Corrupted Values

Chapter Sixteen - Five Months

It’s been five months. I’m living with Sergio and I’m back to getting up early, but instead of for work, it’s for training. Every day I get up and do hand to hand combat in the morning and in the afternoon I do gun handling. I haven’t seen Sergio much since I got here. Every once in a while, he comes to see how I’m doing. He stands off to the side but he stays emotionless. I can never tell if I’m impressing him or disappointing him.

I miss seeing Remi every morning and my room. I have a room here but it's plain. There's hardwood floors, a white and grey queen-sized bed, a grey chair in the corner, a grey nightstand on the right side of the bed, and a white rug. Along the wall beside the chair is a small wardrobe. I asked about it and was told it would be better for me to worry about my training instead of what colour my walls are. I’ve met some of my father's men. They’re all serious and never smile, they just do as they’re told and that's it. It’s like living in a house of robots.

“Hey b***h. Ready to train.” A voice says as a young woman walks into my room. Zuria is the only person here that actually talks to me. She’s gorgeous. She has a toned body, bright red hair, and holds herself confidently but is also very kind-hearted. Since my first day, she’s been the one to train me along with a few others. She’s the only woman in the higher ranks. She and I have become good friends, being that we’re the only girls that actually live on the main property.

Sergio only keeps his highest trained men and women close. People he considers less important live somewhere off the property and scattered around New York. There are eight people that live here. Sergio and I, obviously. Then there's the second in command, Andre Gibson. He’s highly skilled in all fields. He does my gun training, but he doesn't talk much. He mostly just tells me when I do something wrong and how to correct it, but never speaks beyond that.

Third would be Corbin Donovan. He’s highly trained in hand-to-hand combat and hacking. He could get into anything without leaving a trace, but I don’t know much else about him. He’s usually in our security room making sure everything is running smoothly.

Fourth would be Luka and Logan Monroe. They’re brothers and our best snipers. If Sergio needs an impossible hit, he calls them in. They work together but mostly keep to themselves.

Fifth would be Jax Holden. He does all the training with new recruits. He pushes you to the breaking point, then trains you how to survive it.

Last would be Zuria Ella. She deals with Sergio’s business side of things. Importing and exporting as well as his funds. She's highly trained in hand-to-hand combat but didn't want to train in gun handling besides the basics. She’s my trainer because Andre has other things to do as well as training me, being that he's second in command and can't spend every waking hour with me. So he and I only train once every few weeks when he can spare the extra couple of hours. While Corbin has to make sure there are no threats and so, his time is spread too thin already to be worried about training me. Jax would have, but Sergio didn’t want him to fall behind and didn't want me trained with the new recruits, so it fell to Zuria. Which I’m glad about because it gained me a friend.

“Yeah, just putting my hair up.” I say, turning to her. I pull my hair into a tight pony tail before following behind her down to the gym. The gym is huge. It has everything you could think of. There’s a mat that runs down the whole gym.

“Let's do a run to warm up.” Zuria suggests, walking toward the treadmill.

“Ugh I knew you were gonna say that.” I say as I roll my eyes and follow behind her to the treadmills. We hop on and start jogging.

“I must say you're doing a lot better. You’re definitely stronger than you were when you got here.” She says, looking over at me.

“Well, I have a hard-ass as a trainer, so I’d hope so.” I say smirking at her. We laugh and continue our jog. After two hours of warm up, we walk over to the bench and do bench presses.

“You're doing good. Want to go in the ring after?” She asks.

“You're just gonna whoop my ass but sure,” I answer.

“Hey, you're doing really well. You're doing better than I was when I first started.” She says as I lay down and do five sets of twenty with her spotting me.

“Really?” I ask looking up at her.

“Well, I was fifteen when I joined but you’re learning quicker than some of the men I got trained with.” She says, looking down at me. I see a flash of pain before she masks it with a smile. I want to ask about why she joined, but it seems to be a hard topic.

“Come on, let's go to the ring.” She says, interrupting my thoughts. I get up, and we make our way to the ring in the far corner of the gym. I put on glove wraps while Zuria does the same, then we both step into the boxing ring.

“Alright ready?” She asks, clapping her hands together.

“I guess,” I say shrugging. We take our stances across from each other. She takes a step forward and goes to swing right. I step back, making her miss. She takes her stance again. She turns to side kick but I catch it. I turn into her leg and push her, making her fall back. She kicks me in the stomach, making me fall back. She gets up and on top of me before she starts punching me repeatedly. I bring my legs up and push hers out from under her before I roll on top. I start punching her and pinning her legs down with mine. After three minutes, she taps out.

“Damn girl-” She coughs out. I help her up and to a corner before grabbing her some water. I look up to see Sergio standing against the wall.

“Come with me.” He says sternly before turning and walking towards the exit.

“Will you be okay?” I ask, looking at Zuria.

“I’ll be fine. Go.” She says with a smile. She turns her head away and spits out blood. I smile back.

“Sorry for splitting your lip.” I say condescending. She rolls her eyes and takes a sip of the water while I jog to catch up to Sergio. We walk into the living room, and he walks over to the bar cart to pour himself a glass of scotch before sitting down.

“I’ve been watching you.” He says, taking a sip of his drink.

“I think it’s time you did your first mission. You’ve done all your training and your trainers have both said good things about you. Then again, I know better than to expect anything less from my own daughter.” He says as he leans back in the couch. I feel pride grow knowing I’ve impressed him.

“What do you want me to do?” I ask curiously.

“You're going to be going to a warehouse with Andre. I need you to make sure the shipments aren’t tampered with.” He says, taking another sip from his glass.

“When?” I ask.

“Tonight. You‘ll leave at sundown.” He says unemotionally

“Why isn’t Zuria doing this? Isn't that her job?” I ask curiously.

“You're the heiress of this mafia and you need to be able to do it even if she's not around.” He answers coldly before finishing his drink and exiting the room. I watch as he disappears behind a corner. I sit for a moment thinking to myself before my thoughts are interrupted.

“Hey,” Zuria says, entering the room. I smile acknowledging her.

“Did he tell you?” She asks eagerly.

“That he’s sending me out with Andre? And that I’m gonna be watching over the shipments for you?” I ask.

“Yeah, he told me when I walked past him just now that I wouldn’t be needed and you'd be doing it. Aren't you happy? He’s finally letting you out.” She says.

“I guess,” I answer back flatly.

“What’s wrong?” She asks, sitting next to me.

“When I met him he seemed happy… But now he doesn’t even seem to see me. It’s like I’m just a new recruit and not his daughter. He hasn’t even really talked to me since before I got here,” I say wistfully.

“Oh… Yeah I get it. Boss doesn’t really make time to talk to any of us. He’s usually just held up in his office. Don’t think about it too much though. He’ll probably come talk to you when things calm down with the Caldeiro’s.” She says, putting her hand on my shoulder before leaving. I start to think about Marco. Has he even noticed I’m not around? Did Nico tell him who I am? Will they kill me if they get the chance? I ask myself.