Page 14 of The Mafia Bachelor

A low moan echoes through the walls and into the momentary silence. Eyes go wide. Several of the women glance around warily.

Avery’s brow furrows, but she remains still and calm where a ripple of discontent goes through the rest.

“Go on then,” I tip my chin when none of them move, ignoring the sound of Liam torturing someone only next door.

There are four tables set up, one for each team, with guns and ammunition and one of my men to guide and monitor. At the far end of the range are full-height paper targets. No avoiding what this is with obscure images, they’re colour photos of men, staring back at you. There are bull’s-eye concentric circles on their chests.

The women form groups behind each table, there’s a murmur of nerves as the first woman gets her chance to practice. I watch from the side lines as the girls take it in turns to try to shoot the target.

There are varying degrees of comfort in the women. Some have clearly used weapons before, and others are scared just to hold the cool metal.

I do my best to keep attention on all the groups equally, but the girl currently shooting for team Key draws my gaze.

Avery is behind her, which is the first point of interest, but the other is that she’s reluctant. She takes the gun from my man allocated to the team—Shane—with a look of distaste, and goes almost green as she turns and raises it towards the target.

Glancing along the row of women, I consider. The one thing that will make this dinner bearable will be Avery with me. That means her team needs to win, and right now, their practice is going badly.

A scream emits from the dungeon that is only a few doors down the corridor, and nearly everyone looks up, some towards the source of the noise.

Avery looks at me. Calm. Aware.

“Apologies about the noise, ladies,” I say comfortingly. I thought leaving Liam with a man to torture would be a good way of having some women self-select out of the competition. I didn’t realise it would affect Avery being at dinner. She needs to win. “This is an old building, even if this—” I indicate the large shooting range room built of concrete. “Is a recent addition. The basement dates back to the 1700s.”

“A ghost?” squawks one to the younger women.

“There are other rooms. And there’s a guest with us at the moment,” I reply.

The girl in team Key and in front of Avery shakes and drops the gun, which clatters to the solid floor, and covers her face. “I’m sorry!” she cries as she runs for the door. “I can’t do this!”

Feck. I sigh and indicate for Shane to go after her, and stride to retrieve the weapon, making it safe. But at least this has an advantage I hadn’t considered.

Then I turn to Avery and beckon her forwards with one finger. She’s trembling a bit as I show her the gun. Putting it into her hands, our fingers brush, and the awareness thrums through both of us. Her chin snaps up, and her dark-brown eyes drink me in, trusting. I guide her, helping her aim at the target. It’s the ideal excuse to be close, every part of me sensitised and aware as I coach her through each movement, making my voice calm.

She’s the perfect student, but I am far from the perfect tutor. When her finger is on the trigger, and I instruct her to slowly breathe out then squeeze, I want to protect her. From the kick, even though it’s only a handgun. From myself. And yet, when she hits the target, pride swells in me. My cock responds to her proximity as my gaze lowers to her tits as she aims for the next shot.

“In your own time,” I reassure her as she takes a shaky breath, tearing my eyes from her sweet body. This is filthy. She’s young. She’s my employee.

And I don’t care at all.

She’s mine.

There’s a screech and a bang almost simultaneously, and I grit my teeth.

Avery lets out a whimper as she sets down the gun, tugging off her ear protection. “I missed.”

“Only because of the distraction. It’s usually good practice for experts to work with noise, which is why I haven’t sound-proofed.” I don’t look away from Avery. “Shane.”

“Yes, Kill,” he replies promptly, having discreetly remained behind after returning from taking the other girl out.

“Go tell Liam to keep the noise down.” If it’s affecting Avery, it stops.

Shane shakes his head and stomps off.

“It’s well insulated upstairs,” I comment to the otherwise silent room as I scan across the women at the shooting gallery. My mam glares at me and I return a cool look.

“Take another shot,” I murmur to Avery.

Her breathing is fast as she nods, and does as I showed her.