"Hey Blaze, right?" I heard someone calling out behind me as I was quickly walking out of the training room. I turned over my shoulder to see one of the men that were on stage judging us jogging towards me with a slight smile on his face.

"Yeah, and you are?" I said as I raised an eyebrow at him. I desperately needed a fucking nap, and I really didn't want to engage in any kind of conversation.

The man came closer, and I examined his features. His jet black hair contrasted perfectly with his icy blue eyes. His hair was of medium length, so the front of it almost touched his thick and dark eyebrows. It wasn't styled, and seemed a bit unruly. He had a four o'clock shadow, and his sharp jawline was covered in short and dark stubble. Normally, I would have swooned over the sight of this attractive man calling out my fake name and running towards me, but I was so tired I honestly couldn't care.

"Matteo. Matteo Black." He said as he stood in front of me and held out his hand with a smirk.

"Nice to meet you." I said turning around and shaking his hand firmly while I smiled back at him. This could be a great opportunity to gather some additional information on the infamous Capo.

"You did good out there. Really fucking good. Where'd you learn to fight like that?" He asked as he smiled and tilted his head slightly.

"My foster parters owned a martial arts studio, so I spent most of my childhood in a dojo." I said as I chuckled slightly.

"Foster parents? If you don't mind me asking, what happened to your real parents?" He asked curiously as he tilted his head.

"Wow. Already asking me about my family, and you didn't even take me out to dinner yet? How rude." I joked while chuckling as I attempted to change the subject. I hated talking about my past, it held nothing but horrid and disturbing memories that I longed to forget. He chucked while he looked down at the floor and ran his fingers through his hair before his piercing blue eyes met mine once more.

"Alright, alright. How about I buy you a drink? A couple of us are going out tonight, I'd love if you could join us?" He said with a large smirk as he raised his eyebrow.

"Sounds good." I said as I looked at him and smiled back.

"Awesome. We're meeting up in the living room at 9. I'll meet you down there." Matteo said as he winked at me, making my heart flutter slightly.

"Matteo." A deep and deadly voice boom throughout the room. We both looked over to our right to see Ryder leaning against the wall, with his arms crossed in front of his chest and his gaze fixated directly at me.

"Hope I'm not disturbing anything important." Ryder said with a bored tone as he started walking towards us.

"Only slightly." Matteo said as his lips morphed from a smirk to a slight scowl. "What's up?"

"I don't fucking pay you to stand around and flirt. You have shit to do, make sure it gets done." Ryder growled in annoyance as he glared at Matteo, then his head turned to look at me.

"Get lost." Ryder growled at me as he looked at me with an unemotional expression on his face.

I raised my chin in defiance as I glared at him and crossed my arms. We stayed like this for a moment, and Matteos confused gaze went from me, to Ryder, then back to me before he finally pierced the awkward tension.

"It's all right, Blaze. I'll see you tonight." Matteo said as he smiled slightly. Ryder whipped his head to face him so fast I swear he got a bit of whiplash from it. His unemotional face turned into an angry scowl as he started at Matteo, who in turn, was smiling at me.

"Looking forward to it." I said confidently as I raised my eyebrow and turned around, swaying my hips before walking out of the training room.

I walked up to my room, taking the elevator and ignoring the stares from everyone that I passed. Before I joined the CIA, I had to enroll in the academy, which is their version of training. It was a six month bootcamp, and I couldn't help but have the unpleasant feeling of deja vu creep into my mind.

I was use to the stares, the shit talkers, and the cockiness. In all honesty, CIA training was worse, frankly because I couldn't kill the people who annoyed me. I was an outcast there, always the black sheep and the underdog. It didn't bother me though, I used it as fuel, as motivation to prove everyone fucking wrong about me. I honestly enjoyed the negativity that people threw my way, it gave me more of a reason to train harder. While they were sleeping, I was awake training. While they were partying, I was bettering myself. While they were talking shit, I kept my mouth closed and let my skills do the talking.

I opened the door to my room to see Jolie waiting for me inside. She was sitting on one of the chairs by the bookshelf, her legs crossed and her phone in her hand.

"About time." She said with a smile as she stood up and walked over to me.

"Sorry. I would have hurried if I knew I was expecting company." I said as I raised my eyebrow at her.

"You're coming out with us tonight, right?" She asked hopefully as she gripped my shoulder.

"Yeah, Matteo invited me." I said smiling slightly. I needed a damn drink... especially after dealing with the emotionally void sex god named Ryder Calderon.

"Wait... Matteo invited you!?" Jolie said as she raised her eyebrows in surprise and a playful smirk stretched across her lips.

"Yeah. Why are you acting so weird now?" I asked curiously as I furrowed my eyebrows.

"Dude. Matteo never talks to anyone, let alone invites them out. He's totally into you." Jolie said as she smiled widely and shook my shoulders slightly.

"Boy are the last thing on my fucking mind." I said honestly as she continued to shake me. "And stop fucking shaking me." I laughed as I gently gripped her wrists and pushed them away.

"Go take a shower and wash off the blood that's on you, I'll bring you some outfits!" Jolie said as she pointed a finger in the air and ran out of the room, leaving me inside to shake my head at her playful and excited demeanor as I walked into the bathroom.

I turned on the water, and let the scorching liquid relax my tense muscles and wash the blood off my skin. I leaned against the wall and leaned my head back as I closed my eyes. I stayed there for a moment, letting the hot water seep into my bones and for the first time since I got here, I actually felt somewhat... relaxed.

I quickly got out of the shower, and walked out into my bedroom with only a towel on. Jolie barged into my room with a bag full of clothes as she tossed it over to me. I quickly rummaged through the things she brought me and frowned when I saw how sexy and revealing all of them were.

"Jolie what the hell is this?" I groaned as I rolled my eyes in annoyance.

"Um appropriate clothes for your date tonight, duh." Jolie said with her eyebrow raised as if she was stating the obvious. A few moments later, we heard the door across from mine slam loudly, causing the walls to shake from the impact. We both looked at the door, before looking at each other and shrugging.

After about twenty minutes of arguing, I finally gave in and wore skinny jeans, heeled boots, a low cut blouse, and a leather jacket. I curled my hair, and ran my fingers through it a few times, before Jolie did my makeup perfectly.

"Man you really know how to get under my brothers skin." Jolie laughed as we walked into the elevator.

"Good. Prick deserves it... no offense." I said as I quickly looked over at her.

"None taken." Jolie laughed. "He can be a hard person to deal with, trust me."

"Hard would be an understatement. I couldn't imagine the patience you must have by being related to him. He's intolerable." I said as I rolled my eyes and walked out of the elevator.

There were about a dozen people waiting downstairs, some of them I began to recognize as members, and other I recognized as candidates. They were all mingling and some were already drinking. I walked past of woman, who started to stare at me before snickering at me. I rolled my eyes at their immaturity before walking out beside Jolie.

"Blaze, hey!" I heard from the other side of the room, making everyone turn their head in curiosity. I saw Matteo making his way through the center of the crowd towards me with a smile. Everyone started whispering as their eyes followed the smiling Matteo as he walked until he was right in front of me.

"You look...wow." Matteo said as he looked me up and down and ran his hand through his jet black hair.

"You don't look to bad yourself." I said honestly as I looked him up and down. He was wearing a black v neck shirt that hugged his muscular body. His hair was messy, and added to his bad boy demeanor. I couldn't help but feel slightly flustered as his masculine and clean scent filled the air around us. He was attractive, and he the worst part is that he knew it.

The room fell completely silent as the elevator doors slid open. Matteo's attention moved from my eyes, to behind me as another scent of pine and tobacco filled the air, filling my senses and overpowering Matteos. I looked over my shoulder to see Ryder, dressed in a black long sleeved shirt and black jeans. His hair was styled and gelled back to perfection. My breathing hitched as he started walking out of the elevator, and his grey eyes locked onto mine...that man obviously has a staring problem. His eyebrows furrowed slightly as he looked over at Matteo for a moment, before looking over at me again.

"About time you're ready." Matteo spoke out bravely. It seems like he's the only one who is bold enough to speak to Ryder in such a casual way. Ryder continued to walk over to us, his long strides closing the distance between us within a few seconds.

"Fuck off." He growled at Matteo as he glared at him. "And where do you think you're going?" Ryder asked as he turned his head to look down at me.

"Out." I stated as I crossed my arms in front of my chest.

"And who gave you permission to leave?" He said as he crossed his arms in front of his chest, mimicking my body language.

"Matteo." I said as I raised my eyebrow in annoyance, and Matteo looked over at Ryder in curiosity.

"New rule. You're not to leave the estate until your training is completed." Ryder said as he raised an eyebrow, yet again mimicking my body language like a fucking child.

"That's not fucking fair." I exclaimed in a deadly tone. "I'm here because we made a deal, and being on house arrest was not apart of our negation." I said as I tilted my chin in defiance as I glared at him.

"Negotiation? Let's get one thing straight, you little brat." Ryder scoffed as he continued to glare at me with an unemotional expression on his face. He hunched his back slightly, bringing his face closer to mine so that his nose was almost touching mine.

"You're only here because you can be an asset to my Mafia. Either follow my rules, or fucking die. And lose that annoying ass attitude while you're at it." He said in a deadly tone, I inhaled deeply, trying to control my temper. Being this close to him, smelling his minty breath, and his skin grazing mine, always made me feel uneasy. He was by far the most attractive man I've ever met, and his controlling and powerful aura made my knees weak and my body betray me with desire.

"Sir yes fucking sir." I said sarcastically after a few moment, breaking the silence as well as our little stare off. I turned around and started to walk away, everyone watching as I walked out of the room quickly.

I fucking hate Ryder Calderon. More than I have every hated anyone in my life, and trust me, that is a long fucking list in itself. I fucking hate his attitude. I fucking hate his dominance. I fucking hate his cockiness. I fucking hate his ego.

But most of all, I fucking hate that no matter what he says to me, or how he treats me, I can't control this undeniable lust I feel towards the infamous and notorious Ryder Calderon, no matter how much I fucking hate him.