Chapter 53 Chapter 53

Half an hour later, I was sat on the wall outside Andrea's house.

The driveway had filled with trucks and dozens of men, walked back

and forth all with machine guns strapped over their chests and a

determined look in their eye.

In between making orders, Andrea glanced over to me and looked me

up and down before thrusting the clipboard he was holding to the man

next to him and coming over to me.

"What's going on?" I asked as he sat beside me on the wall.

"You'll see,” he said. "All in good time."

Of course, that was the answer. It usually was.

"Come," he announced, standing up and holding out his hand. "I want

to show you something."

I looked up but didn't move. He raised an impatient eyebrow,

maintaining eye cold contact and I eventually stood up. Instead of

taking his hand, I walked passed him which of course only amused him.

"By all means, lead the way, Blanca," he said. "To the garden.”

I walked through the house to the back garden with Andrea following

me. Luciano was sat on the patio, sharpening a stick with a knife. He

looked up at me and smiled before lifting the stick up to his face and

examining the sharp point.

There were three empty beer bottles on the table which Andrea then

grabbed before balancing them on the wall at the edge of the patio.

"You ever shot a gun, Blanca?" he asked.

"No," I said.

He smiled before taking the gun that had been strapped around his

chest off and holding it out.

"Take it," he said.

He held it in both hands, the black metal gleaming in the sun and the

weight of it tensing his forearms. After a little more encouragement, I

finally took it from him and stood motionless, completely unsure of

what to do.

"This should be good...” Luciano remarked from behind us.

He let out a short laugh before stepping behind me and reaching

around to guide my hands to the correct position.

"If you're gonna be in this cartel, Blanca, you've got to learn to shoot,”

he said.

"You trust me?" I asked. "What if I shoot you?"

"You won't," he replied confidently as he kissed my neck. "Now shut up

and lemme show you what to do.”

He brought one hand underneath, towards the front and the other to

the trigger and kept both of his on top of mine.

"Got it?" he asked once I was steadily holding it.

I nodded and keeping one hand still on top of mine on the gun, he

brought the other to my waist and turned my body to the side.

"Keep both eyes on the middle bottle and pull the trigger,” he said.

I did as he said but I was not greeted with the sound of breaking glass.

Only the loud bang of a shot.

"Hold it steady, Blanca," he said gripping my arms. "Use your strength

and try again.”

This time I locked my eyes on the bottle and took a deep breath,

keeping myself as still as possible. Andrea slowly let go of me and

stepped to the side.

The bottle was brown glass and small, probably only a pint. The label,

although written in Spanish, I could tell read something about a tiger

and it was 7% alcohol.

I shot.

The glass shattered and crumbled to the floor in pieces.

"Good job, Blanca," Andrea said slapping a hand on my shoulder.

“Impressive.”

He then walked over to the wall and crouched to pick up the broken

glass.

His back was turned, I still had the gun.

Slowly, I raised it and focussed again. This time not on a glass bottle,

but on Andrea's head.

I momentarily glanced over to Luciano, who had noticed my

advancement. His eye glistened as if they were encouraging me,

begging me for the drama whilst he sat relaxed in his chair, making no

movement towards stopping me.

I could feel the courage bubbling inside. He was turned, there was still

glass on the floor.

This is it. My chance.

My finger played at the trigger, feeling the simple piece of metal with

so much potential.

Hands? Steady. Target? Close and stationary. Chance of missing? low.

All I had to do was pull the trigger.

My target then got to his feet and turned to face me. Unsurprised by

my position (aiming a huge gun right at him), a gave a dark glare.

"Go ahead, Blanca. I'm unarmed. You have the control,” he urged

holding his hands up in a relaxed manner.

I kept it pointing at him as he stepped closer, a menacing grin creeping

onto his face.

Do it, Ella. Do it now.

I lowered the gun and he laughed shortly.

"As I said, you won't shoot me," he said. "Now shoot those last two

bottles and don't miss.”