AllFreeNovel
Share Us
She slips her hands free and holds her arms awkwardly at her sides, her smile still plastered on her face.
“Tomorrow we can do something different, okay?”
“Okay.”
We stand in silence for a few seconds longer and there’s nothing in particular I can pinpoint that tells me what it is about her that captivates me. And I’m not sure I will ever be able to find it.
Ilie awake in the dark room and stare at the ceiling. I have a million thoughts racing through my mind at a hundred miles per hour and I just don’t know how to switch them off. My mind has never been a safe nor quiet place—in fact, it’s usually the darkest and loudest place I’ve ever been—but today something shifted.
When I was with Dax in the gym, a calmness settled over me and the only thoughts I had were of my next move.
Left, right, hook, hook, up, up. Over and over again.
The thoughts beat the fear from Maxwell and my past, beat the hate and anger for Carlo and what he did. They even beat the longing and confusion for Dax and how I feel around him.
The room is dark and I hate it, so I jump up and open the large black-out curtains, letting the moonlight filter through. Sleeping on the streets for two years, the moonlight and stars became a comfort of mine. Without the stars above me to count and lose myself in, falling asleep in this room is harder. I feel shrouded by darkness and fear.
And I’m sick of it.
I creep over to the closet that’s now conveniently filled with clothes and find a pair of joggers and a hoodie. The clothes are baggy and drowning my small frame but comfy nonetheless.
I slip on a pair of trainers, trying to ignore the fact they've been stocked in my size, and creep to the bedroom door. I open it slowly and look up and down the empty hallway. I rush down, not bothering to stop at Dax’s door, firstly because I haven’t forgotten his warning about me running around on my own but also in case he’s making the same noises he made back at the hotel and I get distracted.
I try to remember my way to the back door, grateful there are still dim lights on in every hallway of the building. Weaving my way through corridors, some bare, some with huge portraits on, I finally find the back entrance.
Just as I go to open it, a guard steps in front of me and I freeze, terrified, even though I’m not doing anything wrong.
Am I?
“Can I help you, Miss Shaw?”
I try not to cringe because he knows my name. Of course he’s going to know who I am.
“I was just going to the gym,” I say calmly.
Carlo is bound to have eyes on me to make sure I don’t try to leave, so I'm not even surprised.
“Of course. Would you like me to walk you?” He's too polite and it makes me nervous.
“No, thank you.”
He nods and holds the door open for me and before it’s too good to be true, I dash through.
He shouts out the code to the gym for me and I look over my shoulder to smile shyly at him and then continue running. I should’ve said thank you, but I just want to get away. I don’t trust anyone, and certainly not one of Carlo’s men.
At the gym building, I punch in the code and let myself through, closing the door quietly behind me. The lights come on automatically as I walk through and I smile, excited to be in here again. I hate fitness and anything that requires a lot of exercise, but this afternoon was so liberating and stress-free that I’ve been counting down the hours until I could come back.
I head over to the right side of the room where the boxing ring and equipment are and slip my hands awkwardly into the gloves I wore earlier. They’re a lot harder to put on without help, but I manage it in the end.
Approaching the bag, I go over the words in my head.
Left, right, hook, hook, up, up. Left, right, hook, hook, up, up.
I keep practising on the bag, finding my rhythm, with the plan to continue until I can’t go on any longer.
* * *
I’m halfwaythrough another punch when I feel them behind me. The skin on the back of my neck prickles and a shiver ripples down my spine, but I carry on as if I haven’t noticed them. And when I feel the heat of a body right at my back, I turn and swing my arm around with me, locking my elbow and strengthening my arm as I do, colliding with a jaw.
