The training room beneath the estate smelled faintly of leather and steel. It was meant for drills, combat practice, shooting exercises. But tonight, she had decided it would be used for something else entirely.
The floor was polished black, mirrors on one side, racks of equipment on the other. No windows. No one but them.
The four men stood in a line at the center of the room, dressed in fitted black training pants, their bodies tense beneath the harsh overhead light. She entered barefoot, wearing a thin silk slip that clung to every curve of her body like a second skin. Her hair was up, exposing the long line of her neck.
She paced slowly in front of them, like a predator circling its prey.
“Do you know what I like about this room?” she said softly. “Down here, no one hears anything.
