Early Sins (Dangerous Games Book 0) Read Free

you sell guns to?” She asked, crossing her arms as she leaned against the wooden barrier. Those pale green eyes met hers for a moment, and then he looked away, moving back towards the bag with the gun in his hand. “Stop! Shit, I’ll listen. I swear. Just show me, alright? I’ll fucking pay attention.”
    “You need to get your temper under control. That’s the next lesson you need to learn.” He sighed and reached into the bag. With a quick movement he shoved something into the bottom of the gun, pulled at it, and turned and started firing. She screamed and covered her ears, but he walked forward steady and calm, and then the noise stopped as soon as it had begun. The room smelled like the air had been burned, and he pointed down the range. “If you can ever manage to control yourself, you might be able to do that one day.”
    Turning around she saw the tight cluster of shots in the very center of the paper outline. He had blown a hole through the middle of the thing. “Holy shit.”
    “So, do you want to listen?”
    “Fuck yes, I’ll listen if you teach me to do that .”
    “Alright, come here.”
    She stepped up next to him and he walked her through how to hold the gun, how to brace her stance, how to squeeze the trigger instead of pulling it. Then the man clapped a pair of headphones over her ears and let her spend a clip. Her shots were scattered along the bottom right corner, nowhere near the center. An embarrassed flush crept into her cheeks, but his face didn’t even change.
    “Hmm, try this.” He adjusted her again, his hand overlaying hers to pull the trigger alongside her as she stared at the paper outline. Then he released her, and she got a new clip. He was endlessly patient, calm and steady, as he showed her again and again, until finally she was able to spend a full clip hitting the form on the paper. Her shots were scattered across it, the last few clips at least hitting the outline of the man, but his shots still taunted her from the very center.
    Camille ripped the headphones off, the thrill of not missing the outline at all filled the hollow spaces inside her, and the edge of his mouth ticked up into a small smile.
    “That was better, you’re a quick learner.” His praise made her stand up straighter, even though she knew her array of shots were mediocre at best.
    When was the last time anyone had praised her about anything that she hadn’t done on her knees?
    “What’s your name?”
    Camille turned towards him, tucking strands of her white blonde hair behind her ears. “Candy.”
    He laughed low. “Right.”
    “You have a problem with my name?”
    “I just thought you would have picked something better if you were going to make up a street name.” He was breaking down the gun and putting it back in the duffel and she opened her mouth to protest, but then he zipped the bag shut. “Where are you staying, Candy ?”
    “You don’t fucking need to know where I live to sell me a gun.”
    The man took a slow breath, bracing his hands on the table behind him as those eyes evaluated her again. “You have a family?”
    “No.”
    “ Finally , something true.” He shook his head, rubbing a hand across his mouth. “Alright, you’re going to come with me.”
    “Wha -”
    “No. Don’t argue, because if I think about this too much I’m going to change my mind. You’re going to come with me, I’ll get some food in you so you’re not skin and bones, and I’ll teach you how to really use the gun.” Hoisting the duffel over his shoulder he held up his hand when she opened her mouth to speak again. “I don’t want anything from you, so don’t worry about it. Just keep your mouth shut for a bit or I’m likely to realize what an idiot I’m being.”
    Camille was too stunned to respond for once, so she nodded and followed him silently back out to the car while he shut everything off and locked up. As they settled into their seats she turned to look at him, confused and doubting.