Chapter 13

Isabella

I left the gym in a rage and dying from exhaustion. LuzBel did everything on purpose and still dared to insinuate things about us. I recognized that it was stupid on my part, but it bothered me that he despised me as a woman, then that he expressed his morbid thoughts, and after that, he saw me in such an insignificant way; it really hurt my pride. I didn't consider myself ugly, far from it, and I was never one of those women who liked to be desired by all men, but the way he referred to me was too unpleasant. Maybe the change of time, country, city, and life negatively affected my personality than I imagined. Guys like that guy were the ones I shied away from the most, and yet there I was, upset because I hated him, frustrated with how he made me feel, and disappointed in my attitude.

It also really hurt that he called me a spoiled brat of daddy and mommy.

If he knew everything, he wouldn't talk like that.

Precisely and it bothered me that he judged without knowing.

I would have given everything of me to be one in truth. I wanted to be a spoiled girl again by her parents. However, that opportunity was taken away from me when my mother was murdered, and my father took me away from his side to "protect" me. Even though I knew he loved me, keeping me away from his side hurt me more and more. It made me sink into loneliness and made me be who I was not.

I got in my car and called Elliot. I needed to hear him and know that he still loved me and wanted me, I needed my grounding cable, and he was that, my boyfriend, my friend, and the person who kept my feet on the planet. I felt more of an idiot realizing how LuzBel made me feel and cursed myself for starting to become so vulnerable to him.

The kiss with Evan was also a topic that upset me, and it made me question many things. For a few seconds, I was about to reciprocate. His lips on mine felt so good, the delicacy with which he took my waist, the warmth of his body and everything I felt scared me, as I was clear that feeling such a thing was not right, I should not and could not, but I could not avoid it either. Maybe I would have reciprocated if I had not thought of Elliot at that moment.

My goodness! I was terrified of the change I was having. Inside me, I had a revolution of feelings, and in my head, everything was like the spots or clouds that they drew in the cartoons when they wanted to make them look confused. For a moment, I thought about calling my father and telling him that I needed to go back to Tokyo, where everything was easier, and the only thing I had to deal with was loneliness and lack of answers. However, I imagined my mother upset for not facing life and difficulties as she taught me, and that convinced me to stay in Richmond and fight against the changes.

I made it very clear to Evan that nothing would happen between him and me or anyone else as long as I was in a relationship. I saw the surprise in his eyes and also the disappointment when he realized I had a boyfriend. At first, he didn't believe it, and after a brief explanation, he realized I wasn't lying and more so when I got a call from Elliot. He heard everything, and I felt shitty seeing his sadness, but it was better than him getting his hopes up and me feeding that illusion.

"I'm really sorry, Evan, but this can't happen again," I pointed out at that point, and he sighed, somewhat annoyed.

"Forgive me," he demanded. "I got carried away, and you gave me no reason to believe anything could happen between you and me, and I still took a chance." I nodded apologetically, and he smiled reassuringly so I wouldn't feel bad. It was no use.

I wished I could have them all.

Stupid conscience, you weren't helping me like that.

Poof! Sorry.

____****____

Jane still felt guilty about the situation she got me into for paying off a debt that didn't belong to me, but I made it clear to her that I was doing it for her and the friendship that was beginning between us. I met Cameron, her brother, and even though he was a jerk most of the time, he is also a good guy, and his biggest mistake was getting carried away with ambition, and, belatedly, he regretted it. He apologized to me many times and promised to pay me back somehow for what I was doing and, even though I told him it wasn't necessary, he was very insistent and said that he would find a way to make it at some point even with me.

Two days passed since I was in the gym with LuzBel, and I avoided running into him. I didn't want to see him. I hated to do it and see that look of contempt he had every time our gazes met. Dylan changed a little, and his hatred towards me calmed down, but LuzBel was still the same or worse, and it was still gnawing at my head, thinking about the reason for his attitude towards me.

"Hi, girls!" greeted Connor as he arrived at the table in the campus cafeteria where I was with Jane on one of the breaks we had between classes.

"Hi!" I greeted upon seeing him.

"Hi," Jane said, and I noticed a very tender blush on her face as Connor looked up at her and smiled.

"May I?" he asked, pointing to the empty spot next to my friend.

"You can," I hastened to reply before Jane denied because of the nerves that I could tell from the looks on her face.

The three of us chatted for a while as we ate, laughed, and made jokes. Jane calmed down a bit, and I saw that there were complicit and special looks and smiles between the two of them. Connor is very handsome, so is my friend and seeing them together I saw a lot of chemistry between the two of them. Jane's innocence provoked a lot of tenderness in me, and I knew that Connor was very attracted to that about her.

"Guys, I have to go out for a while," I warned them both.

"I'm coming with you," Jane said immediately, making it clear that her nerves were back.

Come on, Isa, you had to give that scaredy-cat a push.

"No, Jane, stay with Connor," I asked and winked at him, making him smile, and I saw his look of appreciation.

"I want to go with you," he insisted.

See! She was a fool. She had a whole feast in front of her and was complaining about lack of hunger.

"Jane, I don't mean to be a pain, but I need to talk to my boyfriend, and it'll be a while." I forced myself to lie, and she nodded. "See you on the way out."

"Isa, you're leaving with me today," Connor suddenly warned, and it wasn't a request. I closed my eyes tightly in annoyance as I suspected what this was about. "You know, orders from the boss. We have training at the quarters today."

"I know!" I snorted, and he laughed at my annoyance. "See you later."

I left the cafeteria and opted to sit under a large tree in one of the campus gardens. As I stood there and settled in, I decided to pull out my camera and take some pictures. I captured some images of nature, flowers, insects, and the occasional boy or girl who was immersed in something going on in their lives. That was what I liked about photography, that I could capture everyday moments and turn them into unique ones.

In the distance, I saw Elsa with her gaze fixed on something. I directed my camera to it and noticed that it was not something but someone: LuzBel.

He was a meter away from her with his cell phone in his hand, checking God knew what. I observed how the girl was looking at him with love and admiration. A few seconds later, LuzBel raised his eyes and met hers, Elsa smiled, but he didn't. He looked at her seriously and without any expression on his face. Despite that, I also noticed that the way he was looking at her was very different from how he was looking at me, and, although it was logical, it made me feel uncomfortable.

God! I was starting to get worried.

"Spying, Isa?" I gasped at the sound of that voice, and my heart skipped a beat.

"Shit! Tess, you scared me," I mumbled as I brought a hand up to the level of my heart. She laughed as she saw what she provoked.

"Nice camera," she complimented.

"Thanks, and I wasn't peeking," I clarified grumpily at her for the scare and her hint.

It was direct.

Okay, okay.

"Aha," she snorted, rolling her eyes wryly as she sat down next to me. "Just like everyone else, I know you're questioning what's going on between my brother and Elsa," she assured. I didn't respond.

Was it that obvious?

"They are not boyfriend and girlfriend that I assure you, she's in love with him to the hilt, but he's not with her."

"I don't understand why she lowers herself to that level then," I formulated, "if she wants kisses, caresses, flowers, and something else, let her look for it in someone else who does value her," I muttered, Tess just laughed.

"Elsa from my brother gets sex and caresses, but not flowers or kisses," she confessed. "At least not on the mouth," she clarified, and I denied hearing such a thing.

"I understand less now," I mused. Curiosity had overtaken me.

"It's easy, and I'll tell you with Elijah's words, "he doesn't kiss who he's only interested in for sex," better said, my brother doesn't kiss any woman because all the ones he's with is only for sex. He doesn't fall in love, and he doesn't love any woman. His heart was made of ice, Isa." I noticed a specific warning in her voice.

"Did they?" I questioned and thought maybe Elijah did fall in love before, but they broke his heart, and that's why he was like that.

Typical, one screw up, and the others pay for it.

"Leave it at that," she recommended good-naturedly and, although I was intrigued to know more, I shrugged my shoulders, feigning lack of interest.

"To every womanizing, bragging man comes his bastard moment," I whispered more to myself, remembering the phrases Lee-Ang loved to look upon the web, glancing towards Elsa and LuzBel and heard Tess giggle.

"It hasn't been born again the woman who will make Elijah get to his fucker moment." I didn't miss the part about it: it hasn't been born again. However, I decided to ignore it for the moment.

"He looks at Elsa differently," I continued, however, "not the way he looks at the rest of us, or at least not the way he looks at me."

"You're right about that," she agreed, and I felt my stomach clench. It wasn't for anything special, and it just felt ugly to have someone hate you for no reason, "I've never seen Elijah look at a woman the way he looks at you. It's like he's struggling between looking at you with hatred or liking you. You confuse him, Isabella, like no one, ever has." She managed to capture my full attention with those words. I looked at her in disbelief and, at the same time, mockery for what she said.

"He looks down on me, Tess," I snorted, "and I still don't know what I've done to him to make him that way."

"Being different," she assured, "you're strong, and you don't grovel before him, you have the dignity that many lack and intelligence, you haven't fallen for him, and you don't let him bully you or submit to his whim, you're different than what he's used to."

"It's just me," I pointed out.

"Exactly, and that's why you confuse him."

Everything Tess told me had me scheming and thinking about LuzBel's attitude, and if we were talking about confusion, he was confusing me too and a lot. I could understand Dylan's arrogance and hatred for me since we didn't start well. We started terribly, but not LuzBel. It was baseless, and maybe that was what bothered me the most.

We continued talking for a while more with Tess. We talked about our stay in Tokyo, the teaching we both received from Master Cho, and what made us get there. In her case, it was for pleasure. Mine was necessary, but I did not delve into the reasons, and she did not insist. Tess was at the academy before I arrived and then traveled again around the time I moved to Richmond. It was then that she heard from me.

"You knew Lee-Ang?" I asked, and she smiled.

"Yes, we hated each other at first. I think it was because of wanting to be better than the other. One day Master Cho put us to train together, and we ended up fighting for real," she recalled. I couldn't believe it, although it wasn't hard. Lee-Ang could be a real bitch if she weren't handled right, and Tess was one of those girls who always wanted to stand out. "What are you doing?" she asked as she saw me pull out my cell phone and dial.

"Making a video call for Lee, I want to hear all about it in great detail," I informed and laughed.

"Gossipy! Besides, the poor thing must be asleep," she said, but I didn't care.

(****)

As Connor had already informed me, he waited for me at the exit of the class and together with Jane, we went to the parking lot, there we said goodbye to my friend, and I asked her to take my car as a favor she accepted it immediately.

Again, I witnessed the complicit looks that she and Connor were giving each other, and I could not help but get excited for her because although he belonged to Grigori, he had also proven to be a good guy. My friend was the same, so I imagined that they would become a lovely couple.

And we could always serve as a matchmaker.

I thought it was an excellent idea.

I climbed back into the black Jeep that I was becoming so familiar with, and after Connor got in on the driver's side, we secured our seat belts, and he started the car. At first, we traveled in a not at all uncomfortable silence and just melted into our thoughts, or at least I was immersed in mine and enjoyed the scenery we encountered towards the quarters. Winter was trying to disappear in the city, and some trees were recovering their foliage. Trees and lakes were most abundant in those parts, along with the ducks that enjoyed the freshness that the water provided them and the squirrels and rabbits that ran free in the small woods or green areas.

"So, you have a boyfriend," Connor spoke after ten minutes of walking, and what he said was not a question.

"Does that surprise you?" I asked with amusement.

"Not at all. What surprises me is that I've never seen you with him," he clarified.

"He doesn't live here, so you haven't seen me with him."

"I didn't know you were the type to accept a long-distance relationship." I furrowed my brow at her words.

"You're one of those who think 'love from afar, happy the three of us.'" I accused, making quotation marks with my fingers.

"Or all four," he added, provoking me to roll my eyes.

"Do you like Jane?" I changed the subject suddenly, causing him to change his amused face to a nervous one.

"She's lovely, and I do like her," he agreed, "but she's a shy and difficult girl."

"Good things are meant to be desired," I affirmed.

"You're absolutely right about that, and she's very hot," he stated with double entendre.

"You're an idiot," I blurted out and laughed. He did too.

We continued on our way and talked about his feelings towards my friend. He asked me for help with her. I agreed to give it to him, but not before making it clear that if he hurt her, he would pay dearly, and I reminded him that I would be the one who would punish him, and that really didn't suit him.

We arrived at the quarters sometime later, and after Connor typed the key and put his fingerprints, the door opened, and he directed me to the training room. We greeted Tess and Jacob, and they explained to me what we were going to do. Elsa and Dylan soon joined us, making the atmosphere tense. I tried to control myself, something I didn't achieve for long since behind them, Evan also arrived, and after what happened between us, I didn't feel comfortable.

His presence made me nervous, I couldn't help it, and he noticed it. We greeted each other politely, but a huge distance had formed between the two of us, and that made me feel bad because out of everyone there, Evan was the one I got along with the best. After a few minutes, he was in charge of informing us that our training would consist of fights between us this time. He clarified that it was all practice and warned that there could be no direct blows.

We would be woman against woman and man against man, something that didn't seem right to me because then, what was the point of training us.

"Why must it be like this?" I dared to ask, I saw Evan surprised by it, and some snorted at the same.

Elsa and Dylan, to be specific.

"Because it wouldn't be a fair fight," that baritone voice behind me replied. Again that stupid shiver that appeared every time he was near me crawled up my spine and bristled my skin a little.

"I thought I'd get rid of you this time," I groaned, though I still couldn't see him since I didn't turn around.

I felt him brush against my arm as he passed me, and damn, that simple action made me nervous.

It was wrong, so wrong.

You were starting to enjoy that tug of war between the two of us.

Tug of war?

No, between the two of you, it was always a tug of war. Neither one of you would let up.

"I feel sorry for you," he said without feeling it and stood in front of everyone with that pose full of arrogance and confidence.

I saw his naked torso, and it left me in shock, I knew he had many tattoos, but I never imagined how many and of what sizes. I saw some tribal ones, some dragons and faces tattooed all over his torso, the piercings on his nipples, and with them, many thoughts came to my head involuntarily. Elijah was only wearing sweatpants that reached below his knees, a black cap to keep his hair in place since he had it a little long in the front, and sneakers. A sheen of sweat was noticeable all over his body, from which I deduced that he had already been working out.

"You like what you see that much," and he didn't ask but instead stated it haughtily. I felt myself blush but pretended I wasn't affected.

"That must have hurt," I whispered, still looking at all those tattoos and ignoring what he said.

"In pain, there is also pleasure," he stated, and that simple response made all my senses kick in, and I imagined that such a thing was said with a double meaning. "But back to what matters, we will train with hand-to-hand combat, woman against woman and man against man," he intoned with too much impetus to make it clear to me.

"I disagree on that," I blurted out again, recomposing myself from my state of idiocy.

"And who told you anything you say matters?" snorted Elsa positioning herself next to LuzBel. That girl had more ovaries to speak only when he was around. She was about to say something else, but he shut her up with a hand gesture. She rolled her eyes, annoyed by his action.

"Why?" asked LuzBel looking me in the eyes, trying to intimidate me.

"What do we train for?" I answered with a question, and he laughed mockingly as if I was the stupid one.

"When we go out on missions, it's not to play. You spoiled brat." I clenched my hands into fists at what he called me. "We face real dangers, and we have to know how to defend ourselves."

"And when a woman goes on those missions, are you powerful enough to make them face only women?" I mumbled angrily, and my gaze turned as cold as his.

I swear I was trying to run the party peacefully, but he wasn't making it easy for me.

"You want us here to be pitted against each other between our same-sex, and on missions, we'll do it with men. Do you think that's fair, Mr. Mighty?" I raised my voice at last, and seeing that he was silent, I continued, "you think you're the best of everyone here, but you don't know how to think, Elijah Pride." His jaw tightened, and I felt it for his inferior molars; "you think you're the know-it-all and perfect boss, yet your pride and sexism won't let you analyze coherently," I finished, and from the look in his eyes, I knew I touched dangerous depths.

Clap, clap, clap.

The sound of clapping was heard at the back of the room, and I sensed that everyone turned their gaze to where it came from; instead, LuzBel and I remained in a war of glances. I felt agitated by the way he referred to me, by his rude attitude when he treated me when I was there on a whim of his, and I knew he was distraught too for having challenged him in that way.

But fuck him.

"What is the name of the woman who had the nerve to put my son and successor in his place?" asked a thick, masculine voice.

LuzBel broke our gaze and turned her eyes towards the owner of that voice. I did the same and saw a gentleman dressed in an expensive suit, very refined and handsome for his age. His hair was perfectly manicured, his gray and very familiar eyes staring at me, although, unlike LuzBel, he was looking at me with admiration.

"Son, won't you tell me the name of this wonderful girl?" he questioned, and I could tell the authority that man exuded.

"Her name is Isabella White, and she is a new minion," he informed him and, although the minion thing didn't please me, I let it go for that one time.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Isabella," said the gentleman approaching me and taking my hand to kiss the back of it. His action surprised me, but I disguised it. "I'm Myles Pride, father of Elijah and Tess, boss and one of the founders of Grigori."

I know where the hot demon inherited such good genes from.

"It's a pleasure, sir," I replied respectfully and ignored that bitchy voice in my head.

"Just Myles," he asked, and I nodded, "and I should call you the great Isabella," he suggested making me smile.

"Have you seen Twilight, Mr. Myles?" I asked, and he laughed.

"Blame Tess," he defended himself, "and just Myles please, you're a... minion, though, with your way of thinking, you'll get to take my beloved Elijah's place." I noticed the amusement in what he said and knew why he was doing it.

Fuck you, asshole! I thought as I glared at him mockingly.

"If your son learned more from you, he would make an excellent successor," I formulated following his game.

"I still have a lot of things to teach him, and I think you'll help me with that." He winked at me.

"I am here," LuzBel snorted next to us, that complaint was music to my ears, and if he looked at me with hatred before, in those moments, he was murdering me with his eyes.

"What Isabella has said is the truth," expressed Myles towards everyone, ignoring LuzBel. "We Grigori face real dangers as Elijah has said, but especially the women and since the training, they must face against men because out there they do it against them and the danger is greater. So, from today, the training will be men against women, as equals," he ordered, looking his son in the eyes.

So yes, there was someone to put him in his place.

How nice!

"A good boss knows how to recognize his mistakes, son, and learn from them," LuzBel just nodded at what her father said, "Isabella, it's a pleasure to have you here. Welcome to my family."

"Thank you, Myles, though it won't be for long," I clarified.

"I hope your time here will change your mind, and let me tell you, you remind me a lot of someone," he confessed.

"I hope I don't remind you of any enemies," I joked.

"No, daughter. On the contrary, you remind me of someone I loved very much," he clarified, making my heart squeeze when he called me daughter. "I hope to see you again."

"Thank you," I said again and watched him leave seconds later.

Everyone went back to their own thing afterward, and as I expected, I got uncomfortable looks from some.

"No one I don't want calls me by my name," LuzBel asserted behind me. I stood up, even more, trying to control myself at his mania of getting too close to my back, "and I don't want you to, White," he whispered close to my ear, his very masculine scent mixed with his fragrance hit my nostrils and intoxicated me. I loved his smell, and I would admit it, even if he hated it. "Don't ever call me that again. To you and all my subjects, I am LuzBel."

"O idiot," I dared to say, and I felt him tense and press his body tighter to mine, he sighed in annoyance, and his breath brushed the bare skin of my neck, my hairs stood on end, and my heart raced.

"Someday, I'll make you swallow all your words," he threatened, pulling away from me.

I'll make you swallow yours too.

I promised.

__________________________________

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