Page 12 of Fight Me Daddy

Calix

I don't want to do this.

Every second that passed with me sitting beside Gabriele, my stomach tightened. I could still feel his hand wrapped around my throat, his hot palm squeezing against my flesh as he glared at me so hard I thought I would melt under his intense gaze. I stopped myself from reaching up to touch my neck only because I didn't want him to see me do it. There was no need for him to know that I was still on edge about it.

Men like Gabriele thrived on chaos, control, and fear. I wasn't going to give him anything. I gripped my thighs tightly, my fingers digging into myself as I felt his eyes lingering on the side of my face. But I refused to turn around and look at him.

I need to do this. I need to do this. I need to do this.

Maybe if I repeated those words to myself enough times it would make me feel better. For now, I was stuck with a lump in my throat and my stomach twisting into knots. Being too close to Gabriele was bad for my health.

I let out a slow breath trying to regulate my pulse. No matter how much I didn't want to do this I had to. Tallia, Sam, and everyone who came to the gym to learn and grow and be themselves, they would suffer if I didn't do what I had to do to keep my gym.

I wish I could tell someone what was going on. But talking about it wasn't going to fix the problem. I had to suck it up, get the job done, and hopefully move on once it was all said and done.

"Don't pout so hard. You act like I'm driving you out to the woods to put a bullet in your head."

I tensed. "Shit." He could be.

"I'm not!" Gabriele scowled, shaking his head. "What? You see what I do for a job and you figure I must be the type of guy to drop you in a ditch and put two in your skull?"

I glanced at him out of the corner of my eye. "Do you want me to lie? Or be honest?"

"Saccente," he mumbled. "If I wanted you dead you'd be in the ground already. Loosen up."

Gabriele flipped on the radio and turned it up. Guess that's the end of the conversation. I couldn't say I wasn't happy to end our chat. Everything about the man made me squirm and feel odd. I adjusted my collar in the side view mirror and tried to tune everything out.

Until he stopped on one particular song.

Upbeat Korean music came over the stereo and I slowly turned and stared at Gabriele. His thumbs drummed against the steering wheel, his head bobbing back and forth as he mouthed the words. He looked over and froze when he saw me staring.

"Really?" I asked over the music. "Kpop?"

"This is BTS and the song is called Dynamite. And it's good."

My mouth dropped open and I couldn't stop staring at him. What kind of big, bad mafia guy listened to fucking kpop? He glanced at me sharply before he growled.

"Is there a problem?"

"N-no," I said, shaking my head and trying hard to stifle a laugh.

"This is good shit," he argued. "Don't laugh!"

"Who would have guessed?" I mused. "You and kpop."

"Yeah, and if you open your mouth and tell anyone I'll kick your ass," he said, narrowing his eyes at me. "Got it?"

I threw my hands up. "Who am I going to tell?" I asked as I turned and glanced out the window again. "Besides everyone," I muttered under my breath.

"What was that?"

I jumped. "Nothing."

God, Six is rubbing off on me.

I knew better than to antagonize this man but for a second I couldn't help it. Biting my tongue, I stayed staring off into the distance until I was sure Gabriele wasn't looking at me anymore. I took a moment to search his face.

Gabriele watched the road, swerving in and out of traffic like he didn't have a care in the world. His dark suit clung to him like a glove. Gabriele's dark hair brushed his collar, looking so silky I wanted to reach out and touch it. He reached up a hand and rubbed his chin before his eyes cut to me. Gabriele raised a brow.

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