“Are you in danger?” She didn’t say anything. “Andi …”

She pulled back and started to pace. “Leah and Nina told me not to get mixed up with this crew. I didn’t listen.”

“Why?” I snapped, my hands instantly clenched.

“I wanted to help the girls.”

I got it. It was similar to what I did with my self-defense classes and how I showed people—especially woman how to shoot guns properly. But the question was why? “Why baby? Why do you feel you need to put your life in danger and help them?”

She groaned and started flinging her hands as she spoke. I could tell she was starting to get frustrated. “Because women shouldn’t be sold like I was when I was seventeen. We should be able to choose who we want to have sex with.” She stopped pacing again, dropped her hands to her side and I caught the sight of her lips starting to quiver again. “Don’t you get it?”

More tears streamed down her face and I pulled her to me again. Her head fit perfectly beneath my chin and I let her cry against my chest once more. “Aren’t these girls going on a date with these men and choosing to have sex with them or not?”

“Some … Some are. Some aren’t. Some are being sold without being told.”

“Like sex trafficking?” She nodded. “Baby, that’s the cop’s jobs. You shouldn’t put yourself in danger like that.”

She was silent for a long time as her crying eased. “I thought I could get through to the women. Make them quit working the streets.”

“This isn’t what you told me on our picnic.”

“I know, but I couldn’t tell you then. You would have thought I was crazy.”

I groaned and shook my head. “Fuck, gorgeous. I could have lost you.”

“Not a chance. I’m tougher than you think.”

I sighed. “I bet you are.” I leaned down and kissed her lips. She winced slightly. They were busted and tasted of copper. “We need to call the cops and tell them what happened.”

She shook her head. “No cops. They told me that if anything happened, they would be after me. I don’t want any more red flags.”

“Then we’re going to the range tomorrow. I’m teaching you how to shoot.”

She laughed. “You’re teaching me how to shoot?”

I raised my eyebrows. “Yeah. I can’t tell you to quit, but I won’t have my woman walking around waiting for something like this to fucking happen again and not be prepared. If you have a problem with that, then too fucking bad. Fuck, Andi, this is what I do!”

I was ready for her to quit, but I knew she wouldn’t. She was the independent type and there were things we needed to take care of before we took that step—like getting her another job.

She stared at me for a few seconds and smiled, then winced and touched her lips as if the dry blood cracked and caused her pain. “Do I win anything if I have beginner’s luck?”

How was she trying to lighten the mood right now?

I thought for a moment. “If you hit the target in the heart, you win mine forever.”

She laughed. “I thought I already had yours forever?”

“Of course you do, gorgeous. Let’s get you cleaned up. You had a long night.”

When I woke the next morning, she was already awake. I heard her on the phone as I walked by her room on the way to the kitchen. It sounded as though she’d changed her mind and had called the police to report the incident. She was telling them how it happened in room 2316 at the Wynn. I stood behind her closed bedroom door, listening, my blood boiling. But before she could hang up the phone, it struck me …

People didn’t make reports over the phone.

Chapter Nineteen

Andi

“Did you bring your license?”

Paul and I were making our way into the shooting range, he was smiling like a five year old who was getting ready to walk into a candy store. I, on the other hand, wasn’t so thrilled.

“Yes, but do we really have to do this? I already promised not to put myself in that position again. This is pointless.” Not to mention I could already shoot the wings off a fly. Okay, maybe not that, but I was good with a gun.

Paul stopped short, turned me and grabbed my face with both hands. “I’m not taking any chances. If anything would’ve happened to you, I …” I saw the pain and fear in his eyes before he brought his forehead to mine and shook his head.

“Okay, let’s go shoot.” I had to do this for him and pretend I needed to learn how to protect myself. I was certain the only way I was able to get away from the asshole last night was because I had training. If I were a normal hooker, I probably wouldn’t have been so lucky—or I’d have just let the fucker rape me.

After registering at the desk, Paul handed me a pair of ear muffs and we made our way outside. When we got to our station, there was an unloaded glock sitting at on the wood shooting table. Paul picked it up and handed it to me.

“Hold it, get familiar with the weight of it.”

Trying to lighten the mood, before he got another word out I giggled. “That’s what he said.” And it worked. He started that full belly laugh that I loved hearing from him.

After we’d finished our laughing fit, he pointed to a certain part of the gun. “This is the safety. You want this on until you’re ready to shoot.” I nodded, letting him know I was listening. I picked up the loaded magazine, slapped it into the butt of the gun and dragged the slide back.

He stared at me. “You sure you’ve never done this before?”

“I watch a lot of TV?” I tried to state it as a fact, but it ended up coming out like a question.

He loaded a target onto the carrier and pressed a button, causing it to glide back into position. He took a step back. “Okay, gorgeous, come on over.” With my gun still in my hands, I stood in front of him. He came up flush behind me and brought my hands up in front of me. “Hold it like this.” After positioning my hands, he continued, “These peaks up here are your sights. You want your target to line up with them. Go ahead and cock it.”

At the mention of cocking it, I rotated my hips back into his. He let out a hiss and grabbed my hips.

He leaned in, shifted a side of my earmuffs and whispered, “Careful, gorgeous, it’s hard enough not to bend you over this fucking bench and fuck you with everyone watching. Watching you standing here all sexy and strong with a gun in your hand is making me hard as a fucking rock.” I could feel his warm breath in my ear as he ground his now hardened dick into my ass.

I looked behind me. “It’s your fault. You keep talkin’ all sorts of dirty.”

He chuckled. “Okay, let’s focus before I do something that gets us kicked out of here for indecent exposure. Once you’ve kicked the hammer back, take aim and slowly pull the trigger back. Make sure you keep your arms stiff … tight. Keep your arms tight. The kickback can be a bitch.”

I did just that, but knowing I couldn’t let on that I knew what I was doing, I lazily took aim and pulled the trigger. My shot landed just outside the black rings on the target.

“Come on baby, you got this. Focus.”

Hearing encouraging words from Paul was all I needed. I took my stance and lifted my gun. Practicing my shooting at the range back in D.C., I used to imagine it was Marco’s face—or what I could remember from that dreadful night—plastered on the targets I shot at; now it was the face of the prick who tried to rape me.

I unloaded the entire magazine into the target, each one landing on the bullseye. As Paul had previously instructed, I flipped the safety on and lowered my glock, trying to get my breathing under control. I went stiff and froze, not remembering that Paul was standing behind me. I just blew my fucking cover. I knew it. When I turned around, Paul was gawking at me with his mouth open, trying not to smile.