Undercover

Coping Mechanism

OLIVIA'S POV:

I stood in the basement with Alejandro next to me. I'd decided to wear a black sports bra with black leggings since we were training. I watched Alejandro pick out a gun before walking back to me.

"Try this, it shouldn't be too heavy" he said. I looked at the silver weapon in my hand and turned to face the target board. I closed one eye whilst stretching out my left arm. It was harder considering I never use my left side for anything.

"Stay still" said Alejandro, placing his hands on my waist. He turned my hips to the side, placing me in the right stance.

"You're hesitating" he said, his body directly behind mine. I sighed in annoyance and pulled the trigger, watching three bullets fly through the air and land in the centre of the board. I looked back at Alejandro who was staring in awe with raised eyebrows.

"I didn't expect that" he said, putting his hands up. I laughed and turned back to the board.

"Give me something that causes more damage" I said, placing the gun in his hand. He walked over to the weapons closet and pulled out a shotgun with a smirk on his face.

"How do I hold it?" I said, just as Mattia walked into the room. He was wearing a black vest with black cargo trousers and boots. He stared at me blankly before taking a seat on one of the chairs and pulling out a cigarette packet. I raised an eyebrow, not knowing he was a smoker. I didn't like that.

"Since when did Mattia start smoking?" I said. Alejandro looked at him as he lit the cigarette, keeping a hand around it so the flame didn't go out.

"I don't know, the last time I saw him smoking was at least a year ago, he's probably stressed"

"Strange" I said, walking over to the firing line. Alejandro followed closely behind me and helped me hold the shotgun, keeping one hand on my lower back for support. His cold hands sent shivers down my spine when he made contact with my skin. I could almost feel Mattia's eyes burning into me.

"And keep it on your shoulder" said Alejandro, placing the long end of the rifle on my shoulder. I winced a little cause of the weight but quickly composed myself.

"You good?" he asked. I nodded, loading the shotgun with my right hand. I closed one eye and took a few breaths to steady myself. Still aware that he was watching me, I pulled the trigger, landing the bullet perfectly in the golden circle.

"Wow" whispered Alé, taking the shotgun away from me "you're good at this"

"I know" I said, winking at him. He smiled and went back to the weapons cabinet as I turned my attention to Mattia. He smirked at me whilst blowing smoke rings out of his mouth. I walked over to him, standing between his legs as he stared up at me.

"What the fuck is this?" I said, plucking the cigarette from between his lips. I heard the door open and close and looked around the room, realising we were alone before turning my attention back to Mattia. He furrowed his eyebrows at me before grabbing my wrist and pulling me down onto his lap.

"An escape, baby" he said, his voice raspy which I could only assume was because of the smoke. I rolled my eyes and adjusted the way I held the cigarette, placing it between my index and middle finger. I glanced at him through the corner of my eyes as he watched my hand. Looking forward, I raised the cigarette to my lips but he quickly slapped it out of my hand, putting it out with his shoe.

"Why'd you do that?" I said, pretending to be annoyed. He looked at me, except he wasn't pretending to be annoyed.

"You don't do that shit, it's bad for you"

"Oh my god" I scoffed "the hypocrisy is real"

"I can do that, you can't" he said, wrapping an arm around my waist. But I reached forward and picked up his cigarette packet from the table.

"Try and stop me" I said, standing up.

"Livvv" he whined, standing up and reaching for the packet. I ran over to the mat, tucking them into my sports bra. Mattia walked over to me with his arms folded across his chest.

"Are you serious?"

"Deadly" I smirked. He stood in front of me, sighing dramatically.

"Just hand them over" he said, holding his hand out.

"Catch me bitch" I said loudly, trying to run past him. But he reached out, wrapping an arm around my waist and pulling me down onto the mat.

"That's not fair, I'm meant to get a head start" I said as he pinned me down my wrists. He looked at me for a second with a smirk and lowered his head down to my chest, using his teeth to retrieve the packet. I felt my breathing quicken as my cheeks heated up. He let go of my wrists and I took the packet away from him, immediately closing the gap between us by letting our lips meet instead.

He deepened the kiss as he tightened his grip on my hips, allowing me to wrap my arms around his neck. I pulled away for a second, trying to get my breath back.

"So where do we go from here?" he said. I looked at him in confusion, narrowing my eyes at him as he finished his sentence.

"Cause I think I'm in love with you, Olivia"