Janna was highly annoyed that the best flight she could get wasn't until
that night, but there wasn't any way around it. She decided to tell her
parents that the instructor of the course she had been supposedly taking
told the class that they could turn in their final project now if they
wanted and call it early. Janna, being a good little student, already had
hers done, so she came home as quickly as she could. It was a good enough
story at any rate. She had thought about just going to London and hiding
there until the right time to come home, but then changed her mind and
decided that it would be better to have the Atlantic Ocean between her and
Antonio rather than just the English Channel. This intense attraction
thing was way too much for her to be handling right then.
The doorbell rang, making every muscle in her body tense. And she couldn't help but be irritated with herself at the sudden hopeful thought that it was Antonio. No! Bad Janna! Bad thoughts. She knew damn well what he wanted. But still…this was just so not fair. Why was it that when she found someone gorgeous and funny and smart and great to talk to and could melt her with a kiss that he wanted her in jail? Maybe Mom would understand and she could talk to her about it.
This time, Janna checked the outside camera before opening the door. A man in a brown uniform was standing there, holding a box and a signature pad. Delivery? That was odd. Maybe one of the twins had ordered something and forgotten to tell her about it. It wouldn't be the first time. Liz was always getting stuff for her car and couldn't remember half of what she had on order. Janna was always after her to get more organized and she wouldn't have to send so many duplicate orders back, but the girl just had a problem taking sound advice from her elder.
Janna left off with the packing and went to the front door. "Yes?" she greeted when she opened the door.
The man's smile immediately put Janna on high alert. That and the black eye he was sporting. Without hesitating, she slammed the door, but he managed to shove the box in the door a second before it could shut. He pushed his way in easily, grinning coldly at making her back up a few steps.
"Good morning Jaqui," he said, the heavy Italian accent making the English hard to decipher. But it didn't take a linguist to understand intent when he reached into his pocket and pulled out a pair of pliers. "Antonio tried to be nice," he continued. "You should have told him what he wanted to know." He reached for her, the menace nearly visible as it flowed off of him. As Antonio had described her earlier behavior, she was already backing off. She was afraid. That was good. This wouldn't take long at all then and her nails would grow back soon enough.
Antonio thought Janna was cute, if a little on the hyper side when she was angry. That was the information that he had passed on to Marco. He had made a minor miscalculation. He had not seen her angry. He had only seen her when nervous. Nervous Janna was a klutz unless she had her hands on a keyboard, and even then she wasn't allowed to have food or drink near her. It wasn't mentioned out loud, but Janna had done several art exhibits while in high school, and the day that they opened, everyone noticed that Max handed her daughter nothing breakable and would only pour her drinks half- full. When Marco made a grab for her, she wasn't nervous at all. She was fucking pissed. And Janna the Pissed was very obviously the child of a genetically engineered killing machine.
She jerked back, his hands skating off of her. In an eye blink, her bare feet suddenly slid on the hardwood floor, dropping her into a split, going between his legs, and with every bit of strength she had, the heel of her palm slammed into his groin mercilessly. The breath wooshed out of him, and he froze, still leaning over slightly, his dark skin turning pale. Janna didn't waste a second. She finished the slide in between his legs, and spun around. Her legs came up and she kicked him hard directly in the kidneys sending him reeling into the wall.
Janna knew she wasn't super-human strong like her cousins, but she worked out a lot, and maybe there was a tad extra strength in there somewhere. Maybe it was just from keeping up with the twins for so long. But she was just as skilled as they were in self-defense. Her mother wasn't that big on teaching her, but Uncle Zane wanted to make sure she would be able to scare off guys like him. It was coming in quite handy just then. He would be so proud. Well, almost.
Janna grabbed a bronze statue out of the niche in the wall near them, and slammed it on Marco's head. He crumbled to the ground without a sound. Janna smiled. Now Uncle Zane would be proud of her. She looked at the still form. Now what?
Antonio sent him, she thought bitterly. Tears suddenly burned in her eyes. He got bored with playing a game with her so he sent a goon to yank out her nails. She had thought…it was impossible, but the way he had looked at her…and when he kissed her goodnight…well, maybe it wasn't totally impossible. "Bastard!" she sniffed; kicking Marco in the ribs for good measure, wishing it was Antonio. He groaned, but didn't regain consciousness. She wished he would. Then she could kick his ass again and feel better.
She grabbed Marco by the ankles, and yanked, making him slide across the floor. She dragged him into her studio, shoving him into the closet, and then grabbed some zip ties. A minute later, she was quite pleased with her handiwork. There was a metal pipe that ran around the bottom of her closet, and Marco's wrists were now bound together, and then to the pipe. His ankles were zipped together, and he wasn't going to be going anywhere and telling his master that Jaqui was a wimp now.
His master. Antonio. She sniffed again thinking about him. Well, he had warned her he was ruthless. Fine. He could be ruthless. She could be too. She could be more than ruthless. She could be downright mean. She might just tell the twins and the three of them could each remove one of his body parts. He could fool her, but she fooled him first thinking she was all sweet and cute and stuff. Yeah. She was up on him there. She was…she could…she might.
She let out a little sob, and stormed into her bedroom, wiping away the stray tears on her face. She emerged a minute later, bag over her shoulder and slammed the front door on her way out.
She was going golfing.
The doorbell rang, making every muscle in her body tense. And she couldn't help but be irritated with herself at the sudden hopeful thought that it was Antonio. No! Bad Janna! Bad thoughts. She knew damn well what he wanted. But still…this was just so not fair. Why was it that when she found someone gorgeous and funny and smart and great to talk to and could melt her with a kiss that he wanted her in jail? Maybe Mom would understand and she could talk to her about it.
This time, Janna checked the outside camera before opening the door. A man in a brown uniform was standing there, holding a box and a signature pad. Delivery? That was odd. Maybe one of the twins had ordered something and forgotten to tell her about it. It wouldn't be the first time. Liz was always getting stuff for her car and couldn't remember half of what she had on order. Janna was always after her to get more organized and she wouldn't have to send so many duplicate orders back, but the girl just had a problem taking sound advice from her elder.
Janna left off with the packing and went to the front door. "Yes?" she greeted when she opened the door.
The man's smile immediately put Janna on high alert. That and the black eye he was sporting. Without hesitating, she slammed the door, but he managed to shove the box in the door a second before it could shut. He pushed his way in easily, grinning coldly at making her back up a few steps.
"Good morning Jaqui," he said, the heavy Italian accent making the English hard to decipher. But it didn't take a linguist to understand intent when he reached into his pocket and pulled out a pair of pliers. "Antonio tried to be nice," he continued. "You should have told him what he wanted to know." He reached for her, the menace nearly visible as it flowed off of him. As Antonio had described her earlier behavior, she was already backing off. She was afraid. That was good. This wouldn't take long at all then and her nails would grow back soon enough.
Antonio thought Janna was cute, if a little on the hyper side when she was angry. That was the information that he had passed on to Marco. He had made a minor miscalculation. He had not seen her angry. He had only seen her when nervous. Nervous Janna was a klutz unless she had her hands on a keyboard, and even then she wasn't allowed to have food or drink near her. It wasn't mentioned out loud, but Janna had done several art exhibits while in high school, and the day that they opened, everyone noticed that Max handed her daughter nothing breakable and would only pour her drinks half- full. When Marco made a grab for her, she wasn't nervous at all. She was fucking pissed. And Janna the Pissed was very obviously the child of a genetically engineered killing machine.
She jerked back, his hands skating off of her. In an eye blink, her bare feet suddenly slid on the hardwood floor, dropping her into a split, going between his legs, and with every bit of strength she had, the heel of her palm slammed into his groin mercilessly. The breath wooshed out of him, and he froze, still leaning over slightly, his dark skin turning pale. Janna didn't waste a second. She finished the slide in between his legs, and spun around. Her legs came up and she kicked him hard directly in the kidneys sending him reeling into the wall.
Janna knew she wasn't super-human strong like her cousins, but she worked out a lot, and maybe there was a tad extra strength in there somewhere. Maybe it was just from keeping up with the twins for so long. But she was just as skilled as they were in self-defense. Her mother wasn't that big on teaching her, but Uncle Zane wanted to make sure she would be able to scare off guys like him. It was coming in quite handy just then. He would be so proud. Well, almost.
Janna grabbed a bronze statue out of the niche in the wall near them, and slammed it on Marco's head. He crumbled to the ground without a sound. Janna smiled. Now Uncle Zane would be proud of her. She looked at the still form. Now what?
Antonio sent him, she thought bitterly. Tears suddenly burned in her eyes. He got bored with playing a game with her so he sent a goon to yank out her nails. She had thought…it was impossible, but the way he had looked at her…and when he kissed her goodnight…well, maybe it wasn't totally impossible. "Bastard!" she sniffed; kicking Marco in the ribs for good measure, wishing it was Antonio. He groaned, but didn't regain consciousness. She wished he would. Then she could kick his ass again and feel better.
She grabbed Marco by the ankles, and yanked, making him slide across the floor. She dragged him into her studio, shoving him into the closet, and then grabbed some zip ties. A minute later, she was quite pleased with her handiwork. There was a metal pipe that ran around the bottom of her closet, and Marco's wrists were now bound together, and then to the pipe. His ankles were zipped together, and he wasn't going to be going anywhere and telling his master that Jaqui was a wimp now.
His master. Antonio. She sniffed again thinking about him. Well, he had warned her he was ruthless. Fine. He could be ruthless. She could be too. She could be more than ruthless. She could be downright mean. She might just tell the twins and the three of them could each remove one of his body parts. He could fool her, but she fooled him first thinking she was all sweet and cute and stuff. Yeah. She was up on him there. She was…she could…she might.
She let out a little sob, and stormed into her bedroom, wiping away the stray tears on her face. She emerged a minute later, bag over her shoulder and slammed the front door on her way out.
She was going golfing.
