T W E N T Y - T W O | here's a quarter—

C A P R I C E

I packed my things and two weeks' worth of clothes in my tattered luggage. I also shoved the brochure and an extra wad of cash. All the while, I could feel Aiscelle's questioning eyes on me. I hadn't spoken to her since the altercation between Colt and me. I figured she was concerned but I doubted she'd understand me if I tell her the reason. Especially if it involved the guy of her dreams.

I snubbed her looks and grabbed the strap of the heavy bag, swinging it over my shoulder as I strutted to the living room.

"Priz! Wait!" she called out as my hand wrapped around the doorknob.

I turned to her. "What?"

"Are you okay?" The younger girl bit her lip sheepishly. "Do you want to talk about it?"

"Why?" I snapped. "If I talk about it, will the problem go away?"

Aiscelle parted her mouth in surprise. "W-well..."

I rolled my eyes and exited the apartment. I had no time to deal with Aiscelle's fragile feelings since I would be facing a lot of bad memories soon.

I walked to the gym's entrance where Colt was leaning against a black Mazda, a cigarette between his lips. Dark sunglasses covered his eyes as Taylor handed him a stack of papers that he accepted with hesitation.

"So, I'm traveling with you?" I mumbled when I reached them.

The white shirt hugged his body, revealing his broad shoulders and toned arms. Why was it that he looked like a model even in cheap clothes?

"Do you wanna walk instead?" he shot back, throwing the documents inside the car.

It seemed we were both in a pissy mood. But that was okay. I was done being nice. Destruction was more of my forte.

"Caprice, I gave Colt the gym's guidelines and monthly reports. I read that you will need that for the forums," Taylor explained, not losing his smile despite the fangs Colt and I showed.

Acrylic sauntered towards me. He gave me a pat on the back. "Good luck, Priz."

I glared at the spot where he touched me that AC chuckled, hands up in surrender. "Sorry. Are you having a bad day?"

"More like bad days," I responded, scowling at Colt who continued talking with Taylor. "I don't know how you managed to live with him in the same house without killing him."

"'Cause I'm a good person," he replied, showing his pearly white teeth. "Don't worry. I'll pray for you."

I let out a sardonic laugh. "Start praying I won't become a murderer."

"Good luck, guys. Have fun." Taylor exclaimed as I opened the door to the back seat.

I sat comfortably when Colt peeked inside. His clear-cut jaw was taut with displeasure. "What the fuck. Am I your driver?" he growled.

"Why not?" I crossed my legs, eyebrow arching in defiance. "You look like one."

"Sit in the front, Caprice." The command in his guttural voice created a small twist in my stomach. I won't deny it but I won't acknowledge it either.

I beamed at him. "Say please."

Colt's grip on the partly open window tightened. He let out a grated breath, one hand raking through his hair. "Sit in the front, por favor."

I clicked my tongue at his cheekiness to use another language. "Fine!"

I got out of the car and transferred to the front as Colt slid into the driver's seat. His aftershave hit my nostrils. Smoke and mint. I tried to block it out but I admit, he smelled nice.

Any admiration I felt immediately evaporated as he drove a little below the speed limit. I crossed my arms, despite my urge to protest. We hadn't arrived at our destination and yet, I already wanted to turn back.

☽

After four hours, we arrived at Hexwood Clubhouse. It was located near a lake and extended towards the countryside. The whole place was about 40, 000 hectares of green fields with different facilities and offered varying sports activities ranging from golf to polo.

Even without the brochure, I knew this place with the back of my hand. Because Aeon owns—owned it.

Every summer, Aeon would manage to convince Abuela to make me come with him and Indy using a sound argument. His IQ of 166 had given me a lot of leeways. Hexwood—Helios back then was my safe place.

But Aeon died and the pain was excruciating.

It was the first time I realized that Abuela had been right all along. Life sucked and if you want to survive, you need to get stronger, mightier, better than everyone.

So, despite Indy's blunt comments and melancholic gazes about my 180-degree turn, I wrapped my heart in iron. I shut my eyes and followed Abuela's every order. I knew I couldn't disappoint her again.

I was glad that Colt's betrayal didn't hurt as much, that my armor didn't completely break. The damage was repairable.

I was still okay.

My hand opened the car door and I was met with the warm wind. I saw a huge welcome signboard and to my right was a two-story ranch-style building. I took a deep breath, knowing that the next two weeks would test how far I had hardened my heart.

"Hey."

I turned to Colt as he thrust my luggage to my chest without considering the fact that I couldn't hold it properly. It fell on the ground with a thump.

I glanced up at him. "Are you serious?"

"Do you want me to help you?" he asked. A taunting smirk on his lips.

"No," I snarled and Colt Luciente shrugged his shoulders and walked ahead with a bag swinging on his shoulder.

Fuck you.

I stomped my foot on the ground and scrutinized the people bustling around me. They were unloading their baggage and most of the people were families. I wasn't in the mood to act like a peasant with the beginnings of a migraine so I decided to ask for help.

My eyes narrowed to the car nearest to me. A blond man was locking his car. He would do.

I whistled to get his attention. He frowned before marching to me with a pleasant smile. "Is something wrong, Miss?"

I made sure to pull out my most adorable smile. "Can you please help me carry my bag? You're going to that building too, right?"

The guy gave me a once over. "Sure. Anything for a pretty girl like you."

"Thanks." Even though at the moment, I was only in a tight shirt and skinny jeans with my chestnut hair in a messy bun. I guess my pretty face turned out to be a great weapon.

"Thanks. You don't look so bad yourself," I complimented back. The guy was in a blue-green pinstriped shirt and khaki shorts. He had a nice set of muscles too.

We talked as he accompanied me to the building where I found out that his name was Sonny. He was an MMA enthusiast and that was the reason why he was invited here.

We reached the lobby of the building where people were meandering about. He put my baggage on the side and told me to get in line. "Thank you very much," I said.

Sonny raked a hand through his cropped blond hair. "So hey... can we like, hang out later?"

Oh no. I forced a smile and began to speak. "I'm really sorry for the trouble. But I don't—"

"Hey, hellcat." Colt's voice rang behind me.

I spun my head to him, to give him shit about his foul attitude but I saw him pause with parted lips. I followed his attention that settled on Sonny's face.

"Colt... Long time," Sonny muttered with a jeering smile. He folded his tattoed arms against his chest and threw me a fleeting glance. "So, she's yours? Zeus would have liked her too."

The air around Colt became desolate, choking the hell out of me. I glanced at him and saw his clenched jaw. He yanked off his sunglasses, inserting them into his back pocket. The muscles under his left eye twitched before he rasped, "What are you doing here?"

"Why not?" Sonny responded. "Is this your territory?" His voice went lower as his dark brown eyes scanned Colt's form. "You look decent. But don't ever think that Patron let you go without a price." Sonny's serious face turned to a lenient one when he addressed me. "See you around, Caprice."

Sonny went with a group of people and went ahead of us. I took a cautious peek at Colt but he was already eyeing me. "How come people like that get attracted to you?"

"Because I'm awesome."

Colt let out a long breath before he remembered something. He showed me a key card. "It's a connecting room. I'm warning you now."

I rolled my eyes. "Same to you."

Colt didn't speak for the whole time we walked to our assigned rooms.

Two days passed but there were no signs of him. I was certain he was fine on his own so I attended the forums alone. Besides, I had barely gotten any sleep from the nightmares that plagued me. Aeon's smile and his blood on my fingers would wake me up at midnight. If that wasn't enough, Abuela's disappointed words kept haunting me. I had no time to worry about other people.

The speaker finished his topic about proper warm-ups. I sighed with relief when the person next to me handed me an attendance sheet.

I signed it but halted as my attention switched to the highlighted note above. Three absences require compensation.

"Qué?" I blurted in surprise. I marched to the reception desk with an agenda. The woman visibly swallowed as she saw me. "Can I ask you something?"

She gulped. "What is it, miss?"

"Why do we have to compensate for absences? It isn't in your invitation," I grated out. My elevated voice echoed in the empty hall.

"Well, you signed the contract when you arrived." The plump woman searched through the stack of folders on her desk. She yanked one and opened it for me to read. "Here, miss."

My eyes scanned the document and saw that of the signatures belonged to Colt. Fucking hell. It stated how the gym would pay for the debts we would acquire. I slapped the folder close. "Damn it!"

I had many failures in life but never in business. It was such a novice mistake to sign an unknown contract that my blood boiled in disgust.

I left the hall and headed straight to our room. Despite Colt's warnings, I slid the connecting door open and entered his room.

My eyes perused the place, noticing the neat bed, the unopened bathroom necessities, and his bag. I zipped the bag open and saw his folded clothes and a pack of cigarettes.

Cigarettes weren't sold in the clubhouse but he hadn't come back for it. What the hell was he doing?

I clicked my tongue in contemplation. Colt had a hard time sleeping so he'd probably pick a quiet place. I snatched the pack just in case I needed something to barter.

And even though I was punishing my feet, I went to the lakeside. It was the only place that closed before eight.

When I arrived, the lakeside restaurant was dark and only the moon's light was illuminating the deepwater basin. My eyes narrowed as they adjusted to the lack of light. Faintly, I could make out a silhouette under a tree. I cursed under my breath.

I stalked to where he was lying with one arm under his head, the other one holding a cigarette between his fingers.

My anger spiked to the next level. I stomped to him, crushing the pack of cigarettes on my fist. "Hey!"

Colt frowned for a second before he sat up. His slovenly clothes, the bags under his eyes, and unkempt hair completed his sloppy appearance. "What?"

"You signed a contract without reading it? How could you be so stupid?" I reprimanded, irked at his nonchalance. "RDG has to pay $30,000 if you miss one more forum!"

His brain finally worked as he scoffed, "Seriously?"

"I better see you tomorrow!" I yelled but he shrugged and laid down again. "Hey! What the fuck? Are you gonna sleep here?"

"What is it to you?" he snapped, rubbing a palm over his weary face. "You worried?"

I gritted my teeth. "No. But I swear if I find out you're breaking some kind of rule here, I'll cut your head off."

Colt chuckled darkly as he rose from his spot. He glanced at his feet before bringing his eyes back to mine. "Oh, really? You think you're scaring me?"

The words got stuck in my throat when he stepped nearer. Colt closed the gaps between our bodies and his head dipped towards mine.

"I have too many demons to deal with. You're not that special," he hissed. His obsidian eyes never leaving mine.

My wrath erupted in a glorious firework. I was too ecstatic to let my rage out and bite its prey.

"You know what, I was starting to respect you. The fact that you went to prison doesn't even cross my mind but then you talk shit like this to me and you look down on me." I scoffed and trudged to the lakeside, the packet dangling from my hand.

"Wait!" Colt shouted. His steps were measured as he approached me like I was a dangerous animal. "Don't you dare, Caprice!"

The nicotine sticks dropped one by one and I relished the fury that crossed his face. I dumped the whole pack, silently apologizing to nature for Colt's trash.

His head snapped to me, eyes blown with indignation. "Are you crazy? That was my last pack!"

"I know." I let out a sinister smile. "Enjoy your nicotine withdrawal, alright?"

☽

hahaha this was a funny chapter!
any tips?

hope everyone is okay, votes and comments are appreciated.

An idea of what a clubhouse looks like. This extends upwards to the countryside.