Page 36 of His to Possess

“I haven’t hit anything,” I grumble.

She moves behind me and kicks my foot out wider. “Gotta widen your stance. Lean back on this leg,” she instructs. Then she adjusts my outstretched arms slightly. “Try it again. Don’t forget to breathe.”

I control my breathing just like she showed me and pull the trigger. PING! The can goes flying through the air and I let out a whoop.

“Excellent shot,” she praises me, and I turn and press a kiss to her soft lips.

“Only because I have an excellent teacher,” I say. After another quick kiss, I step back and hand her the gun. I’m ready to see what my girl has got, especially after remembering the way she took that car out that had been chasing us. “Your turn.”

I watch Blake insert a new magazine and then rack the slide. I’m not completely gun illiterate, thanks to Miceli, and I cross my arms as I watch her lift her arm, take aim and begin shooting. Ping! Ping! Ping! One right after the other, the cans all fly off the fence rail. My jaw drops. After she hits the last one, I let out a low whistle under my breath.

“Very impressive,” I state with a grin. “You’re an even better shot than I realized. You’re like perfect.”

And she is—in every single way. It’s a helluva lot more than her shooting skills that impress me to no end. The woman is a marvel and, even though it’s under crazy circumstances, I’m so glad to be up here, alone with her, and able to take this time and get to know her better.

She chuckles. “Not perfect, but I have had a lot of practice.”

“I bet,” I murmur, watching her slide the pistol into the holster at her back. Damn, it’s sexy as hell. “So how exactly did you get into bounty hunting?”

She shrugs. “I didn’t have a lot of options once I was on my own. After I ran away from my last foster home—because the foster dad there started getting too handsy—I was almost eighteen. There was no point staying in the system any longer because the minute you turn eighteen, they kick you to the curb. So I spent a good year living on the street.”

“Jesus.” I can’t imagine what she experienced or how she survived.

“It wasn’t all bad, but it wasn’t ideal, either. Anyway, I met someone who sort of took me under her wing. Scarlett was a few years older and helped me out whenever she could. She hooked me up with Fox, my handler.”

“Scarlett was a bounty hunter, too? Living on the street?”

“No, she had a place and invited me to stay there once she realized I didn’t have anywhere to live. I thought she did jobs for Fox, but then I found out…”

“Found out what?” I ask, noticing the sadness wash over her face.

“She was in a little deeper than me,” Blake explained carefully. “She was an assassin.”

I’m not really sure how to respond to that, but my face must express my disdain because Blake instantly comes to her defense.

“She was a good person and she was very particular about which jobs she took.”

I arch a brow, not quite buying it. “Good people don’t generally go around killing other people,” I say.

“Scarlett only chose jobs that eliminated bad men. And she was so good to me—I won’t ever say a bad word about her.”

“She was your friend. Maybe a little morally-gray, but she was your friend. I get that and I’m not judging. Hell, kitten, my family has a ruthless reputation. Mafia, remember?”

Even though I don’t partake, I know the brutality that has happened to make the Rossi family at the top of the food chain. My father has done things, terrible things that I don’t want to know the details about. Same with Miceli, but that was a while ago. The rest of us have reaped the benefits of our crime roots, but a lot of things have changed over the years. The Five Families have allowed us to work together rather than against each other. Sure, there is always insider squabbling and bickering over territorial rights, but the table is a fairly civilized group who rule together. We much prefer that over a full-out war and spilling each other’s blood.

Blake lets out a little breath and nods her head.

“What happened to Scarlett?” I ask.

“One night, she went out on a job and she never came back. I was devastated and kept asking around, trying to figure out what had happened.”

“Did you ever find out anything?”

“After a lot of digging, I’d heard she was killed by her target’s mistress. Scarlett had told me it was an easy job, but I don’tthink she’d counted on the woman being there or being armed. No one knows exactly what happened but, if I had to guess, I’d say she was caught by surprise.”

“I’m sorry.”

“That’s the world,” she says simply. Wisely. “It’s also one of the reasons I’ve stayed away from that darkness. Tracking people down is one thing; taking a life is quite another.”

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