Chapter 5 THE MANSION

I was not surprised by Mr. Smith's mansion-or should I say estate? The compound was enormous, with brick walls surrounding it. There were at least five different buildings, each varying in size.

*Hmm, it must have cost a fortune to build all of this. Well, I'm still not surprised. Mr. Smith is a well-known man, both in government and the underworld business.*

"Wow, I can only imagine the billions of dollars that went into building this," Mark commented, looking amazed.

"You're right, and with this kind of technology, I wonder how any of Mr. Smith's enemies could even enter, let alone escape," Ken replied.

The driver dropped us off at one of the largest buildings in the compound. After that, one of the security guards asked us to follow him. He led us to a room in the building that looked like a sitting room, where both Mr. Smith and his daughters were already waiting for us.

"Welcome to my home, gentlemen. You must be very tired and hungry, so Bella will show you to your rooms while Lisa ensures a feast is served for you. Our conversation will continue tomorrow when we'll brief you on everything you need to know. I guess that's all for now. I'll take my leave; I still have other personal matters to discuss with my men regarding the new members," Mr. Smith said before excusing himself.

Lisa also left, leaving us with the cold Bella.

"Follow me," Bella said, walking away.

We entered the elevator to the fourth floor of the house, where she showed us our rooms, which were right next to each other.

"You guys should settle down. Once dinner is served, someone will come to let you know. Everything you need is right in your rooms, and if you ever need anything, just pick up the telephone and press 'emergency,' and someone will see to your needs. I guess that's all. I need to get back to training. See you guys around," Bella said before leaving.

"Why on earth is she so cold? She talks like she's the boss, and we're her servants," Mark complained.

"Just do as you're told, Mark," I said before heading to my room to freshen up.

Not long after, I heard a knock on my door. It was one of the servants, informing us that the food was ready. I wanted nothing more than to eat in my room and clear my thoughts a little bit, but it was too soon to start giving orders to anyone.

Mark and I went down to the dining room with the help of the servant. All kinds of food were spread across the table, but it was far too much for just two people, as Lisa and Bella were nowhere to be found.

"What about Lisa and Bella? Aren't they joining us?" I asked the servant who was serving the food.

"Miss Lisa will be joining the table soon, but Miss Bella usually eats dinner in her room," she replied.

"I'm not surprised she doesn't eat with her own family," Mark muttered to himself, not realizing he was loud.

I hit him on the head because he talks too much.

"Dude! What did you do that for?" he nearly screamed in my face.

"Shut up and eat; you talk too much."

"Tell me about it. You know it's not good for a guy to have a sharp mouth," I heard Lisa say as she joined us at the table.

"I don't have a sharp mouth. I just like voicing my opinion," Mark said, trying to defend himself.

"Mark, please just eat," I pleaded with him.

"Fine, who cares what you both think about me," Mark said before shoving a spoonful of food into his mouth, chewing it like the food was to blame for him having a sharp mouth.

I just sighed and started eating.

Lisa was kind enough to brief us during dinner about their rules, which included mandatory morning workouts. Everything she said was fine by me, but Mark kept nagging and complaining, forcing me to apologize on his behalf several times.

"What? I have to wake up as early as 5:00 in the morning to work out and help train the new members? This is not acceptable! I must talk to your dad. Ken, can you tell her that by 7:00 in the morning, I'm still having my beauty sleep? And also, it's my body-I do my workout whenever I want," Mark complained again.

"Thank you, Lisa, for the dinner. We'll be up once the alarm sounds, as you said," I thanked Lisa, who responded with a smile.

"Wait, Ken, are you ignoring me now?" Mark asked as I started heading back to my room, exhausted.

I went to bed immediately after getting to my room and quickly dozed off.

The sound of the alarm woke me up. I grabbed my sportswear and headed downstairs.

When I got there, Lisa and Mark were already waiting for me. I was surprised to see the nagging and complaining Mark up before me, already having a conversation with Lisa.

"Good morning, Lisa, Mark," I said.

"Morning, Ken. But wait-how come you're just coming down now? Did you oversleep?" Mark mocked.

"Good morning, Ken. I trust you had a good night's rest?" Lisa asked with a smile.

"Yes, I did, and thanks for asking," I replied with a small smile.

"Hello, I'm still here, you know. Why do you keep ignoring me, Ken?" Mark asked. I just did what I'm best at: ignoring him.

"Can you show us the way to the gym, please?" I asked Lisa.

"Sure, follow me," she said as she led the way, and I followed with Mark nagging as usual, talking non-stop.

The gym was another place that left me speechless. It was so well-equipped, and other members, whom Lisa introduced as some of their best men, were already there, grouped into different teams.

We started the workout, which went well until 8:00 in the morning when we were dismissed. I hadn't seen Bella since she showed Mark and me our rooms, so I decided to ask Lisa as we were heading back to freshen up before breakfast.

"Lisa, what about your sister Bella? I haven't seen her since yesterday," I asked.

"Oh, she's helping my dad in the meeting room. I'll be joining them soon, but I had to make sure things were in order here," she casually replied.

"Oh, okay."

"But I'll let her know you asked about her," Lisa said, winking at me before leaving.