#Chapter 16-A Perfect Ten


    Adrian


    I push off and away from the counter, fists balled at my side. My eyes focus on Ste and the man who holds her, whispering into her ear. I huff and my nostrils re.


    "Adrian? Where are you going?" ra calls out from behind but I don''t turn around, instead continuing to walk towards Ste.


    She fires the gun twice, a big smile on her face. She turns to look at the man but when her eyesnd on me, her smile fades. Her arms drop and she ces 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.


    "Ste," I turn my attention to her once I''m close, "what are you doing here?"


    Ste raises an eyebrow at me. She picks up the gun from the counter and gently shakes it in the air before cing 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?" Ste ponders. My face scrunches up from confusion, shaking my head. “I''m letting you and ra have the space and alone time you need."


    Ste''s eyes move to something behind me. I nce over my shoulder to see ra 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 apany me on this retreat when I asked," ra''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 ra''s words. I turn to look at Ste, 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 ra''s party in the hotel, so she must have hired him to help her make me jealous.


    "If you stop acting up, Ste," I begin by taking a step forward towards her, closing the distance, "you can join us for the rest of the retreat."


    Ste finally looks at m but her face ispletely 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 Ste 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.


    "Ste can do whatever she wants to do, I respect whatever choice it is that she makes,” Ste''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 ra.


    We stand at the booth beside them, our gun ced on the counter. She picks up the gun and 1 mimic what the man did with Ste, wrapping my arms around ra''s helping support the weight of the handgun. I barely look at the weapon, my eyes trained on Ste and the man who have turned their faces away from us.


    The man still stood behind Ste, 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 Ste out


    #


    Chapter 16 A Perfect


    of his arms and bring her into mine.


    "Adrian?" ra''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 re 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 Ste, knowing that the man who stands beside her won''t be able to replicate the precision of my shot.


    Ste 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 Ste, beginning to casually chat with her.


    опе


    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 ce the gun on the counter, taking ra''s hand. We begin to walk away, ra struggling to keep up with my pace.


    "It''s okay, Adrian! He had simply gotten lucky!" ra''s words don''t bring me thefort I know she is trying to give. I shake my head and open the door for ra, watching as she slips out with me following behind.


    "I need to know exactly who that man is and why his shooting skills are


    exemry," I say in a low and husky tone, ring at the environment around me. ra wraps her hand and arm around mine, pulling herself into my


    side.


    "Maybe he''s rted to the mafia," ra suggests with a shrug.


    "No, that can''t be it," I grumble in response.


    Ste 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.


    Ste


    Adrian drags ra 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 re at the back of their heads, watching as their blonde hair disappears from my sight.


    "Ste,” 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 ispletely 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."