Chapter 162: Training.

A sudden silence fell over their table. Neither June nor Eliana could say a word, and both avoided looking in Dante’s direction.

It had to be her imagination. Dante couldn’t suddenly appear in the restaurant she went.

June thought that if she didn’t look at him, perhaps he would stop staring at her.

Before they could react or do anything else, Henson returned with their food.

He immediately sensed the tension in the air.

His gaze shifted to June. "Ma’am, did something happen?"

June remained quiet, but her eyes moved towards the spot where Dante had been sitting.

Henson turned his head in that direction, but all he saw was an empty seat.

He turned back to June. "What happened? There’s nothing there."

"I just saw Dante."

Henson’s expression changed, and his hand immediately moved towards his pocket.

June guessed that he was reaching for his weapon.

"I don’t think you need to bring out any weapon. He’s gone."

Without even bothering to unpack the food, Henson said, "Ma’am, we need to leave now." His voice was stern.

June had never seen him speak that way before.

Without arguing, both ladies stood up. They knew they couldn’t afford to remain there.

As they returned to the car, June couldn’t help thinking about what had just happened. Did Dante know who she was? And why had he left without confronting her if he had actually been staring at her?

Or had she simply been mistaken?

She couldn’t help the strange feeling welling up inside her.

As they settled into the car, Eliana turned towards her.

"Maybe he wasn’t looking at you, and you just thought he was."

June shook her head. "I know what I saw. He was looking directly at me, as if he recognised me. Our eyes met."

Eliana swallowed. She had heard enough about Dante from Chris.

"Maybe he was just curious. I mean, he already thinks Amie is the heir to the Vassari Empire. He couldn’t be... He couldn’t know, right?"

Henson settled into the seat in front of them.

June turned towards him. "I want you to keep this a secret from Rauf."

"I can’t keep something this huge from the boss, ma’am," Henson said, his voice rising.

He had no intention of keeping something this important from Rauf. However, June knew that if Rauf got even the slightest hint that Dante might recognise her or have some interest in her, he might decide she shouldn’t attend the birthday celebration. And June wasn’t ready to miss that party for anything.

"If you tell him, then I’m going to make your life horrible," June threatened.

Even though she had nothing against Henson, she knew that with the research skills she had been developing online, she could easily find things out about him.

Henson stared at her, but after a while, he nodded.

"Fine. I’ll keep it a secret from the boss."

June let out a breath of relief.

Good. Now, there was only one way to find out whether Dante knew who she was, and that was by attending the party.

June’s training started the next day.

She had worn something tight, thinking it would make her feel comfortable, but Rauf merely glanced at her before asking her to change into something more comfortable.

"What if you end up squeezing the baby’s head or body with those clothes?" he had asked.

June had grumbled, but since she had no choice, she went back inside and changed into something more comfortable.

Rauf had set up the training room in the same place where he had first taught her how to observe.

He placed a glass and a target in front of her, then handed her hearing protection to block out the sound of gunshots.

Everyone else who had been training in the room had been dismissed so June could concentrate on her lesson.

"First, we’ll be starting with this."

He brought out a small pistol and dismantled it.

"I would have started with something else, but we don’t have enough time. The first thing you need to know about a gun is its parts. You have to know them before you can understand how to handle it."

He soon began introducing her to the different parts of the gun and explaining how to assemble it.

June paid rapt attention. She listened carefully, knowing that her survival might depend on how well she learned.

After a while, Rauf asked her to repeat everything he had just explained. She remembered some parts but missed others, so he corrected her.

Once he had finished correcting her mistakes, she turned towards him.

"When am I going to shoot?"

Rauf smiled.

"Fine. Since you’re so eager to start shooting, I want you to stand like this."

He demonstrated the stance and asked her to copy it.

She tried immediately, but she still couldn’t get it right. Rauf stepped directly behind her to help adjust her position.

His body was so close that June became painfully aware of his presence.

The moment he moved behind her, she forgot how she was supposed to stand.

All she could think about was his muscular body directly behind hers. She could feel the warmth radiating from him, and without meaning to, June felt herself melting.

"Stand properly," Rauf said close to her ear.

But instead of correcting her stance, June moved closer to him.

She leaned back until her body touched his. A soft sigh escaped her lips.

Honestly, she had missed touching his body.

"Mami, you’re playing with fire. If you continue whatever you’re doing, I won’t be able to hold myself back."

It had been a while since June had heard that nickname.

Just hearing it again brought back so many memories she had buried. Memories of how he had made her feel special.

Memories of what that hard body could do to her.

Instead of moving away from him, she melted further into his embrace.

Without turning to look at him, she said, "I don’t care. I want to be burned."