Page 26 of Coup De Grâce
As the elevator doors opened, I started to get a little more curious about this surprise. It was fun for both of us? I hardly saw how that was possible. But instead of getting out on the third floor, we sunk even lower into the silo, stopping on the fifth floor. No one ever came down here. It had never been renovated.
But when the doors opened, bright lights shone, and clean, white walls filled the entire space. And straight ahead, the sound of kids shouting drew my attention.
“What is this?”
“At Reed Security, we have training for kids. I’ve been working on setting it up here. I hired a few experts for you. They’ll teach the kids all about self-defense and have school in the afternoon.”
“Uh…you’re going to teach my kids how to hurt people?” I asked warily.
Not that I could say anything. I moved here and Fox taught me all about throwing knives. And I liked it. But these were little kids. The thought of hospital bills racking up turned my stomach.
“Don’t worry. They have levels they have to complete before they can move on to anything too drastic.”
“So, no guns or knives,” I hedged.
He smirked at me, a dark look crossing his face. “For now.”
I didn’t like the sound of that. He pushed the doors open and we walked through. All the kids were wearing uniforms and doing calisthenics. That didn’t look too bad. But as my eyeswandered around the area, I began to realize just what was about to happen. There were obstacle courses set up just like for the guys, only a mini version. Four teachers wandered around, correcting the kids as they did their thing.
One of the male teachers walked over and held out his hand. “The boss’s wife. It’s good to meet you. I’m Clay.”
I shook his hand, still overwhelmed at what this meant. “Eva.”
“Nice to meet you. Knight’s told me about your situation. We’ll make sure the kids get an education, along with the proper training for any situation.”
I glanced at Knight, confused by what he meant. “Any situation?”
He shrugged lightly. “You never know what could happen. It’s best to have them prepared.”
Clay bent over as Knight set Eloise down. “Hey, guys. I have some really cool uniforms for you guys. Do you want to change?”
“Yes!” Benjamin shouted at the same time Eloise pouted and crossed her pudgy arms over her chest. “No!”
“Well, that’s just too bad because we all wear the same thing here. Now, I’ll get Benjamin changed and Ms. Eloise, you can go with Christy to get changed.”
I saw the defiance in Eloise’s eyes, but when she looked at me for help, I offered none.
Clay winked at me as she stomped off with Christy to get changed, then headed off to the boys’ locker room to help Benjamin.
“Are you sure this is a good idea?” I asked Knight.
“I told you, this is what we did at Reed. It was good for them.”
“They’re glorified babysitters.”
“You won’t say that in two weeks when your kids are used to running drills every morning. Besides, this keeps them safe and on the property.”
“You were really that paranoid?”
“Always. We’ve already enrolled all the kids in homeschool. They’ll get the same education as the other kids, but they’ll have private tutors.”
“And everyone’s on board with this?”
At my skeptical tone, he shifted to face me. “Eva, this isn’t just for you. I don’t want you to think this is some pity gesture. My kids do the exact same thing. Besides, I swore to Cash that I would look after you.”
“I don’t need anyone stepping into his shoes,” I bit out, feeling my hackles rise. It felt like he was telling me I wasn’t doing a good enough job, though deep down I knew that wasn’t the case.
“That’s not what I’m doing. There’s nothing wrong with accepting help. And as I said, everyone’s doing this. Do you think you’re the only one feeling stressed? Scottie’s wife is out of town half the time, and during those weeks, he’s responsible for his kids while also trying to hold down a job. Every time Zoe has to go out to California, Red’s on his own while also keeping an eye on Cotton, who is also participating in this now. And when Jane is busy working on her novels, IRIS picks up the slack.”
