#Chapter 16–A Perfect Ten
Adrian
I push off and away from the counter, fists balled at my side. My eyes focus on Stella and the man who holds her, whispering into her ear. I huff and my nostrils flare.
“Adrian? Where are you going?” Clara calls out from behind but I don’t turn around, instead continuing to walk towards Stella.
She fires the gun twice, a big smile on her face. She turns to look at the man but when her eyes land on me, her smile fades. Her arms drop and she places the gun on the counter, hands on her hips. The man turns to look at me and a surge of anger overtakes my body when the smile on his face turns smug before vanishing.
“Stella,” I turn my attention to her once I’m close, “what are you doing here?”
Stella raises an eyebrow at me. She picks up the gun from the counter and gently shakes it in the air before placing it back down onto the counter.
So she is here to learn how to shoot…why wouldn’t she have asked me to take her?
“Why are you suddenly wanting to learn? Why didn’t you tell me? You should have contacted me if you wanted to learn how to shoot,” my gaze flickers to the man beside her for a split second before moving back to her face.
“I’m giving you what you wanted, no?” Stella ponders. My face scrunches up from confusion, shaking my head. “ I’m letting you and Clara have the space and alone time you need.”
Stella’s eyes move to something behind me. I glance over my shoulder to see Clara standing behind me. She looks up at me with her big blue eyes, hands at her side.
“Oh…I’m sorry. My doctor said I should spend my time with familiar people and Adrian was kind enough to accompany me on this retreat when I asked,” Clara’s voice slightly trembles, her eyes glossing over. “I assumed that it would be okay with you since you’re busy with someone else.”
The heat in my chest slowly disappears with Clara’s words. I turn to look at Stella, who barely looks at me, and all I can see is the woman who is desperate enough to try and make me jealous. This was the man who helped her out at Clara’s party in the hotel, so she must have hired him to help her make me jealous.
“If you stop acting up, Stella,” I begin by taking a step forward towards her, closing the distance, “you can join us for the rest of the retreat.”
Stella finally looks at m but her face is completely void of all emotion. There isn’t even a twitch of her face to show me what is going on inside that head of hers. All Stella does is lean closer into that man’s embrace.
“Stay away from my wife,” the words fly from my mouth before I can stop them, my rage and jealousy quickly taking over my better judgment.
“Stella can do whatever she wants to do, I respect whatever choice it is that she makes,” Stella’s hired help begins to speak, “she probably feels that I make a better shooting Instructor than you would have been.”
“Fine,” I say, turning to look at Clara.
We stand at the booth beside them, our gun placed on the counter. She picks up the gun and 1 mimic what the man did with Stella, wrapping my arms around Clara’s helping support the weight of the handgun. I barely look at the weapon, my eyes trained on Stella and the man who have turned their faces away from us.
The man still stood behind Stella, but he spoke loud enough for us to hear what he is saying. The two of them are acting appropriately now that I am next to them but it only makes me angrier. It makes me want to rip Stella out
#25 BONUS
Chapter 16 A Perfect
of his arms and bring her into mine.
“Adrian?” Clara’s voice brings me out from my thoughts. She lets go of the gun and wraps her arms around my body, her face resting against my chest. I look down at her, my face still hard from the aggression that I feel.
I look away and stare at the target that hangs a couple meters away. I glare at the colored rings and my grip tightens around the gun. My finger squeezes the trigger and the bullet flies from the barrel, burying itself into the target.
“A perfect ten out of ten!” An announcement rings out from a nearby speaker in the shooting range.
A smug smirk forms on my face. I turn to look at Stella, knowing that the man who stands beside her won’t be able to replicate the precision of my shot.
Stella passes off the gun to the man and takes a step away. She looks up at him as he lifts the gun up
e gun up with hand. He looks at the target then turns to Stella, beginning to casually chat with her.
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Ten shots ring out. I look to their target and my smirk disappears. There is only one hole in their shared target, which sits in the middle of the colored circles.
I groan and place the gun on the counter, taking Clara’s hand. We begin to walk away, Clara struggling to keep up with my pace.
“It’s okay, Adrian! He had simply gotten lucky!” Clara’s words don’t bring me the comfort I know she is trying to give. I shake my head and open the door for Clara, watching as she slips out with me following behind.
“I need to know exactly who that man is and why his shooting skills are exemplary,” I say in a low and husky tone, glaring at the environment around me. Clara wraps her hand and arm around mine, pulling herself into my
side.
“Maybe he’s related to the mafia,” Clara suggests with a shrug.
“No, that can’t be it,” I grumble in response.
Stella knows that I hate the mafia. If she truly doesn’t care about our marriage, then she knows to not involve herself with such criminals.
Stella
Adrian drags Clara away as soon as Sebastian steps away from the counter to reload the gun’s magazine. I cross my arms from over my chest and glare at the back of their heads, watching as their blonde hair disappears from my sight.
“Stella,” Sebastian’s voice draws my attention back to him. “Are you learning to shoot because you want to kill somebody?”
My eyes flicker up to look at him. Sebastian’s face is completely serious, void of all emotion. His eyes darken as well, his face inching closer to mine. I slowly suck in a breath, tilting my head to the side.
“No,” I breathe out the beginning of my denial, “I do not want to kill somebody, Sebastian.”
“Okay,” Sebastian nods but he doesn’t pull away, keeping the close distance.
He brushes some hair out of my face, his fingers lingering on my face. He remains quiet for a few seconds. Sebastian leans in further, his lips now next to my ear.
“If you ever to kill someone, I will be ready to pull the trigger for you anytime. All you have to do is say the word.”
