Page 35 of Pretty Poison

“Two whole fucking years, good on you,” he counters. His jaw clenches, vicious eyes glaring at me.

“I know you loved them as much as I did, Cassian. I’m sorry I suggested otherwise.” My apology is weak, but the best he’s going to get. “What did you want to show me?” I display a hand out to the chairs for him to take a seat.

Taking my silent words, he does exactly that, pulling a folded piece of paper from his pocket.

“What’s this?” I take it from his hand.

“Her target from the gun range.”

“What’s so special about it that you brought it to me? Just stick it in a portfolio for her.” I outstretch my arm, waiting for him to take it.

He shakes his head. “Open it,” he insists.

Squinting at him for a second, I do as he asks, unfolding it. The sight before me is confusing—to put it rather lightly.

“How?” I breathe, pulling my head back to get a better look at it, as if that will change what I’m looking at.

“I have no fucking idea.” His voice is sharp and almost as confused as mine. “She had her fucking eyes closed, Rio. I don’t know how she did it, but she fucking did. The evidence is there, clear as day.”

“She had her eyes closed?” I repeat for clarification.

“Yes. It’s like even with the ear protection, the noise scared her. It took me weeks to hit more than two shots in the bullseye and she did it with her fucking eyes closed. How does that make sense?”

“A fluke,” I say dismissively. “It’s impossible to have accurate aim and hit a target with your eyes closed, you know that. She just got lucky.”

He hums. “Okay, yeah, a fluke then.”

“But that’s not to completely dismiss the fact that she did it on the first try, either. Take her back to the house and I’ll be there, watching her. I need to witness it with my own eyes.”

He nods, silently excusing himself.

I need something to distract me and right now, this is that something. I’ve got to put my feelings on hold for now because I know my mother is as worried as all of us, maybe even more so. She lost two daughters and by some miracle, she’s pregnant again with another set of twins, both girls. If by some greater power, they’re identical, her pregnancy might not be as enjoyable as she wants it to be.

∞∞∞

As I stand in the shadows of the dark arena, I watch as Remi and Cass enter the gun range, the door closing behind them. I approach the one-way glass window to get a clearer look.

To my knowledge, she’s never been within reach of a gun, let alone used one. So it’s hard to believe that she succeeded in hitting the target three times, it has to be. As Cassian said, it took him—one of my best shooters—weeks to hit the bullseye. It’s… impossible.

As she takes her stance, she releases an entire clip into the target before Remi rings it up, snatching off the clip and storming over to me. “What the fuck is this, Rio?” His voice is stern and reeks of demands.

“How the fuck?” I mutter, handing it back to him before rushing into the range.

Liana is hanging up her protective gear, shaking her body as the adrenaline wears off. My presence makes her spin around to face me, her eyes staring up at me through her long lashes.

“Out,” I spit, Cassian quickly disperses. “Tell me, Liana, what the fuck do you call this? Is there something you forgot to mention?” My words are harsher than I expected them to be.

She takes a step back, almost as if she’s scared of my presence here. “I just did what they asked. Is something wrong?”

“Is something wrong?” I sneer with a whisper. “You hit the targets Cassian marked out for you dead on. My best, most skilled shooters couldn’t do that with the little experience you have.”

A smile appears on her lips. “So, I did well, then?”

“No, you didn’t do well,” I answer, the smile disappearing from her face. “For some reason, somehow, you’ve managed to infiltrate the fucking system and all you can do is smile? I asked you a question, and I’d like an answer. Now. Is there something you didn’t mention when we first met? Something that I should’ve known? Something that should’ve come up when I mentioned your training?”

“Like what?” she whispers.

“Like that you’re skilled with guns and not as oblivious as you’d like us to think. That answer is the only suitable one I’ll accept.”

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