Page 41 of Syndicate of Sin Bundle

After deciding to walk, I found myself standing at the doors to an upscale, exclusive shooting range. I hadn’t even thought that there’d be one this close, never mind this central in the city. I walked down three sets of stairs, down into a deep underground basement, and gave the pretty brunette at the counter the best smile that I could muster.

“I’m sorry,” she said, flashing me teeth so white that I thought I had gone blind for a moment. “This area is restricted. You need a platinum membership to use our facility. And it looks like platinum is just a smidgen out of your price range.”

“Excuse me?” someone said from behind me. Chiara appeared at my side, giving the woman a glare hard enough to kill. “Do you know who you’re speaking to?”

All the blood drained from the woman’s face. “Ms.—”

“Cristian Ricci’s girlfriend,” Chiara continued, placing one hand on her hip.

I nearly cringed at the label but held myself together because I wanted to get in and practice.

“If he found out that you weren’t allowing his precious girlfriend into your facility, do you know what he’d do to you?”

“I’m so, so sorry. Please …” She stood and opened the door for us. “Please, head into the range.”

After the woman shut the door behind us, Chiara looped her arm around mine and led us to a range. Some men looked over and nodded to her, showing her respect.

“So, I see that Cristian gave you the gun,” she said, tugging it right out of my waistband. She cracked a smile. “You’re going to have to hide it better than that if you want to blend in with the family.”

I smoothed out my shirt and took my gun from her, lining up at the range. “I don’t plan on blending in.”

“That’s what I told Cristian before you left for Boston,” she said.

After taking my first shot and hitting the edge of the target, I glanced over at Chiara, who shot five bullets right in the center of hers.

“He seems to think you can be tamed. You can let him think that, but … we both know who really runs the relationship.”

“Cristian and I are not in a relationship,” I clarified. “I hate him.”

After a few moments, she looked over at me. “Hate? Is that why you were shooting Alessa death glares the other night when she was telling you to stay away from Cristian?”

“Alessa?” I asked, her name tasting so sour on my tongue. I aimed at the target and blew out a deep breath.

“Alessa, the Ricci family whore. She and Cristian used to date a couple years or so ago.”

“They what?”

“Used to date,” Chiara said.

I shot the gun, and the bullet pierced the dead center of the target. Whoever this Alessa girl was … I needed to have a little chat with her.

30

roxie

For the next three hours, Chiara stayed with me at the gun range, chatting about everything from Cristian to Alessa to all the other girls that I had to worry about now. I shouldn’t have gotten so angry. I didn’t like Cristian. I just liked the sex he gave me. That was all.

Definitely.

Yet I couldn’t help but feel jealousy and anger pool in the pit of my stomach. I had already hated that woman after she threatened me. But … I hated her even more now.

“Well, I have some business to take care of,” Chiara said, walking with me out of the shooting range. “Let’s get together later this week. I can bring you shopping. Those clothes that Cristian bought you are definitely not your style. I know a place that is.”

After saying goodbye to her, I strutted to the club, needing a drink after everything I learned this week about my past and about Cristian and his. Though it was the middle of the day, the bar was packed with CEOs and businessmen, people who looked too rich for their own good, all drinking and having a grand time.

I decided not to look for Cristian and cozied up to the crook of the bar instead. The bartender placed an Afterglow sangria in front of me, but I pushed it away.

“Sambuca, please.”

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