“You’re releasing your breath when you fire,” I murmur. “Hold it as you pull the trigger. Let the recoil come back naturally.”
She nods, inhales, steadies herself.
I step back.
She fires.
No flinch.
Dead center mass.
“Good girl,” I say softly. “Again.”
twenty-one
I’m not sure how long we’re down here, but it feels like hours. Matthias watches and instructs, improving on what Seamus already taught me, helping me hone my skills. He says it’s about building muscle memory—the ability to perform the action without thinking.
“Why’d you really come down here?” I ask as I put my gun back in its case to be taken upstairs and cleaned. “I don’t think it was to give me shooting tips.”
Matthias sighs, running a hand down his ragged face. He hasn’t been shaving, and his beard is getting thicker. I like it, imagining what that full beard would feel like scraping against the sensitive skin of my inner thighs.
“Careful, Ava,” he warns, his voice gravelly as he takes in my blown pupils and darkened eyes. “Your emotions are written all over your face, and unless you want me to fuck you up against this wall, you’ll wipe it off your face.”
“Oops.” I shrug nonchalantly and wait for him to answer my question.
“You need to go into Libby’s room, Ava.”
And I’m done.
“I’m not having this conversation, Matthias,” I hiss as I reach for my gun case, ready to hightail it the hell out of here. This is not something I want to discuss. I won’t go into Libby’s room to pack up the meager belongings she brought with her from the house. I won’t dig through old memories only to have them tainted by my failure.
It’s not going to fucking happen.
“Last night was the third time he found you sleepwalking, standing outside her bedroom door like a fucking ghost,” Matthias growls, grabbing the gun case from my hand and throwing it onto the stall table. He backs me against the far wall, crowding my space. His face darkens, storm clouds rolling over his light eyes. He could see into my soul with how focused he is.
“Why do you even care?” I snarl, baring my teeth at him. “I won’t be here long, remember? You want her shit gone? Do it yourself.”
“That’s not what this is about, Red, and you know it.”
I bark a laugh.
“Isn’t it?” I ask, hysteria creeping in. “You’re the one who thinks I betrayed you. And maybe I did, Matthias, but never maliciously. I did what I did to protect Mark. That’s all. I had no idea what’s on that drive, I swear.”
“You did betray me, Ava,” he whispers angrily, his hand sliding to my throat. “There is no maybe. You gave him information that very few people knew. Information I trusted you with.”
“Fuck you, Matthias,” I scream, spit flying, but I don’t push him away. “I never told him anything about you.”
“Then how did he get my dead brother’s name, Avaleigh?” he roars, his face turning an ugly shade of red as his grip tightens, making it harder to breathe. “The last thing he whispered in myear before he locked me up is my brother’s name. A name I told you in confidence. A name only Vasily and Tomas know.”
“I never gave him anything,” I gasp, clawing at his hand now that my air is disappearing. “He never asked me one thing about you. Even if he did, I wouldn’t have given him anything.”
“You lie!”
“You’re the liar, Matthias,” I choke. “You’re lying to yourself, and you know it.”
“And what am I lying about, hm?” He tilts his head, his grip refusing to loosen.
“You want to believe I betrayed you, because otherwise you’d have to face the fact that I’m more than just a pawn to you,” I struggle out. Dizziness washes over me, my vision dimming. He must see it, because his grip loosens. “You don’t want to admit that you have feelings for me.”
