Chapter 38 - 38

When Ian woke up everything was a blur, he was confused as he tried to recall what had just happened to him.

It took a few seconds for him to finally realize that he and Camilla were attacked in the CEO's hallway.​​

He began to thrash, but what surprised him was the fact that he wasn't tied up and he was lying down in a hospital bed.

"Oh, good, you're up." Came Marco's familiar voice.

"What happened?" Ian asked as he struggled to get up.

"Tsk, tsk, they weren't supposed to be so rough, but you put up quite a fight." Marco said as he shook his head.

"What?" Ian asked, thinking he had misheard the older assistant.

Marco shook his head again and laughed.

"Give it a moment and you'll be pissed off at me." Marco told Ian as he placed a hand on Ian's shoulder and walked out of the room.

He then made his way to the waiting room where Camilla sat, frowning and looking at the floor.

"I'm sorry." Marco told Camilla. "I know it brings up old trauma, but we needed to know how the both of you would react together."

"It's part of my job. Please, don't mention the past." Camilla said with a frown.

"Ian is awake, I need to explain things to both of you." Marco said with a nod as he led Camilla into the hospital room.

Inside, Marco could see that Ian now understood what had happened and he wasn't happy. It wasn't like he could complain though, there was a valid reason for what happened.

"What time is it?" Ian asked with a frown, refusing to talk about the attack.

"It's 7:30am, work doesn't start till 9am so you both still have time." Marco told Ian as he took a seat next to the hospital bed.

Ian and Camilla simply nodded, choosing not to say anything.

"First of all, I'd like to apologize to both of you." Marco told the pair. "I know what we did was quite, extreme."

"Very extreme, what will I tell people when they see my bruised face?" Ian asked as he pointed at his face.

"Ian there are no marks, you honestly look normal." Camilla said with a laugh as she took a mirror out of her bag.

"I had them avoid the face or any part that could be seen with your clothes on." Ian pointed out. "But your bruises have been healed and we made sure there was no lasting damage."

"Yeah, so punching me in the gut was fine." Ian grumbled, unable to say anything worse.

"This was a test." Marco explained, ignoring the younger man's reactions. "We needed to assess at what level your skills are."

"Couldn't you have taken us to a gym or something, instead of having us attacked at six in the morning in a dark hallway?" Ian asked Marco.

"Unfortunately, no." Marco said with a laugh. "We needed to see how you would both react to a dangerous situation. We saw how prepared Camilla was and how cautious you are. It also taught us that you are quite the fighter Ian."

"I had to stand up for myself growing up." Ian said with a shrug.

"These reactions are not things we can get from you in a gym or in a training room. It's something that can only be seen in real life situations, like you experienced." Marco explained.

"So what was the point of this test?" It was Camilla's turn to ask this time.

"As assistants to the CEO of the Reyes Group you will always be a target." Marco said in a serious tone. "And although the Reyes Group will provide you with bodyguards, you still need to be able to fend for yourself."

"We're going to have additional work, aren't we?" Ian grumbled as he realized what Marco was testing them for.

"Your abilities won't just save your lives, but possibly the life of the future CEO as well." Marco said as he ignored Ian's question. "You are lucky that you have a few more years of training and you won't be dropped into real work at the start."

Ian and Camilla both gave Marco a confused look, they knew that they had to train to be the CEOs assistant, but it seemed like there was something else there.

"I didn't have the time to prepare like you guys did. Most of what I can do, I learned on the job." Marco said with a frown. "And from the very start my life has always been under threat."

Marco stood up and walked towards the large window in the hospital room that overlooked the city.

He took a deep breath and spoke.

"The Reyes Group and the Reyes family have many enemies." Marco explained. "And to them, the assistant of the CEO who is also the head of the Reyes family is someone extremely valuable. We not only manage the CEOs day to day activities and are privy to many confidential information. We are also people that the CEO trusts, our opinion matters to them, we are both valuable and dangerous."

Marco turned around and leaned against the glass window and took a deep breath.

"That's why we need to know what you can and can't do, we need to know what gaps to fill." Marco explained. "I'm sorry that we were quite harsh in our methods, but this is something we can't take our chances on."

Camilla and Ian looked at each other, they both now understood the need.