Imperatrix

chapter 6

Growing up Jack only saw her family three weeks a year because of her schooling. It was not nearly enough, but she had no choice. Whenever people asked, she told them she went to a boarding school in England. But, in reality, she was traveling. That was how Dominic wanted it.

She switched places every year. She had a teacher who home schooled her, and an instructor who taught her the martial arts. Though her learning changed a lot because Dominic provided her course outlines. She never spent more than a year in a place.

When they got to a new place, Dominic rented a home through an agent for she and her instructor near the dojo. Her teachers were always from that country or state. She had been in Japan schooling and at the same time learning Jujitsu, and then she had been to Korea learning taekwondo, just to mention a few. Dominic preferred it when she went to the country a skill originated from and learnt it properly. She had a black belt in almost every defence skill.

That was how Jack spent twenty-one years of her life, moving from place to place, picking up on new languages, new techniques, and never forming an attachment. Her teachers and instructors were changed every year for that reason too. And they were paid handsomely to keep their mouths shut, even though they did not know who she was. Some were killed though. Those were the ones that asked too many questions.

And at the end of the year, she went home to Atenas. Costa Rica was the only constant place in her life. She knew her papa had other houses all over the world, but she had only ever been to the one in Atenas.

And even when she was home, she continued with her normal training. Dominic always watched them train. It did not matter what he was doing at that moment, he left it and went to watch them.

Flashback.

Jack panted as she tried blocking Dimitris attacks. She dodged a blow to her face but did not see the kick that was aimed for her. He kicked her behind the legs, and she fell forward. She was a good fighter, but she was no match for Dimitri. He was an excellent fighter with a lot of experience. He saw her moves before she even made them. She could complain that she was just fourteen, but there was nothing like being a child in Dom’s dictionary.

“I am tired papa,” she said breathing heavily. All it took was a glance from Dominic and she kept her mouth shut.

“Again!” he barked, and Jack rose wearily to her feet. Her side hurt from where Dimitri had recently kicked her hard. He didn’t even pity her. Sometimes she thought that he actually enjoyed kicking her ass. She glared at him, and he raised his hands in mock surrender. She raised her clenched her fists and relaxed into the fighting stance she had been taught. They circled each other, Jack waiting for him to make the first move.

Dimitri looked like he was ready to wait for her to make the move, so she did. She tried aiming a kick at his head but he anticipated her move and intercepted her leg.

Jack hopped on one foot, her arms flailing as Dimitri had her other leg. Her eyes widened as he flipped her over his shoulder. Jack landed with a painful thud on her side. Whoever said fighting was fun was a bloody liar. There was nothing fun about it. She groaned as she sat up.

“Foolish girl,” Dom said and Jack turned to look at him trying hard not to cry. Her sides hurt. Hell, her whole body was hurting. And yet she was foolish.

“It was obvious what you were going to do. You are embarrassing me Tesoro, try again.”

Jack took in a deep breath and got to her feet. Dimitri lunged and threw a punch to her face, and she ducked, delivering a punch to his stomach. He recovered from it quickly and she grimaced in pain as he grabbed her arm, twisted it, and slammed her down on the ground. His knee on her back, and twisted her arms held behind her back.

“Do not show pain,” Dom said from where he sat in a corner of the gym sipping white wine, and she quickly blanked her expression.

Easy for him to say, he was not the one with a nearly broken arm. And how the hell did he see her? He was staring at his phone. She bucked Dimitri off unexpectedly and tackled him to the ground before he could recover and pressed her knee to his throat. His hands pinned to his sides.

He narrowed his gaze at her, and she pressed her knee harder, making his eyes bulge out of his head. He tapped her knee in surrender, and she removed it. He gasped for air, his hand going to his throat as he glared at her, and she gave him a cheeky grin.

Jack knew that on a normal day, she would never have been able to do that to Dimitri, but she had caught him unawares, and they were both tired.

“Good,” Dominic said leaving. That was high praise coming from Dominic.

“You did well child,” Dimitri said before leaving the gym. Jack collapsed onto the floor and lay back breathing hard. They had been training for over three hours. Dominic liked to test her skills by making her fight his guards, and even himself sometimes.

Fighting Dimitri was horrifying, but fighting Dominic? Now that was plain suicide. Her body ached for days after just one round of training with him. She raised her hands and unwrapped them from the cloth she had tied around them. Her black sports bra was sticking to her skin from the sweat.

The door opened and Lucas came in. He met her laying on the floor, and he walked over to her and kicked her legs.

“What are you doing on the floor? Get up fat ass,” he said staring down at her. Jack groaned and held her side as she sat up.

“What are you doing here Lucas? Here to practise for the ballet?” she asked, a smile playing on her face.

“Ha-ha, very funny,” he said and walked away from her.

“Come on, I was kidding bunny,” she teased, and his head snapped around to face her.

“Do not call me that,” he growled. Jack raised her brows and lifted herself up from the floor.

“Sorry bunny,” she smirked. He lunged for her and she ran out of the gym. He glared at her as she left the gym and headed to the bathroom for a well-deserved hot shower. Lucas hated when she called him bunny. She called him that because when they were little, he had had huge front teeth, just like a bunny. You saw the teeth before you saw him.

He hated it, but Jack loved it. She was not going to give up the only thing that could annoy him. He had outgrown it now, he had perfect straight teeth, but Jack insisted on calling him bunny just to annoy him. It was a pet name that had stuck through out the years. And it wasn’t leaving any time soon.

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