Chapter 365
Chapter 365:
He stepped in, his chest pressing against her back. He reached around, his large hands covering hers on the grip.
“Loosen your shoulders,” he instructed, his voice vibrating against her ear. “You’re too tense. If you fire like this, the recoil will knock you off balance p>
He adjusted her grip, his fingers interlacing with hers. It was an intimate dance, a deadly tango.
Skye’s heart rate spiked, not from fear of the weapon, but from his proximity. His breath ghosted over her neck.
“Focus on the target,” Alistair whispered. “Imagine it’s Graves. Imagine it’s the man who hurt you p>
Skye stared at the paper silhouette at the end of the range.
She didn’t see a paper man. She saw the shadowy figure from her nightmares. The one who had cut her parents’ brake lines.
“Squeeze, don’t pull,” Hunter called out from the side.
Skye took a deep breath. Alistair’s hands steadied hers. She felt safe in his circle, protected.
Bang.
The recoil jolted through her arms, shocking her. The casing clattered to the floor.
“Missed,” Hunter noted dryly. “High and to the right p>
“Again,” Alistair said.
He didn’t let go.
“Breathe out. Fire between heartbeats p>
They spent hours down there. The smell of gunpowder filled the air, sharp and acrid. Skye’s arms ached. Her fingers were sore.
But with every shot, she felt something shift inside her, a hardening.
By midnight, she was hitting center mass consistently.
“Not bad,” Hunter admitted, inspecting the target sheet. “For a debutante p>
“I’m not a debutante,” Skye said, wiping sweat from her forehead. “I’m a widow p>
Alistair took the gun from her and cleared the chamber. He set it down on the table, then turned her to face him.
His eyes were dark, intense.
𝖳𝗁і𝗌 𝘀𝘵𝘰𝗋у 𝖻е𝗹оng𝘀 𝗍𝗼 𝗯e.𝘤𝗈𝗆
“Julian sent over the updated dossier on Graves,” Alistair said. “We found something new when we cross-referenced Arthur’s digital archives with the Ghost Viper Syndicate’s payment logs p>
He pulled a file from the shelf. He opened it to a page with a grainy black-and-white photo.
It was a car wreck.
Skye’s parents’ car wreck.
“Look at the background,” Alistair said, pointing.
Skye squinted.
The photo had been digitally enhanced, clearing up the blur of the onlookers. Standing near a police cruiser, wearing a long coat and smoking a cigarette, was a young man.
He looked bored.
“That’s Graves,” Skye whispered, horror dawning on her. “He was there p>
“He wasn’t just there,” Hunter said, stepping closer. “The Ghost Viper Syndicate were the contractors, but Graves… he was the auditor. He verifies the kill for the higher-ups. That’s his signature. He watches his work p>
A wave of nausea hit Skye. She grabbed the edge of the table to steady herself.
The man she was about to flirt with, the man she was trying to impress… he had watched her parents burn.
“I’m going to kill him,” Skye said. The words tasted like ash.
“No,” Alistair said firmly.
He grabbed her shoulders.