CHAPTER THIRTY TWO
“TRAINING WITH GIOVANNI”

SCARLETT DEL GATO

“You have to dodge my punches faster, and you have to lift your arms trying to stop my fists before they make contact.” Giovanni says when he nearly makes contact with my face for the third time that afternoon.

We were in the backyard, training like he said we would last week. It was nice to be in the yard today. The sun was nice and warm. The rays actually glistened against the pool. The insects buzzed around us and the birds chirped happily. I even heard a woodpecker in the distance.

It was a peaceful day, except for the fact that I was sweating from head to toe. My forehead was covered in sweat, I had to wipe it off with my gloved hand every so often before it rolls into my eyes. I wanted nothing more than to jump in the pool to cool me off, but we weren’t even halfway through with our training.

I couldn’t give up that easily. I should just endure this for a while longer seeing that I was the one who wanted to train in the first place.

“I know.” I sigh, taking a step away from Giovanni to take a breath.

The cool breeze helped a little bit, cooling me off seeing that I was a panting mess, completely out of breath from training with someone like Giovanni.

I was a sweaty mess, but Giovanni? He still looked like he could run a marathon. There were no signs of sweat on his forehead. His hair wasn’t even tousled. My hair, on the other hand, stood up in every direction and the sweat didn’t help one bit. Hell, Giovanni didn’t even pant like me, and he was doing most of the moving work seeing that I had to dodge his punches.

“Let’s try again, shall we?” Giovanni asks, rolling his shoulders as he steps forward, nearing me. “Just think of me as someone you truly despise. Maybe that would give you a little motivation.” He says, smiling at me.

The first person coming to mind when Giovanni told me to think of someone I despised—was Vincent. I wanted to hurt him with every fibre of my being for hurting my brother in the first place.

“Okay, go ahead.” I tell him, lifting my arms to block his punches.

As his fist was thrown toward me, I dodged it with my arm, pushing his hand away in the process before it made contact with my face.

“Nice.” Giovanni smiles proudly. “I should’ve told you to think about someone you despise sooner. Who did you think about?”

“Uh… just someone from middle school.” I lie. “Now can I actually be the one who throws the punches? I want to cause damage, not prevent it.”

Giovanni chuckles, running his fingers through his hair. “Since when did you become so feisty?”

I shrug at him. “I just really want to learn how to fight. I don’t want to defend myself anymore. I want to fight.”

“In order for you to learn how to fight, you must first master the art of defending yourself because if you only go in to fight and not to defend yourself, you will get hurt in the process.”

“Fine.” I roll my eyes at him. “Again.”

• • •

I sweep Giovanni’s feet from underneath him, sending him flying to the ground, landing onto his back onto the damp grass.

The rain started to come down on us in a slight drizzle. I know, it was strange seeing that the sun was shining not long ago, but the clouds gathered so quickly, we didn’t know what hit us when the first of the raindrops started to fall. It cooled us immediately. I couldn’t be more thankful for the rain that I was in that moment.

Giovanni claps his hands together as he sits up on the wet grass. “You’re good at sweeping my feet right from underneath me.”

“What can I say,” I smile, reaching my hand out to help him up from the grass, “I’m a fast learner.”

He wipes the back of his pants with his hands but it only resulted in him dirtying his hands from the mud on his entire back and pants. Maybe it wasn’t such a good idea to train in the mud with a guy whose outfit costs more than my flat screen TV I have in my pool house.

“Now, I want you to throw a punch my way.” Giovanni says. “But I need you to actually try to punch me. We’re done with the petty training. Now it’s the real deal, Scarlett.”

I nod, shifting my feet before I inhale deeply.

I bawl my hand into a fist, looking at Giovanni straight in his eyes before I throw my punch. It connects with his jaw and I let out a huge gasp. “You were supposed to dodge it, Giovanni!”

He chuckles, wiping blood from his bottom lip with the back of his hand. “I told you that the petty training is over. I wanted to test your strength and it turns out that you have one helluva punch indeed.”

“You could’ve given me a warning beforehand.” I tell him, rubbing my knuckles. “I wouldn’t have punched you so hard if I knew you weren’t going to dodge it.”

“The entire point of this is that you learn how to fight properly, Scarlett. You cannot go soft on me; I can take a few punches. Just watch the nose. I don’t want to end up like Jason when you threw a ceramic owl in his face.” He chuckles. “I love my nose.”

“Okay.” I release a breath, rubbing my knuckles before preparing myself to throw another punch.

“Use your left hand this time,” he says, “if you keep using your right and you’ll eventually wear it out and when that happens, you’re screwed. You need to learn how to use both hands to fight.”

I nod, stepping one step backwards before throwing yet another punch with my left hand to his face. It wasn’t as hard as the damage my right hand did to his face, but it could still do serious damage if I use my left hand more than the right.

“Good. Now again.”

• • •

We were sitting on my bed in the pool house that evening, taking care of our wounds.

Well, mostly his wounds seeing that I did the punching work today.

“Now that I can use my fists properly, how ‘bout we move on gun training next?” I ask him, looking at him hopefully.

“How ‘bout no?” He smiles.

“Oh come on, Giovanni!” I whine. “I’m fully capable of handling a gun—”

Giovanni shakes his head. “You’re not ready for that yet.”

“You’re just afraid I might be a better shot than you.” I tease him, feeling a smile appearing on my mouth as I watch him chuckle.

“It’s not that I’m afraid that you might be a better shot than me, it’s because I don’t want you to have a gun yet.” He says, inhaling deeply. “It’s dangerous and when in the wrong hands, it can be lethal.”

That’s the point. I wanted to tell him. I need it to be lethal if I wanted to kill Vincent and the rest of his damn gang.

“Fine.” I pout at him. “No guns then.”

He squeezes my cheeks in between his thumb and forefinger. “Don’t pout like that. You look cute when you do, and all I want to do is kiss you.”

He lets my cheeks go, leaning in for a kiss but I pull back from him before his lips could touch mine.  “You can only kiss me if I can train with a gun next time.”

“That is so not fair.” He chuckles, twirling a ring on his finger as he watches me through his thick eyelashes. “You’re blackmailing me.”

I smile evilly at him. “You want kisses, don’t you? So teach me how to use a gun and then you can have all the kisses in the world.”

“Tempting… but still no.”

I roll my eyes at him but still lean into him before I place my lips against his. I kissed him long before I finally pull away from him. “That’s the only kiss you get until you teach me how to use a gun.”

“You’re so… so…”

“So, what? Infuriating?”

He nods.

“Well, you’re so stubborn. Guess we’re the same.”

He gets up from my bed and walks toward the pool house’s door. “You’re still not going to learn how to use a gun.” He says with a smirk before he leaves the pool house, the door clicked shut behind him.

“I’ll just ask Vito then!” I yell after him.

“Not unless I tell him not to!” He yells back.

I groan at him for being so stubborn but still feel a smile tugging at the corners of my mouth.

At least I learned how to fight. I can use everything Giovanni taught me today to my advantage. I can finally fight back if Vincent, or even Diablo, tries something the next time I come into contact with them.

And I know that it would be soon.