WILL
Nico barges into my office with an unhappy expression on his face. I would ask what the hell got him all worked up but I already know.
"This better be super important. I had to postpone a very important meeting." He grumbles impatiently, glancing at his watch even though it's an old piece of metal that stopped working years ago and he's never tried to repair or replace it.
I scowl at him. "Important meeting? Is that what we call reading romance novels with prisoners these days? I didn't take you as the type to get your head turned by a woman." The latter part is a lie. I know my brother way too well. I should have expected him to feel exactly the way he feels about Catalina.
Still, he doesn't look offended. He throws my own remark at me instead. "What? Like you don't have the hots for Snow? I've seen the way you look at her when you think no one's noticing."
I ignore his remark. I am not going to sit here and pretend I don't find Catalina attractive. I have never met a woman quite like her before. If she were a puzzle, she would be the most complicated one. The more I solve it, the more the pieces seem to be out of place and I find a new surprise just as I thought I was making progress.
Even with the shitty hand life gave her, she maintained the kindness in her heart and somehow managed to not break down. Instead, she became stronger. That is no easy feat. Even then, I know kindness is not all there is about her. She is not kind to everyone either.
It is reserved only for the people she loves. Her family and the few friends she has—and, as much as I hate to admit it, for Nico too. She is the strangest combination of innocence and evil all blended into one. Of course, there's the fact that she is the most annoying woman I've ever met.
"You are thinking about her, aren't you?" My brother annoyingly remarks.
I shoot him a warning look while picking up a file to look busier and subtly warn him not to dig into this. "I'm not a fool. Unlike you."
He snorts, not caring that I just called him a fool. "Obviously, you would never admit it. You have nothing to worry about. I would never mess with a Romano."
If he didn't say that, I wouldn't be worried. But his track record of instances where he said not to worry is concerning. That's exactly what he said last year before seducing a woman who just happened to be the brand-new wife of one of our arch enemies.
He realizes the same thing and flashes one of those smiles he uses to charm Mamma when he does something stupid and knows she is angry with him, further cementing my worry.
I don't have time to warn him as Esteban and Francesco amble into my office one after another. The bruises on their faces and the black eye starting to form on Francesco tell me they were in another of their brawls when I called them over.
"Do you need something from us?" Francesco asks as he settles into the couch opposite my desk, next to Esteban who has just flopped down. "I was in the middle of an important date before this asshole interrupted me and now you—"
I don't wait for him to finish his statement. The mention of a date ticks me off. "Can you idiots stop thinking with your dicks for one second?"
Francesco raises his hands in surrender. "Okay, okay. Who pissed in your cheerios?"
"Apparently, Nico here can't keep his focus off the prisoner." I glare at my brother who is too impatient to sit and he immediately goes on the defense.
"She has a name."
I gesture my hands at him while looking at the two men on the couch. "See?"
Nico glares at me. "I am gathering intel."
"Uh-huh." Esteban doesn't believe his bullshit either. However, the excuse Nico gives to explain his behavior is so believable that for a second, I almost think he's telling the truth.
"We need to make her agree to the plan, don't we? I mean, we can always force her to do everything we want, but what if that fails? What if she finds the chance to fuck us over? She will be likely to take it. The feds could use her for all we know.
But if she thinks we actually care about her and her opinion matters, she is more likely to willingly go through with the plan and less likely to be swayed. Which is why she has to care deeply about at least one of us."
After a few seconds of nearly believing my brother's bullshit, I snap out of it and ask, "are we going to pretend there's a chance she will care so much about you that she will agree to get killed?"
He shrugs. "She doesn't need to know that part."
Seeing that I don't believe him, he turns to Esteban and Francesco. "You both have to admit she will want to seek revenge if she somehow discovers the plan before it's done, right? Unless she is consciously a part of some of it."
Esteban remains silent while Francesco sighs. "I hate to agree with Nico but he's right. How will we train her if she isn't on board with it? We may succeed but she will become a sword we sharpened that may be used to stab us."
"Train her?" Esteban asks. He was not there when we made the whole plan and Francesco was too busy fighting with him to fill him in.
I do the honors. "She has never touched a knife in her life except to chop vegetables. I doubt she has ever touched a gun. If the plan doesn't go exactly the way it should, I don't want her to be useless." I know I'm exaggerating but we cannot assume Catalina is capable of much when she grew up in a family like the Rossis.
Esteban glances at Nico then at me. "And Nico wants to train her?"
That was the plan , but I'm no longer sure. To my relief, Esteban adds, "I'll do it. I'll teach her all the knife skills I know."
"The fuck you will!" Nico growls.
I ignore the argument—and probably fistfight—that is about to begin and walk out of my office.
______
When it's time for her to learn about knives and daggers, she will be in good hands. Esteban is not called The Doctor for no reason. But while knife skills come in handy in many fights, she will need to know about guns too. There is no way for her to be good at something new in a short time. It's important for her to have as many options as possible. Francesco will teach her all he can about explosives later.
But first, I'm going to teach her about guns. If she's a fast learner like I think she is and if she doesn't use the training as an excuse to kill me, I only need to train her once and she can do more practice on her own.
I don't know why I'm eager to be done and stay away from her.
I find her in her room, reading a book while lying on her stomach on the bed. She is wearing a little pair of blue pajama shorts and a white floral tank top, displaying the dip of the small of her back and her tiny waist that leads up to a beautiful, curvy ass. My cock stirs to attention within seconds and I have to clear my throat and tear my eyes away.
She glances over her shoulder and turns the whole way when she sees me. The front isn't any less torturously seductive. I force my eyes to her face and see her smile freeze.
"Are you disappointed it's not Nico?" I snipe. Did she dress like that for him? Why the fuck does it matter? Aside from the fact that she's a prisoner and shouldn't be fraternizing with any of us.
I don't give her the chance to respond. "Come with me. Wear something suitable for training."
She sits up with that annoyed expression on her face. "What crawled up your ass and died? And why should I train with you?"
"The rules, Catalina." I remind her.
She opens her mouth to say something but drops it. Her lips are still slightly parted and I can't stop myself from picturing them wrapped around my…
What the fuck, Will?
I tear my gaze away. Catalina Rossi. That's what the fuck.
_____
AN
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