Page 14 of His Savage Vow
And with that, we continue my lesson.
For the next two hours, Maximo puts me through various shooting drills. He corrects my grip and my stance, then shows me how to hold the gun to control the recoil. He stops me repeatedly to have me focus on my breathing and staying calm. I shoot until my arms ache and my ears ring, even with the earplugs he provided. He critiques me on everything from my posture, the tension in my body, even the rhythm of the shots. He never raises his voice, but there’s no softness in his words either.
I can’t imagine that Maximo Luciani knows how to be gentle.
But he knows how to get results, though.
By the end of the session, my last three shots are easily grouped in the center of the target just like I intended.
“You’re a quick study,” Maximo says as he removes his earplugs.
I don’t want his approval. I remind myself of that every time he opens his mouth. So, I shrug as I remove my own earplugs. “I’m motivated.”
He holsters the gun and walks to the bench. There are two bottles of water that weren’t there before, which must have been delivered by someone while we were shooting. He opens one and takes a sip, then passes me the other.
“You did well.”
I wait for the catch. The warning. The veiled threat.Instead, he just watches me drink, eyes scanning me like he’s cataloging every detail. He tilts his head and says, “I think I envy you.”
That statement catches me off guard, stuns me even.
“What? Why would you envy me?”
“You still believe revenge will fix something.”
I look away because I still believe he could have stopped all of this, if he’d just listened to my father. “But you don’t?”
He steps closer. I hate that my pulse jumps. I hate even more that he probably notices. “I know it won’t. I learned that lesson a long time ago. But I also know that you’re going to chase it anyway because you think you have nothing left to lose.”
I nod to him. “You’re right. This is all I have left. There’s nothing else…”
“Then that makes you more dangerous than anyone in this house.”
There’s something reverent in the way he says it. Like he respects the monster I’m slowly becoming in order to see this through.
And God help me, I like having a man like Maximo’s respect.
6
Maximo
Constance walksout of the basement with her shoulders squared, chin high, and her pulse still hammering hard enough that I could see it beat in her throat.
For two hours, I pushed her. Hard. Harder than any civilian should endure on the first day of firearm training.
And she didn’t just handle it.
She excelled.
As soon as she disappears up the stairs, I holster my weapon and stare at the paper target she left behind. The last three bullets landed in a grouping so tight it could’ve come from a seasoned soldier.
A soft whistle sounds behind me.
Enzo comes down the last step, eyes narrowing as he takes in the target. “You did that?”
“She did.”
He blinks. Looks again. “No fucking way. She weighs what,one-twenty? A strong breeze could knock her over, but she shoots cleaner than half the men upstairs?”
