15. Chapter 15

Jade

Armani is pissed.

I have to physically hold him back from storming out of his classroom to find Lorna when I tell him that she's my teacher, and she wasn't very happy to see me in class. Or rather, she was too happy to see me and seemed like she was more than ready to make this semester hell for me.

"She wants you to go make a scene," I tell him, insisting that he calms down.

"Oh, she'll get a scene," he seethes, picking me up by my waist and spinning me around so that I can't block the door.

"Ahh," I yelp, throwing my arms around him so he can't put me down. "Seriously, Armani, wait like three seconds, will ya?"

"Let me go, Jade," he grumbles, half-trying to pull me off. He won't use his full strength to simply yank my grip off of him.

"I have a plan," I tell him firmly. "I want to do this my way. I don't want it to look like I can't handle her and go running to my brothers as soon as something is wrong."

Which, I did kind of come running to him… but I just wanted to make sure he didn't know about it and not warn me. I would have some choice words about something like that. It's more than clear that he had no idea.

"No one will think that," he argues. "They'll assume I heard about it, which I probably would have very soon. If you didn't tell me, someone else would've. You're my responsibility, Jade. She doesn't get to act this way toward you because I don't want her."

I smile sympathetically. "I'm sorry she's bothering you like this."

He shakes his head in disbelief. "My ex fuck buddy is harassing you in class, and you're apologizing to me?"

"Of course," I say sweetly. "You're my brother, and I love you. I hate that she's messing with you."

He softens, putting me down, and this time, I let him.

"I can take care of it," I promise him, straightening my shoulders. "I already have a plan, and I'm excited about it. Can't you let me at least try?"

Armani looks to the door and back at me. "And you won't tell me what this plan is, will you?"

"Nope," I admit easily. "I want no help, no suggestions, no anything. I really think I can do this."

He hesitates before his head dips. I squeal, jumping up and down before reaching up on my tippy toes to smack a kiss on his cheek. "Yay, thank you! You're the bes?—"

"If it doesn't work or something goes wrong, you won't be able to stop me again, I'm warning you now," he cautions. "Be smart, and be safe. Come to one of us if you need it, Jade. I mean it."

"Of course, of course," I agree quickly. "Cross my heart."

My fingers do a swish and slash across my chest, making him chuckle.

A knock taps against the door, grabbing our attention.

"Busy?" Colton asks, leaning against the open frame.

"No, he is not," I answer for Armani, picking my bag up off the floor. "I was just leaving. Revenge to execute and all."

"Revenge?" Colton chuckles. "On day two?"

"It's never too early for it," I sing-song, floating around him to leave them alone. "See you at lunch?" I ask, looking over my shoulder at Armani.

"I'll be there," he agrees. "Don't deviate from crowds too much if you're going to be walking around alone."

"Yeah, yeah," I sass, rolling my eyes.

"Later, littlest Moretti," Colton adds as I start walking down the hall. I offer a backward wave without turning around and smile as I hear him chuckle.

Since hearing his confession at the party, I'm beginning to wonder if he and Armani are just friends or not. The cowboy either has a crush on Nico that I haven't picked up on, a secret relationship with Armani, or one of my other brothers. There are far too many variables to consider, so I'm not confident I know enough to make a guess. Either way, Colton Wyatt wants to marry one of my siblings. I don't have time to question it, and there really isn't a reason to. Colton seems great.

With three hours until lunch, I head back to my room and plot.

"You have weapons next," Remo tells me, guiding me away from the cafeteria and up the path to the same building Armani works in. The air is crispy this afternoon, cool, and refreshing to breathe.

Lunch was quick but nice. I got to see all of my brothers, and I ate a stellar chicken sandwich. Colton sat with us too, which was nice. He's a funny guy, but he isn't giving me any hints about who he wants to marry.

I was able to get a lot of strategic planning in before then as well, so the day already feels like it's turned around.

"It's knife training and shouldn't be too intense. Javier Cabrera teaches it."

"Javi?" I ask, surprised. "Isn't he a student?"

Remo pauses, arching a brow. "Javi, huh?"

Do. Not. Blush.

My face grows hot, and I'm glad some of my hair conceals it.

God, I'm such a guilty blusher.

"Some girls in cooking were gushing over him," I say evenly, playing it cool. "I just assumed he'd be a student."

I'm not sure he believes me, but he doesn't press either. Remo is good about that, giving me some semblance of privacy in our conversations.

"Well, he's not," he informs me, looping his fingers around my arm to continue our walk. "Javi graduated last semester, and he's twenty-two. Although his family is known for guarding services, but because he's an heir, he only takes on seriously niche or highly sensitive jobs. Hence the free time to instruct at Empire. He's a knife specialist, and the old one retired last year. He'll be a good teacher."

Well, that's good to know, at least. One horrid instructor earlier being followed by a very promising one.

"Hopefully, it goes better than my first class," I joke.

"Yeah, about that," he begins, giving me a careful look. "Don't tell Nico about it, if you can avoid it."

"He doesn't know?" I ask, surprised. I would have figured that Armani informed them all.

"We decided as a group it was best if he didn't," Remo answers honestly.

"You don't think he'll handle it well?" I venture.

"You stopped Armani from going to handle it on his own, right?" It's not a question, though it's phrased like one. It's a preface for his point. "If it were Nico… he'd figure out a way to kill her, whether he could wait until the end of the semester or not. Armani might have humiliated her or threatened her, but Nico would have her on a hit list or have her writing a suicide note by the end of the week."

"Jesus," I blurt.

It doesn't matter how many times I've heard it, the idea of any of my brothers killing someone is still strange to imagine. To me, they're the most caring and loving guys. But deep down, I know they can and will kill without mercy. If I'm truly honest with myself, it's one of the reasons they make me feel so safe.

"Yeah," Remo agrees. "So, for everyone's peace of mind, avoid telling him things like that while we're here."

Duly noted.

"Got it," I affirm quickly, slipping into the building as he holds the old wooden door open for me.

Remo doesn't need to rush as much as he did this morning, but he's still brief, walking me up to the third floor and showing me inside the classroom. It's smaller than Armani's, but I suppose that makes sense—smaller weapons and all. It's set up like a traditional classroom, with desks grouped in the back and board in the front for instruction. Only the board is less of a focal point than the display table of knives and blades.

I have to bite my lip to contain a beaming smile when I get a look at the group of students. It's not too intimidating, only six in here so far, and not many free desks remaining, so there must not be too many more coming.

Ana is here, which is nice!

"If anything happens that makes you uncomfortable, get up and leave, okay?" Remo asks, discreetly keeping his voice down. "Armani is just upstairs or just outside at the range at any given time, remember?"

"I remember," I whisper back, smiling gratefully.

Javi walks in, and Remo takes that as his cue to leave, though there are five minutes until class technically starts.

I was too distracted to really look at Javier at the party, but if I had paid closer attention, I probably could have guessed that he wasn't a student. Not because he didn't look young, but because he wasn't wearing a student uniform. Though the lights flashing all around and his similar wardrobe may have something to do with it.

He's wearing black slacks, similar to the fit of my brother's pants, and a button-down with an Empire Academy crest on the pocket. He's tall but not overly bulky, and he has a buzzcut. His facial hair is trimmed but frames his face in a very purposeful way. With his hazel eyes and sun-kissed skin, I'm surprised he isn't married.

I cross my legs in my chair, feeling a bit of a chill in the room. I'm a few seats away from Ana, and I would have taken the one next to her had it not been already occupied by Cole. I doubt there's much that a beginner class like this could do for him, but he likely picked it on purpose. The way he dominates the air around them has people naturally looking away, and from what Ana said, that's exactly what he wants.

With no less than a minute to spare, the last seat in the room is taken. It's the one directly to my right, and thankfully, it's taken up by someone I know.

This time I can't contain my smile, fully flashing my teeth when he drops down next to me. He flashes a smile in return, and I feel immediately more settled.

Ivan is in this class? Fucking score.

"Hi," I say, quiet but excited.

"Hi, Jade," he replies, seemingly happy to see me.

"I didn't know you'd be here, I was hoping we'd have a class together."

"Last minute switch," he explains, leaning over for more privacy. "There's someone in here my brother wanted to keep an eye on."

"Me?" I squeak, sucking in a breath.

"Who else?" he chuckles, giving me a playful wink.

This couldn't be more perfect.

Dmitri asked him to switch into this class to watch me? That probably sounds so creepy to some people, but god, I practically have to fan myself at the news. Ivan isn't here to leer at me or stalk me from afar.

The guy I like just handed me a friend because he worries about my safety and trusts his brother with me, and I couldn't be happier if I tried. I have to hold myself back from reading too much into this, but it's a great sign, nevertheless. Matteo is only a year older than me, and he wasn't able to get into any of my classes.

Dmitri and Ivan seem like they have a great relationship. Like Cole, I doubt Ivan needs this time to learn, but it's sweet that he's here anyway. But Dmitri asked or implied he'd want him to be here, and he took initiative to make it happen.

AndI was going to try to find Ivan today anyway; now I don't have to run around looking crazy to do that. The Morozovs are my secret weapon for this cooking challenge bullshit.

Not my family's allies? Check.

Not going to throw food in my face when offered? Check… I think.

The second half of today totally makes up for the first now.

"Alright," Javi announces loudly to get the room's attention, clapping his hands together. "This is Weapon Basics for Blades; I'm Javier Cabrera, and I'll be your instructor for the semester. Call me Javi or Javier, I don't want to hear the words Instructor Cabrera come out of any of your mouths. In this class, I don't give a fuck about your family name, and you shouldn't give a fuck about mine."

Fair.

"I see some of you aren't here to actually learn as there isn't anything a basics class will teach you that you don't already know. Don't try to teach my students, don't make yourself a nuisance, and we won't have any problems. I don't give a shit about your poor scheduling choices. If you want to waste your time here, by all means."

Setting boundaries while being firm could also be a class here, and Javier could definitely teach it. There's no malice in his words, only directness. He isn't here to fuck around, and I don't blame him. I don't think I could ever be a teacher in a professional setting, let alone one that works with lethal weapons.

"Today, we'll touch on safety, and next class, we'll get into actual knives, knife types, and blade handling." He passes out a small stack of booklets and continues to speak while he does. "And yes, I'm aware this is the dreadfully dull part of the class. Safety is boring, but it's also what keeps your fingers attached to your hands, so don't gloss over it if you've never so much as seen a knife."

The whole remainder of class time is spent analyzing the rules, as well as consequences for breaking the more extreme ones.

"If you attempt to harm anyone with any of these knives, I have full permission to deal with you as I see fit. Attempt to kill another student, or me, in my room, and you'll be dead before your body hits the ground."

It's safe to say I won't be touching anything in here unless I'm explicitly told to. I am not tempting fate now that it's finally being kind to me.

Like with cooking, we end early, only Javier doesn't storm out of the room like Lorna did. He waits for all of us to leave, likely as a safety measure. I almost say goodbye to him, but I don't want it to be interpreted in the wrong way.

"Is someone walking you to your next class?" Ivan asks, walking side by side with me out of the room.

"Remo is going to meet me downstairs," I tell him. "Thank you for asking though."

He puts his hands in his pockets and bobs his head in a nod. "Of course."

"Hey, Ivan?" I ask.

"Yeah?"

"Do you know where Dmitri typically goes before lunch?"