Page 47 of Outlaws’ Runaway

The fourth shot—by pure natural skill and not at all just dumb beginner's luck—puts a hole right between the eyes of the target figure.

“She shoots, she scores!” Bonnie yells. “Now visualize that target is your problem. Works best if it’s a person, but sometimes we gotta do what we gotta do. Imagine that you can get rid of it this easy. Then go to town.”

My first thought? Stefano Fabbri. I don't even know what he looks like, so my mental image is kind of a generic movie mobster dressed in a suit with slicked back hair, and I squeezethe trigger. The gun goes off with a satisfying crack. I fire again. And again. I stop even noticing where I’m hitting, because it doesn’t even matter anymore. I pull the trigger over and over, snarling deep in my chest and not stopping until the magazine goes empty.

When the gun starts clicking, Bonnie chuckles. “Good girl. Show me how you reload.”

I never thought guns would be my thing, but right now, right here, I have to admit it's feeling pretty good.

27

CRANK

The sightof our girl laying down heavy fire on a bunch of paper targets is one of the hottest things I've seen in my fucking life. Her accuracy leaves a bit to be desired, but she's got the spirit of a goddamn executioner, half roaring, half laughing all the way. Behind her, Bonnie's keeping an eye on her, and feeding her ammo when she needs it. It's not as good as sex, but I know exactly how fucking freeing it can be to just stand there and shoot at stuff for a while.

“Looking good,” Poe notes with a little laugh. “The recoil makes her ass bounce kinda nice, too.”

He's not wrong. Fuck, standing here and watching her jiggle while she goes all mini-Rambo might be my new favorite hobby.

“I thought she didn't do guns,” Savage notes, though he doesn't sound like he minds. He smiles as his eyes follow her progress.

“Guessing Bonnie put her on gun therapy.” I nod my head in Bonnie's direction. “I hear she’s been dragging Jessica and Anne back here for lessons, too.”

“Not a bad idea,” Poe says with a nod. “If they’re going to be here, they should know how to defend themselves.”

I don’t fucking like the idea of Paige or any of the women having to shoot to survive, but realistically I know he’s not wrong. Given the wild spread on the target wall, I don't think we need to worry about our day jobs quite yet, but she's not doing bad for a first timer. “Sure, but let’s make sure the gun is out of reach when we tell her what’s going on.”

We wait until she runs out of ammo, then I tap Bonnie on the shoulder. “Hey, can we borrow our girl?”

She gives us a sharp look, then turns to Paige. “I don't know. Can they?”

Paige returns it to the tray. “Yeah, I guess so. I’d ask if it’s good news, but it’s never good news.”

Poe grimaces. “It's not great.”

“Right. Guess I have to go. Thank you, Bonnie. It was really nice meeting you.”

“Don't worry about cleanup, I got it. A pleasure. If you stick around, I'll keep teaching you. You, me, Jessica… it'll be fun.” She grins while she checks over the gun and makes sure all the ammo is out. “And we have an ice cream date, remember?”

“I will, thanks!” Paige smiles as she hooks arms with Poe and Savage, walking between them. “You know, that actually did feel really good.”

“Just wait, your arm’s going to be fucking sore tomorrow, but yeah Bonnie's good people. She struggled when General was taken out, but having Anne around has given her a whole new life. She hasn’t had the easiest time, and she can be a flamingbitch sometimes, but you can trust her to have your back.” Savage hesitates, something I've never seen him do. “Listen, things might get rough tomorrow. Fabbri's threatening war if we don't bring you in along with the money.”

“What!?” She stops so suddenly, the guys accidentally drag her with them a moment before they stop too. “You said you weren't handing me over. What's going on?”

“No,” Savage denies, quickly. “We're not handing you in. Fuck. No. We promised to keep you safe and we’ll fucking follow through.”

“Exactly,” I agree.

“There's a 'but' coming, isn't there?” Paige's voice quavers.

“We have to play this carefully. The money is theirs, and our best chance at keeping things from escalating is taking his claim seriously. If we had more time, we could push him to find out why he gives a shit about you being there, but he’s demanding we meet tomorrow morning. I don’t fucking like it but Hellfire needs to do what’s best for the club, and that involves you.” Savage opens the door into the officer quarters and holds it for her. “You might have to talk to him, but you're gonna have us there the whole fucking time, and handing you over isn’t on anyone’s option list. Not even Hellfire’s. He's a hard motherfucker, but he's got principles.” He opens the door to his quarters, letting us in.

Paige hesitates a moment before she steps inside. “Be honest with me. What are the chances of something going horribly wrong?”

I hate this shit. I yank her close and kiss her. She freezes, and then kisses me back with a tiny sigh. I drop my hands to thesmall of her back and hold her against me while I slip my tongue into her mouth. Fuck, she's soft, and perfect.

But then she pushes me away, disengaging. “No. You can't just distract me like that. This is my life we’re talking about.”

---