by Andrea Joy
“You still up for hitting the range today, Sof?”
“Heck yeah!” I drop the last piece of toast back on my plate and take it all up to the sink, dumping the half-eaten slice in the garbage and placing the plate in the open dishwasher before refilling my coffee.
“Toni’s going to join us. Meet at the car in fifteen minutes?”
I’m so excited I could burst. For years, I’ve been begging my cousin to take me to the gun range with him but every time he’s said no. Not until I got my possession and acquisition licence or PAL. Well, last month I took both the restricted and unrestricted courses and passed them with flying colours. Unlike Braxton and the other guys, I didn’t grow up around guns. Junkies, yes. Guns, no. To their credit, they tried to keep me away, but they can’t deny my requests to tag along with them any longer.
There are a couple other cars in the lot when we pull into the gravel parking lot of the gun range, but not as many as I was expecting. Braxton parks the SUV at the far end beside a slate grey Range Rover. I jump out after him and together we meet Antonio at the hood of the cars.
“Hey, Piglet,” Antonio says, throwing an arm around my shoulders and bringing me in for a side hug.
I sigh and roll my eyes at the nickname he insists on calling me. All because I had pigtails in my hair when we met. I had just gotten done with baseball practice and it was easier to wear the baseball helmet when my hair was in pigtails than a ponytail. That was four years ago.
“Hey Aquaman,” I tease back, wrapping an arm around his waist from behind, returning the hug.
Antonio groans and steps away from me, dropping his arm. Braxton and I laugh.
“You just had to show her the picture,” he says, glaring at my cousin.
Braxton shrugs. “She found the pictures.” A wide grin splits his face. It falls when his phone beeps and checks the screen. “Looks like Mason is joining us.”
My stomach lurches at his words. I was fully expecting Mason to avoid me after what we did last night, er… this morning, but I guess not. Unless he has no idea that I’m here too, but why wouldn’t Braxton tell him that he was bringing me along.
Ugh, get a grip Sofia. I chastised myself and follow Braxton and Antonio into the run-down building.
As soon as the three of us enter, the ear-splitting noise we heard from outside dims to a low chatter. Heads turn to watch the three of us walk across the worn-out linoleum floor. It’s eerie, and if I wasn’t with Braxton, I would think someone was getting ready to jump out and attack us. Antonio holds open a door on the far side of the large room for us and I follow Braxton down the stairs and into the basement.
“I thought we were going to be outside today,” I say, stopping beside him when he comes to a stop beside one of the stations and places the cases he was carrying on the small table. I was looking forward to doing one of the courses I know this range has, but they’re all outside.
“We will. I want you to get used to the gun first before we go out there.”
Antonio stops at the one beside us and places the longer rifle case on the floor but makes no move to open it. I arch a questioning brow. He grins, sliding his hands into the front pockets of his worn-out jeans.
“That’s for later,” is all he says, then pulls out his own personal pistol from the back waistband of his pants and goes about checking the chamber and magazine.
Braxton hands me a pair of earmuffs and funny looking glasses. I slip the glasses on but let the earmuffs hang around my neck for now then wait for him to unlock one of the cases.
“Ruger MK 4 22 tactical,” he says, handing me the gun.
I take it from his hand and am surprised by the weight of it. It looks lighter than it feels. Sensing where my thoughts are, Braxton grins.
“It has some weight to it, but that’s good. Less chance of recoil.” He takes a step back and nods toward where Antonio has just finished setting up both targets. “Show me your stance.”
I roll my eyes but do what he says and get into position.
“Don’t lock your elbows.”
I huff out a breath and relax them. When I was taking the course, my instructor told me the same thing. It’s not like I’m actively aware of every time I lock my elbows, it just feels normal. Comfortable. It’s a habit I know I’ll have to consciously work at correcting.
“Good,” Braxton says from behind me. “Now prove it safe and place it down.”
I hear the door to the basement open and close and Braxton greeting whoever came through the door, but I ignore them for now. Focusing on the steps I learnt in the course. Point the firearm in a safe direction, remove the cartridge, observe the chamber, verify the feeding path is clear, and examine the bore. When I’m satisfied that it all looks good, I place it down with the barrel facing the target and then turn around to face my cousin, Toni, and whoever joined us. But I’m not prepared for who I find. I knew Mason was meeting us here, but I was not expecting the beautiful brunette by his side. I’m so taken aback by the newcomers that I miss Mason introducing us and her name.
“Nice to meet you,” she says in a musical lilt, holding out her hand.
“Yeah, you too.” I ignore her hand and turn back to my cousin. “Are we doing this?” I ask, hoping I’ve kept the frustration and pain from my voice. We were in bed together less than five hours ago and now he has a date.
Braxton glances from me to Mason and then back again. I wince. Apparently, I didn’t do quite as good of a job as I thought, but thankfully my cousin doesn’t say anything just nods and takes the second case to the stand on the other side of mine and goes about checking his weapon. Toni isn’t as willing to let it go, though, he scowls at Mason but when I poke him in the side, he relaxes and throws an arm around my shoulders in a quick hug, kissing the side of my head before moving over to his own area.
Mason and the brunette move to the other side of Toni, and I’ve never been more grateful to be sandwiched between my cousin and one of his best friends. Hours pass as the five of us destroy target after target. By the end of it, my arms are burning and my jaw hurts from grinding down on my back teeth every time the brunette giggled at something Mason must have said or did.
I admit, there was a time during the last couple hours where I briefly considered twisting so that I could aim the barrel of my gun at her head and pull the trigger. Only the thought of the mess and having to inconvenience my cousin and Toni with the cleanup stopped me. Also, orange is not my colour and I wouldn’t do well with being someone’s prison bitch. Not like that’s where I would end up, because I’m a De Luca and fuck prison. But still.
After we’ve cleaned up the targets we’ve used and secured the firearms back in their cases, the five of us head back up the stairs and out the back door of the building. The sounds of gun fire immediately greet us as we step outside and I’m surprised I hadn’t heard it when we first arrived. It’s a bit of a walk before we get to our destination, but when I see what Braxton and Toni have planned, my earlier frustration at Mason having brought a date to the firing range takes a back seat to reignited excitement.
Laid out in front of us is one of those courses you see in TV shows when new officers are practising their skills at breaching a property and taking out any threats while saving the hostages. I’ve always wanted to try one of these.
Toni laughs when he turns around from placing the long case on a folding table at the beginning of the course. “Piglet, you want to go first?”
I chew on my bottom lip, my eyes pinging between the other four people. Part of me really does want to go first, to show these guys what I’m made of, but it’s all fake because the other part of me is terrified. I’m terrified of making a fool of myself in front of Mason and his date. Which is stupid, right? I shouldn’t give a fuck what he or anyone else thinks of me. Thankfully, my cousin steps in and saves me from having to make a decision.
“Why don’t we pair up? Sofia and I will go first. Mason and Gabriella will go next. Toni will keep time. Then we’ll s
witch partners.”
Everyone agrees and the next thing I know, Braxton is handing me a vest. I arch an eyebrow at him, and he shrugs sheepishly.
“Makes it feel more real,” he says, when I take the vest from him and he pulls his own over his head, securing the straps around his ribs. “We got this.” He hands me the gun I was using in the basement and watches me as I go through the same steps again to prove it safe. He grins in satisfaction and then leads the way to the first door and the beginning of the course.
Toni begins counting us down from five and the second he says one, Braxton is kicking in the door, gun raised, and sweeps the entry from left to right, clearing it. When he begins moving forward, I follow him. A target pops up on the left and Braxton takes it down. Just as that one falls back; another pops up on my right and I twist to take it out without giving it a second thought. I let out a relieved breath when I see that it really is a target and not one of the hostages. Once we’ve cleared the first room, Braxton motions us forward.
Three minutes later, and we’ve cleared the entire course. All targets down and unfortunately one hostage too, which was my fault. I may have gotten a little trigger happy toward the middle. Toni puts our time at three and a half minutes for completion. Braxton and I remove our vests and hand them off to Mason and Gabriella then take our spots beside Toni behind the table. He counts them down from five just like he did with us. Instead of kicking down the door like Braxton did, Mason reaches for the door handle and twists, his eyes on Gabriella who nods that she’s ready and then he pushes open the wooden structure and leans back, letting her go first. I hope she trips.
“What’s with the look?” Toni says from my side.
“What look?”
He chuckles. “You look like you just swallowed something disgusting. Your lips are curled in a snarl.”
I fold my arms across my chest and stare straight ahead at where Mason and Gabriella are exiting the first building. “Who wears heels to a gun range? Like honestly. And in the winter!”
And what kind of name is Gabriella? I think but don’t say out loud. I was almost tempted to sing the, “‘ella, ‘ella” part of that Rihanna song, but manage to stop myself just in time. Seriously, what the fuck is wrong with me today?
Toni snorts and I glare at him. Braxton’s head comes up to give us a questioning look but then dips down again to the phone in his hands. Guy never takes a break.
Chapter Six
MASON
7 years ago
She’s beautiful in her ripped jeans and leather jacket zipped up high. Her long blonde hair piled high on top her head. Black converse shoes ever present on her feet. I didn’t miss the look of hurt that flashed behind her blue eyes when she turned around and saw Gabriella standing beside me in the basement of the range. It wasn’t my intention to hurt her and if I had known that she was going to be here today, I wouldn’t have brought Gabbie, but as it was, Braxton neglected to mention that Sofia was joining them. I should have known that she would be, though. She’s been begging Braxton to bring her for years and she just got her license the other month, so it really shouldn’t have been a surprise. She looked hot as fuck, standing there in those tight jeans with a firearm in her hand. I had to discretely rearrange the bulge in my pants and hope that nobody noticed.
Gabbie and I complete the course in under three minutes, but three of our hostages are down and a couple of our targets are still standing. When we make it back to the table, Toni is smirking and there’s a look of triumph in Sofia’s eyes. Truth be told, if it looked like we weren’t going to lose, I would’ve thrown it just to see that look on her face.
“A little rusty there, Mase,” Toni teases. “That’s okay. We can’t all be awesome.”
I roll my eyes and hand him my vest. “You didn’t even compete, asshole.”
He takes my offering and slips it over his head, securing the straps on either side of his ribs. “Gabriella, wanna be my partner?”
She hesitates, her big brown eyes looking from Toni to me. I shrug. She can do whatever she wants. It wasn’t my plan to bring her to the range, but she was with me when I got the text that Braxton and Toni were heading this way and asking if I wanted to join them. The woman wouldn’t know a brush off if it hit her upside the head. I tried everything, short of making a run for it, to get rid of her. I knew I shouldn’t have gone to see her after getting her call this morning, but she sounded freaked out, said it sounded like there was someone trying to break into her house. And because I’m a sucker for punishment and living in the past apparently, I went. Turns out the intruder she thought she heard was the neighbour's cat who’d somehow gotten inside her house. I was glad that it wasn’t as serious as she thought, but I was also livid. I was dragged out of bed, a bed with Sofia in it, for a fucking cat. The fact that it was first thing in the morning should’ve been clue enough that something wasn’t adding up.
Gabriella must have agreed to partner with Toni because she follows him out to the first building. The two of them huddle together, formulating a plan of attack, but they’re too far away for any of us to hear what’s being said.
“So, you and Gabriella, huh?”
I can hear the disdain and accusation in Sofia’s voice. A quick glance over my shoulder at Braxton tells me that he’s too invested in whatever’s on his phone to be paying attention to us.
“She’s just a friend, Sof,” I say, bringing my gaze back to the woman in front of me. I can’t help but wish for the millionth time today that I was still in that bed when she woke up. Then I admonish myself for the thought. She’s nineteen for Christ’s sake. I shouldn’t be thinking about her the way I am. I shouldn’t even have touched her last night.
Sofia scoffs, pulling her arms tighter across her body. “She didn’t look like just a friend when she was practically all over you.”
Yeah, that pissed me off too when Gabbie couldn’t stop touching me while we were in the basement of the range. And her high-pitched laugh… I shudder. It reminds me of Janice from Friends.
“Leave it be, Sofia.” I glance down at the timer on Toni’s phone. He and Gabbie are going on two minutes.
I see Sofia shift out of the corner of my eye and then I feel her fingers playing with the waistband of my jeans. She dips one inside and runs it along my hip to the front. Before she can push the rest of her fingers inside my pants, I grab her wrist and bite down on my lower jaw.
“Don’t.” The one word comes out harsher than I intend it to, but I’m not going to apologize to her. I let go of her wrist and take a step to the side, putting distance between us. Another quick glance behind us reassures me that Braxton is still preoccupied with his phone. “I’m sorry, Sofia. I shouldn’t have taken advantage of you last night. You’re young and we were both drinking.”
“Mason, what are you talking about? You didn’t take advantage of me. I wanted it just as much as you—”
“Stop.”
Sofia rears back like I’ve just hit her and stiffens. Her gaze snaps to her cousin but when he doesn’t look up, she breathes out in relief and her stance relaxes a bit again. I curse, shoving a hand through my hair.
“I’m a lot older than you, Sofia. I should’ve known better. I shouldn’t have let last night go as far as it did.”
“Mason.” She steps toward me with a hand stretched out like she’s about to touch me, but I shake my head and take another step back.
“It can’t happen again. It won’t happen again.”
As soon as I see her face crumble, I want to take back my words. To tell her that I didn’t mean them. That I want it to happen again and again and again. I’m a sick bastard for wanting to be with her. I turn to watch Toni and Gabbie complete the course in record time, but I’m not really seeing them or the course. I’m replaying my words and Sofia’s reaction in my head over and over again while she still stands here, watching me. Finally, I can’t do it anymore. Stuffing my hands in my pockets, I turn my head to her and tell her I’m sorry, then do a
one-eighty and high tail it out of there before Gabbie and Toni make it back to the table and Braxton ends his phone call. With my luck, the two men would take one look at Sofia and I, feel the tension between us and instantly know what we did… what I did last night.
There’s a knock on my office door and then my assistant is opening it and poking her head through, her long red hair falling over her shoulder. There was a time after Em died where her and I would fool around in my office without a care of who could hear us. I was grieving in the only way I knew how; with lots of booze and sex. I didn’t care how I got it, I just wanted to get laid and get drunk. My cock would instantly stir whenever Sheri glanced my way. But now… well, now there’s only one woman on my mind.
“Mr. James, Mr. De Luca and Mr. Ferrera are here to see you,” Sheri says, her red painted lips pulled up in a friendly smile.
“Before you send them in can you let Corey know I need to see him?” I ask, then thank her.
Usually the other firm partner doesn’t join in on my official meetings with Braxton but when Alessandro called to set up the meeting, he specifically said that Braxton requested Corey be here too. I have no idea what’s going on, but I suspect it may have something to do with the phone call Braxton took while we were at the range the other day.
Sheri nods in acknowledgement and then closes my office door again, leaving me to get ready for this meeting. Two minutes later, the door to my office opens again and Corey Jasvins strolls in, doing up the buttons of his grey suit jacket. His hair is mused and not in its usual combed back style. When I catch a glance of his wife rushing down the hallway passed my office, my lips quirk.