Page 52 of Queen Of WildCards

Ishook my head, gesturing to the weapons once again. "Ticktock, doc."

Shereached for aGlock, but redirected at the last second, snagging a sleek silver piece fromJoker'sshelf.Ishrugged at her choice—a .22 wouldn't kill, but it could maim in close distance.Apparently, my posture gave away the disappointment in her choice, because she put it back and moved along toSpade'sshelf, perusing the pistols there.

"Here,"Igrunted, grabbing a small pair of matching green pistols from my own cache, "use one of these."

Asmall part of me itched at the thought of someone else using my guns.Ididn't share,Ididn't do touch, andIdidn't like people encroaching on my privacy, but here in this little kitchen, none of that seemed to matter.

Herfingertips brushed against mine as she took the offered pistol from my hand, andIstruggled to remember how to breathe asIspun to my left and slipped a finger over the hidden print pad built into the drawer on the end of the island.Itpopped open and slid out to reveal clips of all styles, loaded and ready to go.Selectingthe two neon green ones that matched my guns,Itook her hand again and led the way to the stairs leading down to the underground cellar we'd repurposed into a gun range.

Sometimes, using a warehouse as a home base came with added benefits.

Thedoctor's eyes blew wide whenIflipped the light switch and revealed a whole row of shooting lanes, fancy white targets in the shape of humans at the end of each one, dangling from a string that ran the length of the run.

"Whatthe hell is this?"

Iquirked a brow and chuckled under my breath. "What'sit look like?"

Thoseimpenetrable eyes of hers locked onto me, giving me a once-over that took far longer than it should have and lingered in placesI'drather not think of. "Itlookslike you're about to teach your captive to shoot.Atan underground, personal shooting range."

Icracked a smile. "Perceptive."

"Andthey callSpadethe crazy one."

Isaid nothing as she strode past me and picked out the lane furthest from the door—my favorite one to use, as well.Iliked to put a wall to my back and keep an eye on the exit at all times, and the far wall was the best vantage point in the room.

Withouta word,Ilifted the gun from her grip, slipped a clip inside it, and handed it back to her. "Safety'son; flick it off to shoot, flick it back on as soon as you're done.Don'tclose your eyes, and don't tense up when you shoot."Igrabbed her shoulders as she stared at the very loaded gun in her hands and spun her to face downrange. "Aimfor the head or the heart.Twosurefire death shots.Anythingelse, and you run the risk of missing vital organs."

Shenodded resolutely and brought the gun up in both hands, arms slightly bent as she flinched prematurely and pulled the trigger.

Bang!

Sherocked backward from the shot, falling against my chest with a littleoofof surprise.Myhands moved to steady her, and she pulled away, blushing from head to toe as she shot a look back over her shoulder at me.

Ijust smirked and signaled she should try again.

Witha resolute nod this time, she squared up once more, her arms steadier in front of her, only a slight flinch this time.Itwas still enough to send her shot wild, and she winced as it nicked the edge of one corner, clearly way off-mark.

"Here,"Isighed, setting my gun on the shelf beside me.Myhands moved from her shoulders down her arms until they wrapped around hers, fingers twined over each other asIraised the gun in front of her and straightened her arms. "Armsextended, all the way this time.Anddon't flinch away."

"Easyfor you to say," she huffed, rolling her shoulders pointedly.Thistime, when her fingers squeezed the trigger, the paper wasn't so lucky, and her shots landed at the base of the sheet, grazing where the target's kidneys might be, as long as he stood stock still and took the bullets.

Thevictory was a small one for her, but she smiled up at me like the fucking sun at midnight and lit a small fire inside me that blazed its way through the darknessI'dbeen hiding in for so long.

Towatch her take such pleasure in such a small thing, somethingI'dconsider a failure out of myself, was humbling.Herewas this girl, who we'd kidnapped off the street over nothing more than a fucking unfortunatewrong place, wrong timething, punishing her overJoker'sfuck up.Andshe wasn't hiding from us.

No.Quitethe opposite.Thisgirl, thiswoman,she was worming her way under the skin of every guy here, and fast.

Ifwe weren't careful, at least one of these fools would fall in love with her, and then where would that lead us ifAcedecided she had to be disposed of?

Thethought made me shudder.

"BlackJack?"

Shemuttered my name, not myname,but the only oneI'dgone by in years, and a strange feeling roused in me, oneIwasn't familiar with.Toavoid dealing with it,Iturned my attention back to her, lifting her arms once more, this time shuffling forward until her back was against my chest.

ApositionIregretted as soon asIrealized whatelsethat pressed together.

Shefit against me like a fucking glove, dragging shame from the depths of my soul asIforced myself to remember she'd just been accosted byAce.Ina not-so-pretty way, too.

---