“Let me come with you.”
“No. Absolutely not.” He answers without a single beat of hesitation.
“This is my fight as much as it is yours. He as good as got my brother killed. He made me shoot you and exist thinking I’d killed someone. He forced me into horrible things and demanded sickening acts, and I can’t just sit back and let you handle this. I want to be there. I want him to see that I’ve beaten him this time.Please.”
“Zira.” His grip tightens on my leg. “It’s far too dangerous.”
“I can teach her,” says Valentina from across the table. “A crash course, at least. It won’t be extravagant, but there’s enough time that I can teach her some decent basics.”
“Really?” I spin to face her. “I’d love that. In awant to protect myselfkind of way.” Sounding eager surely works against me,but given everything I’ve seen and the world I’m embroiled in, it can’t hurt to learn how to shoot safely.
“Sure. Everyone should have that as a basic skill,” Valentina replies.
I turn back to Bradley and his eyes are narrow, likely as he searches for a reason to stop this. I cover his hand with both of mine. “I can do this. And you know I deserve to be there.”
Bradley’s lips part but in the end, he sighs deeply and nods. “I can’t hold you back from bettering yourself, at least. So if you can pass Valentina’s basic training, I’ll let you come.”
“Thank you!” I surge up and throw my arms around his shoulders, embracing him tightly. “I won’t let you down.”
Valentina immediately sweeps me away for weapons training while Bradley leaves to make some important calls. As much as I’m doing this to help deal with my guilt, part of me grows excited. Harris has dictated more of my life than I care to admit, and the thought of finally wiping that smug, disgusting smirk off his face is exhilarating.
Despite Valentina’s somewhat prickly demeanor, she spends four hours running me through the basics of weapon care and maintenance, how to hold a gun and fire (badly) at some targets, and how to position my hands on the grip to save my skin from getting pinched off after each shot. There’s more to a gun than point and shoot, but she takes me through everything slowly and carefully, with a gentility I didn’t expect to feel from her. By the end, I’m tired, but Valentina’s happy when I have the basics nailed, with a promise to make me train every day we have available.
Happier, I track Bradley down to his room and knock lightly on the door. He’s lounging on the bed, topless, with his phone in his hand when I enter.
“Sorry,” I murmur. “I know it’s late. I wasn’t sure where to sleep.”
“We never officially gave you a room, did we?” He pushes up into a seated position. “How was training?”
“Hard.” I puff out my cheeks. “But good. Valentina’s a good teacher. She’s pretty nice, too.”
“Once she knows where your heart lies, she’s the softest of all of us,” Bradley murmurs, then he holds out one hand. “Come here.”
“Are you okay?” Walking forward, I take his outstretched hand and lace our fingers together.
“I had to call the families of our deceased. It’s always hard.”
“I’m sorry.”
“It’s a necessary evil.” He sighs, then he brings our joined hands to his lips. “Stay here with me,” he murmurs against my knuckles. “You don’t need a room. You have this one.”
Our eyes meet, and my heart lifts as he speaks again.
“You haveme.”
33
BRADLEY
“Ihave you?” Zira slowly slides into my lap and lays her hand against the side of my neck, gently roaming her eyes around my face. “That’s quite the promise.”
Her warmth soaks into me, bringing a lull of calm to my heart, and my eyes close briefly, simply enjoying the sensation of her touch. It’s been a hectic few days, and admittedly, I’m not entirely on board with her helping us with Harris, but keeping her away from everything would likely lead to her acting on her own, and I can’t risk that. Not when everything that puts her in danger risks her being taken away from me.
I don’t want that.
Not even for a second.
“I want to go back,” I murmur softly, finally opening my eyes. Zira’s still studying my face and her thumb sweeps back and forth across the edge of my stubble.
