Chapter 80
Then he turned to Natalie, waiting for her to cheer him on.
Natalie was silent for a couple of seconds, her face unreadable. “No.”
Blake’s usually stern face showed a rare look of surprise. He hadn’t expected her to say no.
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But then he thought, ‘Natalie must just be worried about me. She doesn’t want me getting into anything dangerous.
That thought warmed his heart, and he couldn’t help but smile.
Even though Natalie always seemed cool and distant, and said “no” out loud, she was actually super protective of him.
Natalie,” he leaned in, with a hint of pride in his voice, “are you worried your big brother might get into trouble?”
Natalie gave him a calm look.
ler gaze was steady, but Blake instantly took it as. Ha, I knew it. She really does care!
Don’t worry,” Blake said.
le gave Natalie’s hat a gentle pat, his voice soft. “I’ve been risking my neck for years. There’s nothing I haven’t seen. Those hoenix Syndicate guys? They’re nothing to me.”
latalie’s mouth twitched, but just then. Ryan called, so she let the topic drop.
latalie swiped to answer. “Hello?”
Natalie! Where are you?” Ryan’s voice came through, sounding excited.
With Blake. What’s up?” Natalie replied.
Nothing much. There’s a party tonight. Want to come hang out with me?” Ryan asked.
yan sounded pumped, with music thumping in the background. He was definitely somewhere buzzing.
latalie raised an eyebrow. “What party?”
It’s a yacht party my friend’s throwing. There’ll be drinks, music, and the night view is insane. It’s gonna be a blast!” Ryan aid.
le paused, then added, “Oh, and I’m doing a fireworks show tonight, right out on the water. Bet you’ve never seen anything
ike it.”
Natalie was silent for a moment.
Fireworks show?‘ she wondered.
Honestly, she’d never actually watched one before.
It wasn’t that she’d never seen fireworks. She just never bothered to go somewhere just to watch them.
But with Ryan sounding so excited, she figured, why not? She didn’t have any plans anyway.
175
Chapter 80
“Sure Natalie said.
Ryan sounded thrilled. ‘Awesome! I’ll swing by and pick you up soon.”
“No need Just send me the address. I’ll get there on my own.” Natalie replied.
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After hanging up. Blake asked, “Was that Ryan?”
Natalie nodded. “Ryan invited me to hang out.”
Blake nodded. “Alright, I’ll drop you off later. There’s some fun stuff up ahead. Want to go explore?”
Sure, Natalie said.
3lake perked up and led her further into the shooting range.
nside was a huge indoor training facility, way bigger than the shooting range outside.
All kinds of equipment were set up, and there were sandbags hanging in the corners, covered in punch marks.
I usually come here to work on my punches,” Blake said.
He walked up to a sandbag and threw a few quick, powerful punches.
Natalie leaned casually against the doorway, watching his moves.
Blake’s punches were legit. Each one hit hard, no messing around.
t was obvious he’d picked this up in real fights, not just some flashy stuff for show.
Blake glanced at Natalie, thinking about how she’d just nailed a perfect score, and before he knew it, he blurted out, “Natalie, Lave you ever trained for this?”
He asked, but honestly, he was pretty sure she had.
After all, to nail every shot dead center, stay steady through the recoil, and be rock–solid like that, you don’t get that good without some serious strength training.
Natalie nodded. “I’ve had some training.”
Blake’s eyes lit up. “Some training? How about a quick spar with me?”
He couldn’t wait to see what Natalie was really hiding.
Natalie looked at Blake, her face expressionless.
“You sure about that?” she asked.
Her stare made Blake a little nervous, and he licked his lips. “Of course! Your big bro just wants to see what you ve really got”
Natalie nodded.
“Alright.” she said.
Chapter 80
She walked to the center of the training room, shrugged off her jacket, and tossed it aside.
Blake watched her and started to feel a bit uneasy.
‘Why do I feel like I’m digging my own grave here?‘ he thought.
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