5:30*

Dinner was taking too long to come, so Tessa decided to visit the kitchen by herself. She needs to load herself with enough food before her training starts tonight, and she can’t risk it.

She was on her way to the kitchen when Usman crossed her, and she sighed.

“What again?”

“You managed to get in, Micah, and it’s all good, because you’ll be dead soon,” he said with a toxic smile.

“I’m starting to get tired of the suspense too. When are you killing me?” she replied, faking a scared expression, and he came closer, leaning into her ear to whisper…

“Keep acting superior like that, but always remember I’m stronger than you, and that’s not for joke,” he said, and Tessa blinked as he left her, walking away.

She stood there for a moment too long, then she made faces, mocking his expressions. Then she noticed a blade stuck on the wall. It’s the blade Enzo threw at her.

She moved closer and removed the blade, then she started checking it out on her fingers. It’s so damn sharp and slim, still stained with her blood, and she felt the chills.

He threw this at her? What if it gave her a deeper cut? What kind of human is he?

As if to answer her, Bullet and Blaze came out of their residence, and they got in a black sports car together. Enzo joined them, putting on a black leather jacket as he walked towards the car.

Rook talked about the Wild Boars’ mission… Are they going for it right now?

He looked her way, and she quickly stood at attention, saluting him like a soldier. She cursed herself for doing that immediately.

Enzo smirked the devilish smirk again for the fourth time before getting in the car. He drove out with the girls, and Tessa dropped her hand from her head slowly.

Was that stupid? Yes.

And what’s with his smirks?

She smirked too, imitating him before continuing her journey to the kitchen.

⸻

A DOCK, 7 PM*

The black car pulled to a stop on the rusty ground, and Enzo came out with the girls at the same time.

The clan trades with several cartels, and Wild Boars are one of the biggest, so this is not their first meeting, but The Pakhan sensed a wrong click at their end, which is why he sent Enzo instead of Dante to avoid unnecessary mishaps.

The two girls stayed on his right and left side, and the sound of the waves crashing against the pier rent the air as he rested in the car, occasionally checking the time on his pocket watch. He’s getting impatient.

“I kept wondering why you took Micah in when he didn’t pass. You don’t do things without a reason,” Blaze broke the silence.

“Of course I don’t. I’ll keep the reason to myself… for now,” he replied point-blank.

“He didn’t do anything wrong, did he? Are you planning to kill him?” Bullet asked quickly.

Before he could give her a reply, Wild Boars appeared.

They’re supposed to be five like their usual number in past meetings, but it’s just one man right now.

Despite that, Enzo straightened up, zeroing his eyes till the man got to them.

“Where are the bags?” Enzo questioned.

“I’m afraid I’m not here to trade today. I only wanna talk,” the bald man replied, adjusting his coat.

Bullet was made to attack him, but Enzo stopped her with a glare, so she stepped back.

“And you think I’d leave the comfort of my manor and come here only to talk?” His arctic eyes returned to the man.

“I don’t think it’s forbidden to talk to your trading partners once in a while. It’ll be a harmless talk, in my car,” the man replied seriously.

“Lead the way,” Enzo replied, and he did.

The girls tried following too, but a rise of Enzo stopped them, and they stayed back beside the car, watching him leave with the man.

He walked behind him, taking each step with glaring nonchalance, and soon, he saw the man’s red car waiting at the other end of the dock.

“I guess you parked your car that far for a purpose,” he knowingly said, and the man turned back to him.

“Yeah, and also because we’ll never be entering. The only place you have the right to enter right now is hell. Goodbye, Enzo Ivanov,” he smiled, and Enzo looked around.

Just like he suspected, the dock is surrounded by the remaining Wild Boars, all aiming for him with their handguns.

He looked back at their leader in front of him and let out a satanic chuckle before holding his shoulder.

The man froze at the grab, and Madden leaned in…

“It’s a pity you’re going to hell before me. Bye,” he whispered, and the man’s eyes widened as something beeped in his pocket.

When he was talking to Enzo beside the car earlier, Poe slipped a lightweight time bomb into his pocket without his knowledge.

He started panicking as he tried to remove it with shaky hands, but immediately Enzo stepped back, and the bomb exploded, blasting the man to pieces.

His arms, head, legs, intestines… everything went scattered on the dock ground, and at the same time, his team surrounding the dock began firing.

Bullet and Blaze retaliated almost immediately, bringing them down as bullets began raining like crackers.

Enzo got his gun and covered himself with one of the dock pillars, shooting from there and bringing them down too in large numbers.

Bullet and Blaze might be the best snipers in the clan, but he taught them, and that makes him the brain behind everything.

He’s the mastermind of the best, so together, the three gave Wild Boars a freak show, and three minutes later, they all went down, leaving just Enzo and his girls at the now bloody dock with bodies lying around them.

“Thanks for telling me to plant the bomb, Master,” Blaze smiled.

“Their whole cartel should be wiped out, for real,” Bullet said.

Enzo only entered the car, seething with undeniable rage as the girls joined him.

Blaze drove them out of the dock, and Enzo glared throughout the ride.

The fact that Wild Boars did this boldly only means they have support from other cartels. They didn’t do it alone, and slowly, he’d bring everyone involved in this attack to their knees.

Blaze drove into the clan an hour later, and they already met Sergei waiting in front of the House of Ivanovs.

The girls returned to their residence, but Enzo went to him, and the man looked up to him.

“As expected?” he asked.

“You’re not the only one with enemies in the underworld after all. They were solely after me,” Enzo replied, his voice thick.

“But you took them down, as usual,” Sergei smiled proudly, patting him on the arm.

“I’ll handle the rest. I know where to tackle,” he said.

“No. I’d like to handle this myself,” Enzo replied, and Sergei nodded at him.

He finally left, and Sergei smiled again before entering the building.

From a distance, Dante stood with Eight under the shadow of an orange light.

“He got attacked,” Eight said.

“What do you mean? I would have taken them down too if it were me who went on the mission. Leave father and mother to their biased preferences, I’ll get back at them soon,” Dante replied.

Eight sighed, his breath heavy.

⸻

GENERAL TRAINING GROUND, 10 PM*

Rook and Nichole sat at a safe distance, watching the interesting scene in front of them with keen faces.

Bullet and Blaze are currently teaching Tessa how to use a gun, and she’s catching on so fast to their amazement.

She mastered the use of a handgun within an hour. Blaze taught her that one.

Right now, Bullet is teaching her how to use a sniper rifle, and it’s heavier than she expected. She was breathing heavily as Bullet balanced the merciless metal on her palm.

“Control your breaths,” Bullet told her, and she held it, focusing on the red dot.

“Regulate your heartbeat,” Bullet addressed again, stylishly rubbing Tessa’s neck.

Tessa tried to regulate her heart rhythm, and her eyes focused again.

“Think of someone you badly wanna kill with a sniper, and pull the trigger,” Bullet’s final order came, and Tess closed her open mouth.

She shadowed her eyes at the red dot, and she conjured up the image of her bastard ex-boyfriend as the target.

She pulled the trigger, and it flew straight to the red dot, hitting the target.

“Yes!!!” Rook sprang up ecstatically.

“You’re good, Micah,” Bullet stroked Tessa’s hair fondly, and Blaze smiled.

“You’re better than I thought.”

“Thank you,” Tessa smiled proudly.

She can’t wait to tell Racheal about this.

“Buddy!!” Rook finally got to them and hung his arm on her shoulder like his habit.

“I’m proud of you, Micah,” he winked.

“You’re doing well,” Nichole told her, and she stuck her hand with his.

The girls had to retire to their residence after that, then Rook and Nichole had to leave to rest early since they have a mission with Sin tomorrow.

Tessa waited at the ground for more than an hour, hoping Enzo would show up, but he never did.

It got worse when it started snowing, and she’s not a friend to cold at all. Luckily for her, her jail room was secluded when she was still in jail, so it was warm, and now she’s not having it at all.

She stood and started jogging around the ground to blow off some steam, but she couldn’t keep up for long before coming back to the starting point.

She went down in position, and despite the pain tearing through her aching limbs and arms, she began doing press-ups again.

She hadn’t even arrived at 20 when the ache became unbearable, so she made to stand…

“Continue,” the inhumane voice came behind her, and she swallowed.

When did he even get here?

She waited for hours, and he had to arrive at the wrong time?

“Yes, Master,” she replied with difficulty, continuing the exercise.

The cold ate deeper and deeper into her system, and the more she pressed, the more she grunted.

She got to 35 and made to rest her arms…

“You do that, and you’re out of the clan. I took you in, and that only means your life belongs to me,” Enzo’s firm voice said behind her, and she gulped again at the meanness.

“But I…”

“You wanna get stronger? Then show me what you’ve got. Go on,” he ordered, and she breathed out, steam escaping her mouth as she continued despite the pains.

The cold got worse, and she started thinking about what it’d be like to die of hypothermia. She’s gonna die at this rate, and this motherfûcker here won’t give a fûck.

At the same time, she wants to get stronger. Didn’t she come here to achieve that?

‘You came to get stronger, not to die,’ the annoying voice in her head boomed, but she ignored it and continued her exercise.

Her elbows shook as she did the fiftieth press-up, and it felt like her heart would burst out of its confines. She’s hot and cold at the same time. She’s shaking and red too…

Everywhere is dark, and at the same time blurry… then white…

Her eyes closed, and she fell, passing out as sweat bathed her skin and snowflakes filled her hair and clothes.

Enzo’s movements were slow as he walked to her, and immediately his pair of brown boots settled beside her, he crouched beside her body, and his lips twitched so fast as he stared down at her.

“Micah?” he said, running his droopy eyes through her body thoroughly.

“Could have fooled me,” he muttered.