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“No kidding,” he said in all seriousness. “I convinced him it would better suit her to have one-on-one lessons for a bit until I could catch her up with kids her age since the current class is a few weeks in.”
“She’s well above kids her age,” I replied wryly.
“By the time we get to the point of her joining the class, I’ll have firmly planted how much of a natural she is and have her practice at home in her room some. We’ll get her to jump up pretty quickly. But if he gets suspicious, I’m totally throwing you under the bus and telling him she’s joined us for your self-defense lessons.”
“I wasn’t expecting that.” Referring to Gideon’s decision, I continued, “I thought he’d relent at soccer or softball.” Had my own experiences with my brothers colored my perceptions of them as adults? I wasn’t sure, but it was yet another nail in the coffin of things that had gone wonky in the last twenty-four hours.
“Me neither, but I think he likes the idea of her knowing how to handle herself.”
“Keene apologized to me this morning while driving to the airport.” I left out the details. “He really seemed sincere, so I’m hopeful things will be different between us when I get back,” I said it out loud for Brody’s benefit, in case he was making regular updates to my brothers, but I really was. “I hate all the fighting that seems to happen anytime I’m home. I was really starting to wonder if I would have to make some major changes.”
“That’s funny.” Matteo was serious now. “My dad said something along the same lines when I talked with him.”
My blood froze, and it took everything in me not to drop my casual tone. “How so?” Matteo had never met his father, so I knew he was talking about our handler.
“You know how much he loves you,” he said. “I think he’s worried that you’re pushing yourself too hard. And this problem with your brothers can’t be helping.”
I swallowed, trying to pick my words without sounding like I was having anything other than a normal conversation. It was a lot harder than people thought to talk in code on the fly with someone else listening. “I think I’m getting burned out in some parts of my job. But other parts, I don’t know.” I blew out a breath. “I think I love the other parts so much that they’ve been holding me to the path I’m on a lot longer than I would have without them. I don’t want to give them up. But I miss being home, being able to eat what I want, and not having to worry about getting stuck with pins,” I teased about the last part, but seriously, I was pretty sure torture with sewing needles should be added to the Geneva Convention.
“I think we all have to have a get-together when you get back. You know, talk things out and see if there’s something we can do to help. You aren’t alone, Belle, don’t forget that.” His voice was soft and contemplative, and I knew he was trying to come up with a solution. I just couldn’t see one. Modeling gave me the access I needed to reach the monsters humanity pretended didn’t exist. I could hardly continue to do what I did without the cover it gave me.
“Maybe,” I hedged. “Look, I need to be up early for photos tomorrow, and you need to get some sleep if you’re going to be on your game to keep up with my niece. Talk to you tomorrow?”
He yawned so hard my jaw hurt and made some sort of sound of agreement before hanging up.
“Sure, Lessia, talk to you tomorrow. Sweet dreams,” I impersonated Matteo. Jerk never said a proper goodbye over the phone, and it drove me nuts.
“Everything okay?” Brody asked, coming over to sit in an armchair near me.
“Yes.” I pulled my feet under me, leaning against the arm of the couch. “Matteo just called to check in and fill me in on what’s going on at home.”
“He’s not your boyfriend, is he?” He phrased the sentence as a question, but it wasn’t. It was an observation. I schooled my expression, hating that he was so intuitive. My brothers had been trying to get an answer out of me for years, and in the space of one day, he’d ferreted out that secret.
“You heard my discussion with Keene,” I said, but Brody was already shaking his head.
“What is he to you?” he asked, and I knew I needed to stop his curiosity from continuing down Matteo’s path. I knew with his training, he’d catch a lie, so I told the truth. Or as much of the truth as I could give him.
“He’s the only person in the world who gets to see the real me. And my brothers would be both hurt and confused to hear that, so it’s easier to give them the story their assumptions led them to.”
Brody nodded in conformation, seeing the honesty in my statement. “And Gia?”
“Aren’t you supposed to pretend not to hear my private conversations while officially guarding me?” I complained before answering him, keeping with Matteo’s story. It really wasn’t a story; it just wasn’t exactly as … professional … expert … as it was in real life. “Matteo really is my personal trainer, but he teaches way more than yoga and meditation.” I trailed my finger down the arm of the couch. “He also teaches karate, as you heard, and self-defense. And, possibly, mixed martial arts for those who need some private lessons. He might teach me when I’m home from time to time.”
Brody barked out a laugh. “You mean to tell me you get self-defense lessons from a yoga instructor instead of your own company? The one that trains SWAT officers and the Secret Service advanced hand-to-hand combat and martial arts? Hell, you probably have at least ten instructors on payroll who could take on tier-one operatives.”
I narrowed my eyes at him in irritation. “Matteo wasn’t always a yoga instructor. And just because someone is former special forces doesn’t mean they have to continue working in that field when they get out. He was in the Army, not the Marines, but just because he doesn’t continue to shit red, white, and blue doesn’t mean he’s forgotten his training.”
Brody’s smile was genuine now, happy. “I knew you had more training than your brothers said.”
I waved him off, really not wanting to get into that conversation. “Anyway, Gia might have hung around with us and might have been shown a thing or two necessary for a girl to know growing into adulthood. And, quite possibly, her father doesn’t know about it.”
“You mean—”
“I mean, on Saturday, Gideon dropped Gia off early for our spa day, and she spent a few hours with Matteo and me learning how to throw him.” I couldn’t help the smirk. “My brothers, for all of their skills and experience, have zero observation skills when it comes to me. They constantly think I’m this airhead with no idea of how dangerous the world can be. They forget our daddy taught all of us how to shoot a gun before we could drive a car and that I grew up listening to them discuss tactics and rules of engagement at the dining room table. I’m not complacent about my safety. I have … had … people in place to keep me safe, but I didn’t rely on them as my only line of defense.” Shrugging, I continued, “I grew up not only seeing warriors coming in and out of our home, our offices, and our training center, but was raised by them as well. They might not see me as anything other than a harebrained little sister, but I’m a hell of a lot more capable than they realize.”
Chapter 11
Brody
