Hello beautiful people! :) this chapter isn't that great it's more of a filler chapter....more juicy stuff coming soon :) bare with me! Love you guys!
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Two weeks had went by since the incident at the grocery store. My body was completely healed but my pride was a different story. I was so mad at myself for letting them have the upper hand. Granted there wasn't much I could do with Melissa's gigantic man smacking me like a rag doll. I was relieved to know that Vincent wasn't too rough on Darren. He even apologized for the things he said to me and actually has been engaging in decent conversation with me. Whatever Vincent said must have had some affect on him.

Vincent told me to wait at least two weeks before I got back into the gym and that he would be the one to train me one on one since I apparently needed more training.

We circled around each other on the training mat in the gym. I made passes at him from the left and right angles but he blocked every single one.

"Clear your head. Don't think to much about which way to go, let it come natural. In a situation where you are going to have to defend yourself you can't freeze up you have to go with your instincts." He coached me as he came at me tackling me to the ground with ease. I was caught off guard once again. This went on for about ten minutes before I finally got pissed and actually started to defend myself. I faked left but pounced right using my entire weight to push him and knock him down successfully.

"Good now let's go again, this time add some punches." Vincent instructed me but I was kind of skeptical about just punching him.

"Punches? Seriously?" I asked him.

"Yes Annabelle punches. Come on we have to train you in all aspects. Again let's go." I did exactly like he said. I lunged at him and threw a few punches. He seemed actually impressed that I landed two good ones.

"Again try to be faster this time around. Don't overthink your moves because the longer you take to make your moves the longer you give your opponent time to make theirs." He was right I took too long to make my moves. I over think them too much which gives the other person the upper hand.

We circled around each other on the mat once more. I was full of determination to get it right this time. Instead of going right I went left this time. I threw a few hard punches in and even used my right leg to kick Vincent behind the knees sending him flying forwards onto the mat. He looked pretty impressed and that made me feel like I was making some progress.

"Alright that was actually pretty good. Let's go ahead and call it a day on the combat training. We need to work on your speed and durability. Let's do a few miles on the treadmill to start working on that speed." He instructed and I agreed. He was actually a really good trainer. He was patient and informative which is exactly what I need, someone to give me tips and help push me and lead me down the right path.

After five miles I felt like I was going to pass out. Exhaustion took over my body.

"You said a few miles that's like two or three not five! What are you trying to kill me?" I gasped as I chugged half of my water.

"You did good today Anna. Let's do more training same time tomorrow." I agreed. I stood up and my body felt like jello.

"Can we watch a movie tonight?" I asked him. It had been about a month since the last time we did anything just the two of us. I wasn't even sure what we were. We weren't a couple but we went on dates and we kiss from time to time but that's it. A couple of months of this back and forth stuff is enough to give anyone whip lash.

"Not tonight. I'm going on a run with the guys." 

"Well can I go with you?" I asked him. I wanted to hangout with him bad enough that I didn't mind going on another run.

"Anna tonight's run is going to get ugly. I'm not bringing you on this run because I won't be able to concentrate with you there. When I get back we will have some alone time. You have my word." He kissed my temple and then left the gym. I deflated like a balloon with a hole in it.

I went to my room and took a shower and changed into some clean clothes. When I came out of my room all the guys were gone. Leaving us girls here alone. I went to Vanessa's room to see if she wanted to cook dinner and have a girls night with us. I walked up both flights of stairs until I got to the third floor. I could hear her music playing softly on the other side of the door. I knocked a few times and waited for her to answer the door. When she opened the door she looked surprised to see me. She was in workout clothes with sweat dripping down her body.

"You workout in here?" I asked her and she shyly nodded.

"Yeah I'm kind of scared to go downstairs." Her voice was quiet.

"Why? You are more than welcome to workout with us. We workout almost everyday." I offered her a reassuring smile and she started to warm up a little bit.

"Really? I would love too! I've always wanted to workout with the girls but I was to scared to say anything." She smiled sadly.

"Don't be scared. We won't bite. I promise you. Don't worry about a thing. You are always welcomed to hangout with us. Plus it would be nice to get to know you. I don't really see you around that often." I wondered to myself why I never see her around. Only at dinners and she was always so quiet.

"I'm really shy. When Melissa was here she wasn't very nice to me so I don't want to step on any toes."

"Oh nonsense! This is your house, don't let anyone tell you what you can and can't do except for your brother because he even scares the shit out of me sometimes." I giggled and Vanessa let out a loud melodic laugh.

"Come downstairs and hangout with us girls. The guys all left." I offered her my hand and she took it and gave me a big grateful smile. When we got downstairs the girls had just got done cooking some hamburger helper.

"Hey guys I invited Vanessa to hangout with us. Hope you don't mind." Vanessa waved awkwardly hoping for their approval.

"Oh no we don't mind! Come eat and watch movies with us!" Rachel smiled and waved her over. Vanessa started to visually relax once she saw how welcome she was.

"You're always welcome to hangout with us." Sarah smiled and gave Vanessa a reassuring hug. That's all it took for Vanessa to come out of her shell. She was laughing cracking jokes with us in no time.

We all piled into the living room watching Pirates of The Caribbean and shoveling junk foods into our mouths like we were bottomless pits. We watched movie after movie. About seven hours had passed and the guys still weren't home and I started to grow worried. My phone buzzed alerting me that I had a text message.

'Don't wait up we're going to be home late.' Vincent texted me. I unlocked my phone to reply.

'No worries. Me, the girls, and Vanessa are watching movies. Be careful.' I hit send and started to get into the movie again before my phone buzzed again.

'With Vanessa?' He asked me curiously.

'Yes she deserves to have fun too. I like her. Don't worry we are all vegging out watching movies.' I hit send. I looked around the room and noticed all the girls were asleep except for me.

'Thank you Annabelle. Get some sleep it's late. I'll be home later.' Even though he wasn't at the house he was still concerned about my well being which warmed my heart.

'Will do. Be careful Vincent.' I sent the text and sat my phone down and dozed off to sleep.

I woke up to someone carrying me bridal style. I opened my eyes and yawned. It was still dark outside so I knew it was still night time.

"Shh go back to sleep Anna." Vincent whispered as he walked into his room shutting the door behind us. He gently laid me down on his bed and I moved over getting comfortable under the covers. He took off all of his clothes except his boxer shorts. My mouth watered at the delicious sight in front of me. His perfectly sculpted toned tanned skin. I could see the definition of every muscle up and down his body. He had a tattoo of a cross on his left shoulder with some writing under it. He had a few other tattoos spread out on his body. There was a scripture in Italian on his rib cage. The other ones I couldn't really make out from where I was sitting. He had a scar that ran from his shoulder towards his collarbone and a few small scars on his arms but nothing too noticeable. His body looked perfect with his imperfections.

He crawled into bed beside me and I snuggled closer laying my head on his chest and tangling our legs together.

"Why did you bring me up here?" I asked curiously. He pulled the covers over the both of us once we were finally into a comfortable position.

"Because I can't stand being away from you Annabelle." He pulled me closer if that were even possible.

"Then don't." I placed a light kiss on his chest and laid my head back down. Neither one of us said another word. We just fell asleep in each other's arms.