chapter 4

Catherine

I don’t go to any fitness center. I go to the one across from my corner office from my firm on the forty-sixth floor. I know all the workers there and they know when I’m coming in. I always have the same coach. An older woman, in her mid-thirties like me, and who can keep up with me.

My cool brown eyes narrow when I don’t see her and instead there is a little blonde smiling girl waiting for me. She’s in a tiny black shirt and skimpy shorts. She barely looks like she has worked out a day in her life. I cross my arms and frown sharply.

“Where the hell is my trainer?” I demand sharply and turn away from her.

“Uh—“ she starts but I’m already stomping toward the front desk of my exclusive club. “Miss Catherine!” I stop dead in my tracks at that tiny squeak that sends chills down my spine. I lift a perfectly arched eyebrow as I turn to face the skinny and perky cheerleader in front of me.

“Yes, speak up if you are going to,” I command. “My time is precious and if you can’t respect it—“

“Yes, miss,” she says, blushing profusely which lights my belly on fire as I take a deep breath in and glare at her, tapping my pricey sneakers on the floor. “I’m sorry. Nicole is sick today and I’m new.”

“I can see that,” I say and wave at her. “I’m not an idiot. What…you’re barely twelve.” This time she snorts.

“I’m nineteen, thank you very much,” she says this as she lifts her narrow chin.

“Have you even received any training to be a fitness instructor? I thought this was an exclusive club,” I say, glaring at the front desk where Mile’s ducks behind the computer to avoid my wrath.

The little girl clears her throat and I find my eyes pulled back to her dazzling blue ones. They seem so innocent, yet deep. Perhaps troubled. I’d seen and measured enough criminals to know what I’m looking at and this girl is an enigma.

“A couple of weeks,” she says with a smile. “Would you like to see me accreditation? I’ve worked with Nicole personally with some of her higher end clients as a part of my training too. I can’t tell you who, but they are higher profile than—“ She stops talking and looks like a deer in headlights.

I find myself smiling wicked.

“Fine, Emi,” I say, deigning to read her name tag. “Impress me.” I’ll let Nicole have it later, but now I’m going to have a little fun with this little girl. Let her think that she can keep up with me and I completely flatten her.

I strip off my jacket and hang it on a nearby hook, revealing my sports bra. My breasts are large, but don’t droop from my time in the gym. They're over a perfectly toned waist with a hint of the muscles beneath the firm dark olive skin and drop to my bicycle shorts that cup a perfectly shaped bootie. When I meet her eyes again, her jaw has dropped as she looks at my perfectly curved and toned body. I’m quite proud of it at my age.

“Mouth closed, darling,” I purr in my alto voice. “Let me show you the level of workout I expect.”