A perfect shot.
'Wow,' I breathe.
'I've had practice.' He walks up behind me and pressing his shirtless body to my back. 'Now your turn, my love,' he says gruffly into my ear. 'Cock the gun. Squint. Shoot the target.'
I nod slowly, lifting up my gun. The sun is blinding, but if I squint hard enough, I can focus on the target, on the kill spot. He steadies my arm with his hands, his thick muscle guiding me forward. I take a breath, aim, and then, just like that, I squeeze.
The bullet rips out of the gun so quickly I feel myself stumble back, but Marco steadies me, keeps me from falling. I watch as the bullet flies through the air, spiraling, until it hits the target's shoulder, just a foot below the head.
Marco presses his jaw to my cheek. His voice is slippery as he says, 'Not bad. But you have to steady it more, my love. Here.' He pushes off of me and starts walking over to the target, then turns around. 'Let's try this.'
'Try what?' The hot sun keeps pouring down on me, making beads of sweat form on my forehead. I feel tired, so tired, but I just keep thinking about Sebastian and what he did to me, and it makes all of the anger and the pain rise up again. It makes everything fill with energy.
'You need more stakes,' Marco yells back at me. 'You need stakes to get your perfect shot. If we're going to do this, which we are, I need to make sure you are ready when it comes down to it.'
I open my mouth to protest, but no sound comes out. 'What are you talking about?' I finally manage to say. He stands right next to the target, so that his ear is inches away from the killshot in the center of the target's head. His intense green eyes stay trained on mine, his lip curled into a smirk. There is no mercy in his eyes. Nothing but revenge, hate for Sebastian. And as I grip my gun even tighter just from remembering Sebastian's name, I know I share that hate too.
'Shoot by me,' Marco snarls. 'Shoot the target. Right by my ear.'
I hold my breath as soon as the words leave his mouth. My heart starts pounding, and my hand trembles, harder and harder. 'What?' I say weakly. I have a horrible shot. I could so easily miss and hit Marco. And I can't possibly lose him too.
'Shoot it!' Marco repeats, louder and more harshly this time. 'I trust you, my love. Shoot it. Aim it right by my ear.'
I shake my head back and forth, keeping the gun trained on the spot by his ear but refusing to fire. 'No!' I say hoarsely. 'I won't-- what if I--'
'You won't miss,' Marco shouts. 'Remember what he did to you. Remember all of the pain he caused you. Remember how he
My hands start shaking as I work desperately to keep the gun in place. I can't do this. I can't risk missing. I can't risk losing anyone else. I just can't. 'But--' I start to protest, but Marco isn't listening.
He narrows his eyes, his whole face cold and determined. 'SHOOT IT!' he screams, and I don't even know what I'm doing, but suddenly I feel myself squeezing my eyes shut. My heart keeps thudding in my chest as I start pulling the trigger and stumbling back, tears in my eyes. There's an earsplitting crack as the bullet whizzes out of the barrel and right by Marco's ear, hitting the target's head, missing him by less than an inch.
Marco doesn't move the whole time, and once the bullet collides with the cardboard with a loud crack, I crumple down and start crying, realizing how close I was to losing yet another person in my life. Marco only walks over to me, a giant smile spread across his lips. His face is filled with pride as he sits beside me, kissing at my neck. 'I knew you could do it,' Marco growls. 'I knew you were strong, my love.'
His green eyes seem to bore into mine as I turn around, still shaking, but the fear has now been replaced with rage.
Rage at Sebastian.
Rage at him for betraying at me.
Rage at him for fixing my life, only to ruin it even more than it already was.
I look up to meet Marco's gaze, biting down hard on my lips, and I say, 'I just have one request' in the most determined voice I can muster.
'Yes?' Marco is still grinning at me, kissing my neck through his smile.
I take a deep breath and lock eyes with him, my eyebrows narrowing, my whole face darkening. I know I have to do this. I know I need my revenge. So I hiss:
'I want to be the one to put the bullet in his head.'
Chapter Twenty
The next few days go by slowly. Marco keeps training me, working on my shot, and soon I'm able to hit the target square in the head with my eyes closed. He spends his nights kissing me, telling me I'm his, wiping away what's left of Sebastian, and I let him do it all. I love him in a different way than I loved Sebastian. I love him for getting rid of someone else, not for who he is.
But still. It's better than nothing, I tell myself. It's better than Sebastian. Plus Marco feels good inside of me, and I like my room, and I like the food he serves me, like the way he tells me he loves me, and I like the safety living with him provides. I like not having to worry about losing anyone else. I like the security of it all, of being with him.
But no matter what I do, Sebastian never seems to leave my mind. I hate him more and more with each passing day, and sometimes I just clench my fists and imagine he's there, so I can punch him. All I want is for it to be the day that Marco and I go to his house and I get to pull that trigger, once and for all.
I know what I have to do this.
I know I have to end this.
Finally, after what feels like forever, it's time.
The morning of the day Marco takes me to kill Sebastian, I wake up with a start. As soon as I check my alarm, I race into the shower and get dressed, then hurry down the stairs to the door. Marco is waiting for me there, dressed up in one of those overly expensive drug dealer suits, a cigarette dangling from his lips.
'You ready, my love?' he asks, smirking at me, his dark green eyes looking sadistic as ever.
I pull the gun out of my pocket, load it, and then smile. 'I've always been ready,' I say. He steps forward and kisses me again, his breath hot and full of desire. His hand snakes down my back to my butt, and he smiles at me as he touches me, more of a smirk than a genuine smile.
I force myself to smile back, even though I'm feeling increasingly uncomfortable. 'What's the plan?' I say, trying to change the subject. It feels off to be this close to him, to have his head on my shoulders, to have him kissing my collarbone like this. It's odd, how he kisses me only for his own desire, not also to make me feel good like Sebastian does. Or, should I say, did.
Marco hands me my cellphone in between his kisses, then pulls back and looks at me with those intense green eyes of his. 'You call him,' he says. 'Tell him I tried to kill you. Tell him you're sorry, and you need to go back to his house. He'll listen to you. He's an idiot, my love, an idiot blinded by his love for you. He won't even see it coming. And then when you go to meet him, I'll accompany you as support, and you get to do the honors.' A huge grin spreads across his face. He's been hunting Sebastian so long, I realize, and now, finally, he's going to get him.
All because of me.
I keep my voice as carefree and determined as possible as I say, not looking away, 'I'm ready.' Then: 'And what will you do to my parents, once you get them?'
Sebastian flicks his tongue back and forth in his mouth. 'Any requests?' he asks, his green eyes burning into mine like a snake's.
'Keep them alive.' I barely hide the hesitation in my voice. 'That's all.'
He grins harder. 'I can do that.' He leans in and kisses me again, hot and slippery, so wrong, but I kiss him back anyway, because the utterly wonderful numbness returns when my lips touch his.
