368 No, you!

Damien led Katherine towards the dojo that is located on the other side of the area, passing by the boxing ring and the open gym space. The dojo was a closed room with one wall made of glass, allowing any observer to watch the sparring sessions from the outside. There were already several men crowding outside the room but as soon as they noticed their boss, they gave way for him and Katherine. 

The two stood at the space that the men made for them and Katherine scanned the interior of the dojo. Inside the room, the entire flooring was covered with red and grey tatami mats, one side of the wall was fully mirrored while the other end had several heavy bags suspended from a heavy-duty bar attached to the ceiling.

One look at it and Katherine could really see how Damien had thought and planned everything through. "I never thought that there was something like this below the main building… The dojo, the shooting range, the arsenal… It's…"

"What?" Damien studied her face and saw her apprehension.

She looked over his shoulder and saw that the men were not near enough to hear them if she whispered. "It kinda reminded me of Shadow," she said carefully and met his stare. "It's nothing. Just a silly thought."

He could see why she would think that way and he didn't blame her for it. He had nothing to hide from her. Curling up his mouth into a smile, he placed a kiss on her temple and whispered, "No thought of yours is silly."

A movement from inside the dojo caught Katherine's attention and when she turned her head, she saw Amelia had just flipped a man onto the mat. "Your mom kicks ass…" She couldn't help but comment. 

She had to admit that Damien's mother was better at hand-to-hand combat than she was. Katherine preferred to use knives and guns more than her bare hands. Damien, on the other hand, was an excellent marksman though he didn't like using guns and was also a skilled hand-to-hand combat fighter. She wondered who would win if the two were to spar.

"She's… alright, I guess," he hesitantly replied. He was clearly impressed to see Amelia expertly handle the sparring, taking down her opponents who were attacking her from all sides—but he was shy to say what's clearly going on in his head.

Katherine could see through him despite the mask that he so carefully put on. Amelia was no doubt impressive and she was sure that Damien thought the same. But she didn't call him out for this. She knew how it felt to not be ready for something, therefore she could understand if he wanted to take his time.

The two stayed to watch for a couple of minutes more before Damien brought Katherine to tour the other parts of Maverick Security. She met a few of his men and learned what their roles were in the company. The last room they visited was the tech room where dozens of computers were found and several small and large monitors span across the walls.

When Damien was directly behind the two, the rest of the men finally noticed their boss and they became silent—the only voices left were Styles and the other man who was also wearing eyeglasses and was about the same age as the former.

"Eat shit!" Styles dissed as he killed a few mobs in the game.

"No, you!" the other said.

With an unreadable expression, Damien crossed his arms and the air around them instantly dropped. He was expressionless but it was clear that he was suppressing himself not to lash out. At least not yet.

"Go to the northeast camp and deploy your troops on the east and north," his voice dipped lower as he commanded—like a chief commander would. Styles didn't respond but oddly, he followed Damien's command. "Dock. Shift left. Shoot," Damien ordered. And again, Styles followed. "Stop. Draw your sniper. Aim at the second to the right window from the top floor."

Styles who had been following orders suddenly felt something was off. That's when he furrowed his brows and raised his voice a little, "Who the hell is giving this—", his voice trailed off as soon as he met Damien's icy stare. He swallowed.

"Yo! Why are you not moving?" The other man elbowed Styles and when there was no response, he turned his head and looked up only to find Damien looming over them. He almost wet his pants.

As if their butts had been burned, Styles and the other man got up really quickly, standing ramrod straight in front of Damien. "Y-Your Majesty," the man with the scrawny features greeted.

Styles looked at the other with a questioning brow, wondering why he was calling King Charming 'Your Majesty'. 'Oh! I see…' he realized.

"Have you finished your tasks today?" Damien questioned.

"Yep. I sent them to your email an hour ago."

"Good. I'll send you a couple more later."

"Yes, your majesty." The scrawny-looking man didn't dare to protest.

Damien looked at the two in front of him, examining them carefully. "You two seemed to be getting along well." The two looked at each other but didn't say anything. "I thought you'd be on each other's throats when you meet."

"Why?" Styles wondered.

"Styles, meet Zero. He's the team leader here," Damien introduced nonchalantly.

"Wait—What? He's… Oh…" Styles and Zero answered in unison and the atmosphere suddenly felt awkward.

Zero noticed Katherine next to Damien and his eyes grew wider, "Ah, it's you… um. Hi."

Confusion painted her face as it was the first time that she had met Zero but he seemed to have known her for a while. "Do I know you?"

"Oh. No, ma'am… But it's a pleasure to finally meet you. I'm—"

"Busy," Damien interrupted, taking out a few bills from his wallet, he turned to the closest man next to him and said, "Go buy some food. Make sure Zero eats." Glancing at Zero, he added, "Why do you look skinnier every time I visit? People might think I'm not feeding you boys enough."

Zero sheepishly scratched the back of his head, unsure of what to reply. He eats like most men here but he had always been skinny.

"We're leaving. Carry on," Damien remarked, grabbing Katherine by the hand and bringing her with him out of the room.

"I thought you were going to reprimand them," she said as soon as the door closed behind them.

"I was… but they've worked so hard the past few days. They deserve a break once in a while. There isn't much to do today anyway. And when they do need to work, they always deliver. So it's fine." 

Exiting Maverick Security, Damien ushered her towards the Range Rover and helped her in the passenger's seat. Once he got in the driver's side, he asked, "Aren't you going to be cold? You're wearing thin clothes. It's 18℃ out there. You should have at least worn high boots or pants."

"I didn't think it would drop and I don't have many clothes for cold weather anyway."

He flashed her a smile before starting the engine and said, "Then let's go buy you some."