Down Lowe

Luna My alarm clock rang, and I hit the button to stop it. It’s five in the morning, and I am wearing my workout shorts and sports bra. So I hit grabbed my keys and headed out of my house.  I started running as soon as I hit the sidewalk; I looked out the eye to see if my bodyguards were running with me. Why would I need bodyguards?  My name is Luna Rose, and my father is Lucas Rose, the most feared man in the US. I’m his only daughter and most valuable asset because he has trained me from the moment I was six on how to fight and handle targets bigger than myself.  I just ran all the way to my private gym, which my dad bought, and it only allows women, and it is the most profitable business he owns. So I tossed my house keys to my bodyguard Drew. The gym has everything someone would need, from a self-defense class every Thursday to a boxing class every Wednesday. The gym has wood floors, the mirrors in all the classrooms are pristine, and they have ceiling mirrors for the floor parts in the category. All the equipment is cleaned daily, and all the staff is women. When I walked into the gym, I went straight to the treadmill and put it to the highest setting to get one more run in before I hit the punching bags. My bodyguards stay outside in case someone tries to come in. The entire building is usually surrounded by security to keep all the customers safe.  I hopped off the treadmill and grabbed some boxing gloves and some tape to go under them. Then, I stepped into the punching bag. The bags were an array of colors from black to pink. I personally love the black one purely because it’s my favorite color.  I start with some light jabs, then my hits get heavier, and then I start doing a combination. I jab twice, bob left, jab twice, and bob right. My phone started ringing, I answered it, and it was my father. " You have a new target.”  " What’s the name.”  " Ripper”  I hung up the phone and started taking off my gloves and the tape. I headed out of the gym.  " Drew my keys.”  He handed me my keys, and I started jogging back home; I checked again to see if my bodyguards were near me. I often contain myself because many of them could be my next target. I’m not that close with them because I refuse to have attachments in my work.  I step foot on my porch, and something feels off. So I put my key in the door. I put one foot in the door, put my keys between my fingers, and heard a noise from my bedroom; I grabbed the bat I kept by the door.  I took a few quiet steps to the side of my bedroom door, and I let out a faint whistle; I heard the noise stop, so I kicked in my door, holding up my bad, I looked at the person, and it was someone I wasn’t expecting, my target Ripper.  My father would call him a loose end; I was not expecting him, and a slight smirk formed. I picked up my bat once more.  " What are you doing here?”  " Someone is after me.”  " Who?”  " I don’t know, but someone who handles loose ends.”  " Are you one?” " I am not a loose end.”  " Who wants you dead?”  " Damien Lowe”  " Anyone else?”  " Luca”  " Luca Rose?”  Before he could answer me, I hit the top of his head with my bat and knocked him out.  " Drew, come get this body.”  He came and dragged him out the back door; I took off my clothes and wrapped a towel around my body; I went to the bathroom and started running my bath. After the gym and hitting my target early without even looking, I genuinely hate to drag out a job; if I can get it done quicker, I will.  I stop the water when the bath fills to where I want it to fill up, I sit in the tub and start to wash my body, and then I go under the water to wet my hair and think.  I try to clear my head because I don’t want to know what he knows that got the attention of Damien Lowe, the second most feared man in the US. He is more respected than feared.  I have yet to hear of anyone ever getting on Damien’s radar; I also have tried hard to keep myself off his radar. There is a rumor that he is looking for someone to share his empire with, my father wants me to go out with him, but I can’t see myself with someone like him.  He is nothing like my father. He is calmer and more reserved, while my father is more aggressive and domineering; he doesn’t handle many things, such as lies and someone stealing from him.  Damien is six foot five. He has this jet-black shaggy hair thing going on at the moment, and every time I see him, he has more tattoos; the latest one is a dragon, and he constantly changes his hair color every couple of months. I haven’t been on a date in a long time; I just want to be with someone who can handle me. I want someone to unwind with at night. I want my person to help me forget about the job I have.  I don’t believe that Damien Lowe can do that for me; he would just want to talk about business all the time and not unwind. I have only seen him in a meeting setting, except for the occasional drunken hook-up after a messy hit.  I jump out of the tub, let the water out, and go to my walk-in closet. I try to find the perfect business dress, and I find my usual one. It is one of those mid-length black dresses with lace on the sleeves. I put it on and put on some fishnet stockings and some boots.  I grab my car keys and head to my car " Drew, is he in the car?” he nods  I push the engine start button in the house and head to my car. My car is a new 2023 Chevrolet Blazer. Obviously, I got it in black, and I got all the bells and whistles to go with it. Still, my father added a bonus just for me; my windows are bulletproof, and my trunk is soundproof for days like this.  I head to the meeting my father is having at a restaurant; I pull up to this ritzy ditzy place called Romano Italiano. I have yet to find out who named this place, but it’s where the meeting is being held. The valet knows about the conference and tells me to pull up around the back.  I pull up around back, get out of my car, grab Ripper from the trunk, and drag him inside, My father is waiting at the door, and he drags him the rest of the way for me like the gentleman he is.  I sit at the table with the rest of the men; being the only woman at the table is empowering and, at times, intimidating. The men my father worked with used to eye me like I was just a piece of candy, but now they know how dangerous I am.  Especially Damien Lowe.....