spits out the blood in the grass. Her other fist rose, and suddenly, he had moved so fast she couldn't register what happened until she was being hauled over his head, her wrists pinned to the ground and Adriano heavily breathing and heaving over her. "Teresa, you need to train" He huffed out.
With a groan, she attempted to lift but his hold wouldn't allow her. "Get off of me" She strained underneath him and he smirked.

"Trust me. If I was on you, those wouldn't be the first words that fled your mouth" Her eyes rolled at his unnecessary, cocky, and teasing comment but he released her and helped her to her feet. She did notice as he wiggled his jaw around then he commented on her powerful right hook. "What have you trained in?" She huffed as he began to pick up his jacket. She whistled and bushes shook before the three dogs jumped out of them with barks and hot breaths.

"I suppose the basics in your case," He said, gathering her attention. "American boxing, Western Boxing, Kickboxing, wrestling, and I've been moving towards Judo but, I haven't gotten there yet. Still have much to learn" His tone died at the mention of haven't completely mastered Judo and she knew he wanted to be at his best ability, but the fighting hadn't been a wake-up-and-master kind of thing. He sniffed and slammed the clip back into the 9mm Glock.

" Teresa, it isn't just shooting a gun in this business. Mafias have hired well-trained assassins in their organizations so I have to be prepared for everything thrown at me. So do my men because sometimes a gun just isn't enough. Sometimes can't get to it fast enough and your body is left. Depends on you if it's a weapon or an inconvenience." From the corner of his eyes, he glanced at her. She had been staring at the gun, her hands balling repeatedly and he took hold of it. "Hey" He whispered and loosened her fingers from her previous balled fist. "On a serious note Teresa, you have the basics. I'm not saying you're useless, I'm saying you should train" He kissed her forehead as she nodded and they began to walk back home.

Now, she had a lot to think about. She was completely okay with letting Luciano and Adriano protect her but she had never wanted to be a burden. Never wanted to make their lives harder because of her need for protection. She kept herself alive and her children for four years. She learned how to use a gun, to not run from the bullets but shoot them instead. And she was damn good at it. But that was a year ago. Since then, she hadn't thrown a fist nor shot anything, much less held a piece of steel anymore. She wondered if could she ever again now that she was ensconced in the safety net of the mafia.

Noticing Noodles began to trail away, she snapped her fingers and called out to her gaining her attention back. Adriano chuckled and said, "Really? Noodles?" She shrugged. It was the boy's idea. Almost the second she leaned into Adriano's body, his arm thrown over her, she heard tires. Not just tires, but screeching. As if a car had been driving too fast, hitting a corner. But the screech didn't fade, it got closer and she heard the engine. Her blood ran cold as she looked over her shoulder.

A black van.

Her eyes narrowed as she breathed out and the window rolled down. Gun. She knew it. She saw it.