Page 57 of Ruthless Legacy

Chapter Fifteen

We drive for about thirty minutes and Seb lets out a whoop of excitement when we turn off the motorway and head down a dirt road.

“Any idea where we are?” I ask Vee. She shakes her head in response, looking as clueless as me right now.

Seb turns in his seat and waggles his eyebrows. “Oh, you are going to love this Little Red.”

I search the scenery ahead of us to get some sign as to where Archer is taking us, but I have no clue. We pull into a car park and Archer smirks at me through his mirror before he climbs out. He knows the suspense is killing me. I’m not good with surprises; they make me feel out of control.

We all climb out and follow Archer up the hill to where a large wooden warehouse sits. Maybe we were go-kart racing?

As we pass through the gated entrance, a guy comes forward. He’s in his late twenties and has tattoo’s all up both arms and on his neck.

“Arch, long time no see,” he says grinning from ear-to-ear as he takes Archer’s hand.

“Hey, Logan. Yeah, it’s been a while. I’ve had a lot going on lately.”

Logan nods his head as he takes in the rest of us. His eyes rest a while longer on me though, as he recognises the stranger in the group.

“You brought a girl?” He smirks. “Well, this is new.”

Archer rolls his eyes in response. He doesn’t do well with teasing. “Logan, this is Wilbur’s granddaughter, Scarlet.”

Logan blinks in surprise. “I heard he is back in the Bay. Nice to meet you Scarlet,” he tells me with a warm smile.

“Thanks. My name’s actually Eliza. This arse just thinks he has a right to re-name me.”

Logan chuckles. “Oh, I like you.” His gaze flits to Archers. “Now I see why you brought her. Come on, let’s get you all set up.”

“Set up with what?” I ask as I stride to keep up with the boys.

“Shooting. You’re going to learn how to shoot today.”

My eyes widen in surprise as I look over at Archer and he gives me a half-smile as if to say, ‘you’re welcome.’

“Can we do this without parental permission?” I ask him. I am excited to have a go, but we’re under eighteen.

“Already sorted it with Wilbur. He signed the permission slip and emailed it over as we were on our way here.”

I shake my head in disbelief. How is he always one step ahead of everything?

The afternoon turns out to be a blast. After going through all the safety and checks, we hit the range and I’m not going to lie, the adrenaline rush I got when firing a gun for the first time is amazing. I picture my mystery stalker when I focus on the target and aim for right between the eyes. I hit wide the first few shots, but then Archer comes up behind me and shows me how to stand better. With him guiding my arms and encouraging me, I hit the target straight dead in the head. Placing the gun down, I whizz round to face Archer and throw my arms around his neck.

“Did you see that? I hit the target?”

I pause when I realise, I have just thrown myself over him in my need to share my excitement. His arms wrap around my waist, and he looks down at me. “You did good.” He leans closer and places a kiss on my forehead before he lets me go and I find three sets of eyes on us.

“What?” I ask, feeling my cheeks redden.

Seb winks at me as he glances at his sister. “Nothing, Red.”

Feeling self-conscious, I turn my attention back to shooting as Logan reloads the gun for me. We shoot for another hour before Logan informs us he has a shooting party arriving soon and we’re going to have to call it a day. My disappointment must show on my face because Archer reaches for my hand to get my attention.

“We’ll come again, Scarlet.”

I nod my head in response. Shooting has got me on an adrenaline high and all I can think about is how kissable his lips look right now. I clear my throat, trying to clear my head, as Archer closes his hand around mine, guiding us to the exit.

“Thanks again, Logan.”

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