Silk & Steel: A Mafia Romance | ENGLOT - ON HOLD

Chapter 26: I can't alway be here

Contessa's POV:

The insistent rapping on my bedroom door shattered the peaceful silence of my sleep. Groaning, I fumbled for my bedside lamp, squinting at the harsh light that flooded the room. It was barely past sunrise, the world outside still bathed in the soft hues of dawn.

"Contessa? You awake?" A muffled voice called from the other side of the door.

Recognition flickered through my sleep-fogged brain. Wyvern. What in the world could she possibly want at this ungodly hour?

"Just a minute," I mumbled, throwing the covers back and padding towards the door. Pulling it open a crack, I peered out, blinking against the sudden light. She was dressed in casual clothes – jeans, a worn leather jacket, and a black t-shirt that clung to her toned physique. Her hair was pulled back in a messy braid, a few strands escaping to frame her face. "What is it, Wyv? It's barely dawn."

She leaned against the doorframe, a playful glint in her eyes. "Dawn is precisely the point, Cara. Consider it an early morning wake-up call."

"A wake-up call for what?" I grumbled, eyeing the dark circles under her eyes with a concern I couldn't quite mask. "Shouldn't you be getting some rest yourself?"

She chuckled, a deep, husky sound that sent a warmth blossoming in my chest despite my sleep-deprived state. "Rest can wait. Today, I'm giving you a lesson."

My eyebrows shot up. "A lesson? In what, exactly?"

"Self-defense," she declared, a mischievous glint in her eyes. "Figured I'd teach you how to handle a gun."

I stared at her, dumbfounded. "A gun? Wyvern, are you serious?"

A slow smile spread across her face. "Deadly serious, Contessa. You never know when a little self-defense might come in handy. Especially for someone living with the mafia."

My cheeks flushed a warm pink. While I appreciated her concern, the thought of handling a gun filled me with a mixture of apprehension and morbid fascination. "But... I'm a medic, Wyvern. I heal people, not..." I trailed off, unable to finish the violent sentence.

She crossed her arms, a playful glint in her eyes. "Exactly. And that's precisely why you need to know how to protect yourself. Besides," Wyvern's smile faltered for a moment, a flicker of seriousness crossing her features. "There are some things we can't avoid, Contessa," she said, her voice softer now. "I can't always be here to keep you safe."

The intensity of her gaze sent a shiver down my spine. The playful banter was suddenly tinged with something deeper, an unspoken connection that simmered just beneath the surface.

Taking a deep breath, I cleared my throat. "Alright, alright," I conceded, raising my hands in mock surrender. "You win. Shooting range it is. But only after I've had some coffee and a decent breakfast."

A genuine smile broke across her face, crinkling the corners of her eyes. "Fine," she declared, her voice laced with amusement. "Breakfast first, then bullets."

With a wink that sent a jolt through me, she turned and sauntered down the hallway, leaving me standing there, a smile playing on my lips and a strange sense of anticipation fluttering in my chest.

With a shake of my head and a smile I couldn't quite suppress, I turned back into the room. Maybe a dawn rendezvous at the shooting range wasn't the most conventional way to spend a day, but with Wyvern leading the way, it promised to be anything but ordinary. And as I pulled on a pair of jeans and a comfortable t-shirt, a thrill of anticipation danced in my stomach.

...

The acrid tang of gunpowder hung heavy in the air, a stark contrast to the sterile scent of the infirmary I was accustomed to. Wyvern stood beside me, her posture as imposing as the massive firearms displayed on the table behind us. Sunlight streamed through the open doorway of the shooting range, casting long shadows across the concrete floor and highlighting the determined set of her jaw.