0.22

"harder!"

"please, i—"

"the enemy won't hold back, gwendolyn. swing harder, c'mon!" shouted miles.

"i can't. please, i need to rest." panted gwen, clutching onto her stomach. "my arms are going to fall off."

"hm, a five minute break is all your getting."

it turned out that miles had decided to stay with them to help gwendolyn train. just from the look of his downturned lips and furrowed brows, he was deadly serious about the training.

gwendolyn attempted to lighten up the mood by (painfully) asking ice-breakers to him, yet the ice barely melted.

"so, uh... what's your favorite color?"

silence.

"okay, um... what's the best food you've ever eaten?"

more silence.

"oh, uh, that's cool... do you have any pets?"

even more silence.

you know what, gwendolyn thought. let me just stop.

every second miles didn't say a word, the urge to fall into a hole grew stronger for gwen.

"let's just start," he muttered.

and with that, miles made gwendolyn work—hard.

lifting weights (twenty times, each arm separately), endless sets of curl and push-ups, and punching a plastic dummy over and over.

"uh, miles?" he responded with a grunt. "how long has this been going on for?"

"your training? about twenty minutes."

"and when are we supposed to end?"

"you have another twenty minutes to go, gwendolyn," miles deadpanned.

"oh." she felt her heart drop. "can't it be a little bit shorter? just a little."

miles brown eyes glared down at her. "we needs the full forty minutes, having good self-defense is essestantal for your protection, gwendolyn."

"i know but—" gwen sighed, dropping the subject."where did karla go? i didn't see her this morning."

"trying to change the conversation, huh? we're still working out after this." he crossed his arms. "she's at a meeting now, i would guess it's about the recent attack."

gwendolyn bit her lip. "have you seen her at all today?"

"early this morning, yeah. she looked like a walking corpse."

"gosh," gwendolyn sighed. "i'm worried about her."

"why? i'm sure the main reason she's working so hard is for you, so you won't be worried about her."

"i wish i could do more to help out, that's all. i'm not saying i don't appreciate her working hard, it's just—"

"gwendolyn," murmured miles. "let me tell you one thing straight up."

the said girl lifted her head, propping her hands under her chin.

"karla... she's always been like that. when it comes to something or... someone that she loves," he paused. "she'll work hard as hell to protect them at all costs."

"you've seen how our mom is— how she looks down onto karla for no reason. believe it or not, she's gotten tamer over the years."

"when we were young, i remember our mom telling karla how she couldn't do anything right— how anyhting she'd touch would slip out of her gasp because she wasn't good enough, according to her."

"as her older brother—and even though it hasn't truly happened, i know she's scared of that happening, she just hasn't said it outright. this whole attack that's now happening... she's scared of what's going to happen, i feel it."

miles looked gwendolyn dead in the eyes.

"she'll work hard to take her mind away from the consequences, that's just how she is. but tell her that you appreciate her work, it'll mean the world to her, seriously. i really don't want her to overwork herself at all. she's my baby sister."

warmth spread in gwendolyn's chest, a smile rushing to her face. finally, miles wasn't ignoring her, but talking directly to her!

"i swear i will!" she exclaimed, her smile not once faltering.

"good." he scrutinized gwen's smile. "you know my sister likes you a lot. and since she likes you so much, i guess i'll tolerate you."

the smile on gwendolyn's face seemed to grow even brighter from hearing the approval. "i'd never hurt karla, i swea—"

"okay. that's enough sappy shit," miles grimaced. "back to work."

and once again, miles had flipped back to cold, suddenly ending the moment they had together.

well, gwendolyn excitedly thought. at least he somewhat likes me!

"god damn it!"

karla slammed her elbows down on the table, covering her face with her hands. "ezra, you've got to be fucking with me."

"karla, you know i'm not," said ezra. "and that sounds disgusting."

"keep on joking with me, and i will shoot a bullet right into your leg."

"aren't you the one with the bullet in your arm though?"

the mafia boss took a deep breath. "ezra, this is ridiculous."

"you'll have to be more specific. are you talking us randomly being attacked and having no clue who the culpirt is? or are you talking about how all the other mafias don't want to help us at all?"

"all of it! i've helped them since day one, and all from one little attack, they don't want to help me!"

ezra scratched his nape. "karla, you do realize that everyone was scared at that moment and their safety was at risk, right? also considering the way that people view you, they probably think that whole thing was a scheme for something."

"but wouldn't they think that—"karla sighed. "forget it. we don't need any help anyways."

just about five minutes ago, karla had gotten out of a meeting. all the mafias victims of the recent attack had come, the majority of them not wanting to be there in the first place. from the hour meeting that karla was in, each statement she heard was boiled down to one:

"sorry, we just don't want to help you."

they're all pussies, every single one of them. karla bitterly thought.

on top of having no support, there were no leads. absolutely nothing.

by karla's demands, spies went back to the era to investigate the scene, and other than getting DNA from the police offer that shot her leg, there was nothing new.

"i know you're mad about no one wanting to help us," started ezra. "but... there were a few volunteers that offered to help."

karla raised an eyebrow. "you're kidding me. i'm not in any mood for jokes, ezra."

"no, i'm serious, really." ezra strode over to the door. "come out, you two."

two pairs of footsteps went through the door, revealing two people with fair brown skin, loose brown curls, warm hazel eyes, and full lips.

"here they are: cj and his sister, moriah. i've read their profile and feel they would be great help."

┈┈┈┈․°🌹°․┈┈┈┈

hey guys!!👋🏾
two things real quick:

thank you guys so much for the support :) it's one of the things that keeps me motivated when writing this book, so thank you 🫶🏾

there might be another story coming soon... currently in the brainstorming process 🙌🏾

smut also coming soon 🤫