Page 154 of Dagger in the Sea

Luca’s heavy gaze slid to his brother.

“Relax, Turo,” said Alessio. “I don’t have plans for her. I only want her to be happy. To feel safe. She hasn’t been either of those since I met her, and she deserves to be.”

I shifted my shoulders in my jacket. “Yes, she does.”

“I’m glad we’re getting her out of this shit, eh?” Alessio said.

“Yeah,” I replied.

Luca studied me, the beginnings of a smirk skating across his lips. He folded his arms and leaned his head back against the headrest and shut his eyes. Luca, Luca, Luca. Something gnawed at me about him.

My instincts were never wrong.

44

Turo

I hadCiro take us to an empty lot back behind some half built houses down the road from the resort. As Adri and I got out of the car, stray dogs stopped in their tracks and watched us warily. We didn’t have any food on us, though.

Only guns.

“Have you ever held a gun before?” I asked her.

“Yes, I have. A few months ago my mother’s security guard showed us both a few basics.”

“Good.” That was a relief. Something was better than nothing at all.

“I know you don’t ‘pull the trigger’ but press it, squeeze it with control,” she said.

“Very good. Let’s review, shall we?”

“Turo—”

“I need to do this with you, baby. Please.”

“Okay.”

I propped up planks of wood that were littered in the abandoned yard. She took the gun in her hands and I showed her how to release the safety, had her do it once, twice, three times. I placed her fingers properly around the weapon.

“Gripping the gun high on the back of the grip will give you more leverage against the weapon which will help you control recoil when you fire.”

“Right.”

“Stand with your feet shoulder width apart and bend your knees slightly which will give you greater stability and mobility when you fire—good.”

I stood to her side, just behind her. “Use your dominant eye to aim, and make sure you’re only applying pressure to the front of the trigger and not the sides.”

She aimed, fired, missed. Again. Again. Hit, hit, miss. Hit, hit.

“Good.”

Her eyebrows quirked. “You’re relieved I’m not half bad, aren’t you?”

“Yes, yes, I am.” I grinned.

She got more and more comfortable with the concept, with the weight of the gun in her hand, her positioning, the movement, got over the first shock of the sound and the heaviness. She paid attention, she didn’t complain.

“How are you feeling?”

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