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Lake guidesme into the building with a hand on the small of my back. It smells like a gym, a gross combination of disinfectant and stale sweat. No one is in the building, but all the lights are already on. He leads me past a boxing ring, a line of punching bags, weights, and cardio equipment to another closed door.
“This is the armory.” He flips on a light and walks to a metal locker, pulling a key out of his pocket and opening it. “I’m going to have you use the smallest handgun we have in here. It’s a Sig Sauer P238. If you like it, you can keep it.”
He pulls out a small black gun and a larger one that I assume he’ll be using. He grabs a box of bullets. He explains the safety, showing me how to load it and explains it holds six rounds and one in the chamber.
“It’s important to remember how many shots you’ve fired and how many bullets you have left.” His coffee brown eyes hold mine seriously. “Hopefully you’ll never find yourself in a situation where you need to use a gun, but I’d feel better if you kept one with you at all times. Just in case.”
“Right, I’ve never used a gun before. I’ve never wanted to.” I still don’t want to, but I understand why it might be a good idea.
“Eventually we’ll teach you how to defend yourself in other ways, too. Then you won’t have to rely on a gun unless it’s totally necessary.” He motions for me to follow him through one more room.
Inside are two lanes with one of those target sheets you always see in the movies at the end. He stands behind me and coaches me on how to hold the gun, how to stand while I shoot, and how to aim. Every time he moves, I’m momentarily distracted by the spicy scent of his body wash.
Ever since that moment in the kitchen where the tension mounted and the almost kiss happened, I’ve been even more attuned to him. The warmth of his hand on my back. The way his eyes have that handsome wrinkling when he smiles. The same dimple he’s always had on his right cheek that used to tempt me to kiss it. That temptation is back in full force now.
I don’t entirely understand how these desires can be bubbling up inside me after everything I’ve been through. Is it because I know without a doubt that I am safe with them? It can’t be, because while I know I’m safe from Tripp with them, I know there is something they’re not telling me. The types of explanations they give me about their businesses just seems off. I don’t know whether to trust my gut or just let myself go with them. My physical safety isn’t in question, but my heart is already so shattered I don’t know if it’s even worth saving.
“Liv?” He’s looking at me with his brows drawn together in concern.
“Sorry.” I shake my head and look down at the ground.
“Nothing to apologize for.” He lifts my chin with his fingers. “How about I do a demonstration for you?”
“Yeah, that sounds great.”
I’ve never been the type to look at someone holding a gun and think to myself, ‘damn that’s hot’, but watching Lake, I see the appeal. The sleeves of his go-to black t-shirt strain around his biceps. The muscles in his forearms are just as defined, covered by intricate tattoos and bulging veins that I’d love to trace with my fingers. He’s got a noise cancelling headset on, but it doesn’t detract from the strength of his profile. He looks so natural shooting round after round. When I look down at his target sheet, I see he has hit the heart and the middle of the forehead, no other places.
I let my eyes wander back to him. He mentioned how important stance is, so I study the way he’s got his weight balanced evenly between his feet, his left foot a bit forward. He’s right-handed, so I should probably copy that. I allow myself a second to appreciate his ass, which looks amazing in the dark wash jeans he’s wearing. He always did have a nice ass, I used to ogle him while I watched his football practices and games in high school.
“You ready to try?” he asks me with a glint in his eyes. He must have noticed where I was focused.
“Yeah,” I say as my cheeks heat.
He sets his gun down on the table beside us and moves to stand behind me. I can feel the power radiating off him as he positions me properly. One of his legs slides between mine and nudges them apart. I look over my shoulder when he leaves it there, and he winks at me. I turn around with a little smile on my face.
He positions me the way I need to be and coaches me through aiming. I jump the first time I pull the trigger, and the bullet completely misses the paper. He stays calm and tells me how to correct my stance for the next attempt. My palms are sweaty as I fire the gun the second time, but I manage to keep my feet planted, and I actually hit the paper.
“Getting better,” he says with a squeeze of my hips.
We spend an hour working. He suggests stopping when he notices me rubbing a hand over my broken ribs. It’s not even that they are hurting, all my upper body muscles are tense and tired. I yawn as we begin our walk to the house.
“When we get back, you should take a pain pill and a nap.”
I nod around another yawn. “Yeah, that does sound like a plan. What are you going to do?”
“I’ve got some work to catch up on. I’ll probably check in with the guys, too.”
“How long have you had this property?” I have to squint because of the way the bright sunshine reflects off the snow, but I still take in how beautiful the landscape is. I feel completely isolated behind the wall of evergreens towering over the property, within the valley of steep hills. There’s an iced over pond and what looks like a swimming pool, although it’s covered by snow, so I can’t say for certain. I think Nolan mentioned that there was one last night before we fell asleep.
“I bought this land seven years ago when River bought me out of the company.”
“Do you ever regret selling your shares to your sister the way you did?”
“No, not for a second. She’s so much better at running that business. I could never be half as great as she is.” His sister is only a year younger than us. “Working with the guys and running the mercenary side business is what works best for me.”
“Why don’t you have a name for your business?”
His steps falter for a brief moment. “It’s not exactly a legitimate business. We operate in the gray area where morality and capitalism clash. People in the government know about us, but the government does not, if you catch my meaning.”
