Savage Crown II

5. Five

Natalia

As I laid in bed all I could think about was how defenseless I was in protecting Zoey. I hadn't trained in so long that it no longer came as second nature for me. I tossed and turned for most of the night until finally five AM hit and I knew Gio would be up conducting his business remotely. I changed into some workout gear and made my way towards the kitchen where he'd be on his laptops and phone.

Sure enough he was there with a cup of coffee in one hand and the other on his mouse scrolling through different charts. "What bothers you Nat?" He asked before my foot could touch the final step.

"I want to freshen up on me training Gio, I'm used to fighting alone but now I have Zoey, I need to be able to defend her as well" I said as I approached the table.

"Give me 15 minutes and we'll train at the garden...go warm up in the mean time" he smiled.

As I stood in the cool morning sky I began to stretch out. My body flexing and twisting like it was engraved deep into my muscle memories. I could hear Gio's soft footsteps coming at me from my left side with his fist closed. I ducked down and punched him right in his rib cage. Only for him to slam his closed fists on my back. Making me fall to the floor. My breaths were fast and sharp as the pain radiated from my back.

"Again Natalia" Gio said in a stern voice. "You've grown weak"

I caught my breath and got back up into fighting position. Gio stood tall before me with his arms crossed behind his back observing me. "Lets start with beginners training... land a punch on my face Nat."

I positioned myself and was about to land my fist on his jaw when all of a sudden he quickly evaded it and end up behind me, grasping my arms behind me and held them in place slowly twisting them like a pretzel.

"You're holding back little sister. Why? What's holding you back from unleashing your full potential?" He asked as he added my pressure to my arms bending them back as far as they could. My thoughts racing as I tried to break away. "What's holding you back Natalia! huh?" He raised his voice this time.

"I'm scared!" I yelled as tears poured out. "For the first time in my life I'm scared Gio. Zoey is my world and if anything happened to her I would die. I couldn't even protect her last night!" I sobbed, " That violent side of me begged to come out but I couldn't, I wouldn't.... I don't want Zo to ever see that. I sealed that part of my life away for good Gio. "

He released my arms and turned me around so that I could face him, "Nat you are an amazing mother. You have gone above and beyond to raise Zoey the best that she can be raised. She's a great kid Nat. Defending yourself won't suck you back into our life. "

He was right. I fought so hard to give Zoey a normal life. One where her mother and father aren't part of the largest criminal organizations on the across the American Coasts and Europe. One where father didn't try and kill her mother. One where she was a normal child living with her mother. Defending myself and Zoey was normal and not a path back down to the life I left behind.

As realization crept into my face Gio asked again, "now then Natalia De Leon land a punch on my face"

I took a deep breath and closed my eyes as I felt a familiar surge of energy course through my body. That familiar high I'd get as I would spar or go on tasks. When I opened my eyes I locked onto my target and went for it. Gio was taller than me, he was lean and built and was dodging my moves effortlessly, but this time instead of trying to land a punch on him like a neanderthal I was studying his moves, looking for the point of vulnerability in his movements that could let me take  hit. Like a missle locking onto it's target, I quickly found that moment  in his movements and in the blink of an eye I focused my weight onto my arm building up the force and landed my fists on him.  He stopped evading and stood in place as my fist met his jaw. He didn't flinch as his lip busted open. He smiled proudly at me as he wiped the blood off his lip. "There you are Natalia"

I smiled, "thanks Gio"  I turned around to grab a towel for him. A faint noise came in through my right ear as I heard light shuffling meaning he wasn't done yet. I turned around quickly catching the knife he flung at my arm. "Just testing your senses now" he smiled as I threw it back at him and caught it between his hands.

"you don't need training Nat. It was all up here" he said pointing to his head. " tucked away"

"I guess you're right Gio" I said smiling.

It was already 7:30 AM when we went back inside from the outdoor patio. Zoey was already awake sitting in her pj's on the couch watching tv with Saint. As soon as she saw Gio she ran to him surprised to see him.

"Tío (uncle) Gio" she ran to hug him with her face lit up. "You came!" She smiled.

"Of course pequeña (little one)"

"Go wash up for breakfast Zo" I told her as she was put down by Gio.

"Thank you for coming to see her recital by the way" I smiled at my brother and Saint.

"I wouldn't miss it for anything." Saint smiled warmly, "Fernando sends his apologies, he wanted to come but it would have been a bit risky. "

"There's always next time" I said as I pulled out a cutting board and began to cut apple slices for Zoey.

"What else is on your mind Gio?" I asked as I looked up at him.

"You unblock your mind and you're already as observant like a hawk on a mouse again huh?" He laughed. "Ahh it's more so an opportunity window Nat." He rubbed the back of his neck as he looked over at Saint for support.

"For what? I asked confused, "if this is about conducting business for you NO! GIO !"

"It's not that Nat. We caught word the Clarke's are moving to the UK for a couple months in the coming week."

"Wait what?" I retraced my thoughts, a small needle stabbed through my heart hearing the news.

"Yeah, they got some big deal going on over there and Callum will be leaving Chicago with his father Ronan and his mother Bianca."

"What about Declan?" I asked.

"He's been in Europe since you left Nat. Which means, that Chicago will be safe for you and Zoey for the next 2 months." He smiled. You could fly out there and stay with Zoey for a bit. Have her get to spend time with the enitre family all at once.?"

"No Gio, absolutely not! It's too risky! What if someone spots us? What if word reaches Callum? Or an enemy who would see us as an easy target?"

"It won't Natalia, if you chose to go, I've got everything taken care of from sercuity down to the zoning area."

"That's a generous offer Gio but no... I can't put Zoey's life in danger."

"Okay Nat, I wont bring it up again." He frowned a bit before focusing his attention on Zoey as she came back down the stairs dressed.

The thought of Zoey seeing my childhood home and all of my family in one place sounded nice, but the overwhelming fear of us being spotted was greater.

Maybe when she was older and if things were ever safe.