Deadly Nightshade

Chapter 22: The Headlines

2 DAYS LATER

As I walk into the room the headlines of the newspaper that Damiano was holding read "The Mystery of La Splendida Dea Del Secolo".

Damiano notice my presence and he puts the newspaper down "I heard that you made history," he smirks before sipping from his cup of coffee. I wear a smug look on my face and respond with a proud "I did."

"Did you hear the news?" he asks, I take a seat at the opposite couch from him and take the newspaper from the table in front of us. I sigh and read the headlines from the first page "I don't watch news, you know that," I read a section at the bottom of the first page that caught my eye, "But it seems that I am everywhere in them," I smirk.

"Indirectly and directly," Damiano sighs "You also made the headlines with Enzo..." he comments as I read "New Fashion Week Power Couple on the Rise? Who is the mysterious and handsome man that accompanied Ms. Cattani at Fashion Week?" with a picture of Enzo and I together at Zuhair Murad's Show.

"That was not planned," I say with a poker face.

"You look good together..." I hear him whisper, but I continue reading the article as if I didn't hear a thing.

"Are the trainees ready?" I immediately change the topic as I stand up and put the newspaper on the table.

"They are waiting for you at the Boxing Room," he answers standing up, as well and walking to the door with me.

Enzo have been waiting for me outside the door this whole time. Damiano and I start walking towards the Boxing Room with Enzo trailing behind.

All of the trainees were waiting in position, chatting among themselves. But as soon as I entered the room, they straighten up and stood in silence. They kind of look like soldiers and that gave me flashback to the day that I first saw Enzo in this same room.

"This is your boss," Damiano said in a loud voice once we reach the center of the room, "Meet Lea Cattani." He gestures towards me.

I nod my head subtlety, kind of like a bow. All of them did the same.

"You already know why she is here today, so there is no need for a further explanation." Damiano says to them.

"We are going to start with a hand to hand combat, so gather around the ring." I order them and they all follow my instruction, I turn to Damiano, "Who is the best of them all?" I ask him.

"The one that stands out is Luciano." He answers me after thinking for a few seconds.

"Call Luciano to get on the ring and the one that matches his skills." I order Damiano.

"Luciano! Get on the ring!" Damiano calls him.

I see a tall boy walking up to the ring; he is broad, he looks in his early twenties and he is quite handsome, I'm not going to lie.

Damiano hesitates for a moment, contemplating on who to put on the ring next, and once he makes up his mind he calls Luciano's opponent. A boy walks up the ring next, he is not as broad as Luciano, but he still looks athletic.

Damiano gives them the signal to start and they start fighting without hesitation. From their fighting style I can tell that they are not afraid to throw punches, but they lack skill and strategy. They wrestle for quite some time, Luciano always had the upper hand and he was giving a few punches here and there. He looks tired by the end of the fight, but he still did his best. I think his opponent was afraid of him to begin with, and that was a disadvantage, and Luciano took that as his opportunity to win.

"Good match guys!" Damiano praises them once the fight ends. I wouldn't be praising them, if I am honest, I have seen better fights than that one. If all of them want to be in my organization they need to be able to have a real fight, because that one looked like something that you see in a bar with drunk dudes. And since I am someone that prefers actions rather than words I am going to teach them how to fight.