11. Magnus
MAGNUS
Observing Harper’s movements as she finished the rest of the clip, I sensed a shift in her body language.
Something about giving her the power to protect herself finally made it click that we were serious about the dangers around her.
The fact Tigo had shown up when we knew he rarely ever made an appearance here added to our case.
The first few bullets went wide of the paper, but I wasn’t all that worried about it.
My goal with this exercise was to get a feel for shooting a gun.
We could work on her aim later, but knowing what to expect when you have that gun in your hands would save her life more than being able to hit the target.
Once you get over the psychological hurdles, the rest comes more easily.
Harper is a kind and warm spirit who would never willingly take a life like my brothers and me.
Just holding the gun was almost too much when we first started.
Now, though, I could see in the set of her shoulders she was past the fear of the object and saw its value in the time of need.
I prayed to any god who would listen that she would never have to use these skills we were teaching her.
If she were forced to kill someone, it would scar her for life, and the thing we loved most about our ball of sunshine was how pure she saw the world.
It reminded us there was another way to see the world, one I’m not sure we’ve ever had the chance to see ourselves.
This morning when she asked me if I’d ever lost someone I loved because I failed to protect them, turning me into the man I am today, images of that moment flashed through my mind.
Sage had been a fellow street kid we took under our wing, protecting her from others.
She worked with us for a time… petty theft, stealing what we needed, and doing odd jobs for bigger players in the area to keep them off our backs.
Until one day, they asked us to do a job we weren’t ready for.
We’d been told to break into an office building and steal a file for someone.
It would be used as blackmail, but they couldn’t risk the theft getting pinned on them, so they hired the job out.
Well, the office building was owned by the rival gang, and Sage was supposed to be our lookout.
I didn’t want her to be on this job, but she argued, with the other two backing her up, disregarding everything I had to say.
By this point, Sage and I were head over heels in love with each other, and I didn’t want to put her at risk.
She yelled and screamed at me, saying I never truly let her become one of us because I always kept her away from the important jobs.
Three against one, I gave in, but I refused to give her a gun since she was supposed to watch and alert us if something happened.
Unfortunately, the rival gang had a snitch embedded, giving us a fake location of the paperwork they needed.
So when they sent us in to get it, we were ambushed.
My brothers and I made it out, but Sage was shot the moment she tried to alert us to what was happening.
The police took five minutes to investigate the matter but tossed it under the label of gang violence and dismissed it.
Taking out that rival gang was the first assassin work we’d done, and we made sure everyone knew we’d done it too.
Never again would I let anyone feel like they could use us like this gang had.
From that point on, we stopped stealing and began honing our skills as murderers for hire.
Now, we are some of the best in the world.
Many wouldn’t see the pride in that, but I do.
I take pride in the fact that when they hear about the Wright brothers, they think twice before fucking with us or what we claim as ours.
“You did extremely well, doll,” I murmured to Harper as I lifted her ear protection to hear my words. “I’m proud of you for doing your best.”
Her body shivered at my words and pressed back into me, so our upper bodies touched from shoulder to ass. “Thank you,” she answered, her voice betraying how much my words affected my little ray of sunshine.
It would seem our girl had a bit of a praise kink to her.
That would be delicious to work with later as I praise her into an orgasm while she’s tied to our bed.
I knew Jaxson had gone all the way with her, and even Ghost had made his move, but I didn’t feel like Harper and I had built enough trust yet.
She was stubborn and strong-willed when it came to her independence.
I knew I’d have to break down some of those walls and rebuild them in a way that would keep her safe.
Much like a drill sergeant broke his soldiers down to nothing, filling them with purpose, drive, and the instinct to follow orders, I needed to do the same with Harper.
I never wanted her to lose herself or that fire in her soul.
What I needed was if something was happening, and I told her to do something, she would follow my orders without question.
Seconds of doubt could be the difference between life and death.
My brothers knew and understood this, having lived with me our whole lives, but it only applied when we were on the job.
Home life was different than working. They were free to question and argue with me all they wanted at home.
The moment we left for a contract, I was their commander, and I would be obeyed.
Harper needed some time to learn how we did things, and the double-edged knife of that was she would be pissed at me more than she was happy with me. I could live with it, but my dick sure didn’t appreciate my logic, knowing he was being rejected because of my actions.
“I think that’s all we will have you do today. Now Jaxson is going to show you what it looks like to be one of the best snipers in the world,” I said, pulling the gun from her hands and setting it down.
Tucking her up against me, I took a few steps back, bringing her with me so that Jaxson had enough room to set up his equipment.
This range was great because it let him shoot at a hundred and fifty yards.
He could do much farther, but it was better than most indoor ranges.
Many had long distances as outside only.
Jaxson pulled up the chair, took a seat, and finished stabilizing his gun before curling around the weapon.
“The reason I want you to see all this is because I need you to believe we can protect you. Taking our word for it is one thing, but seeing what we can do is another. People can claim so many things, but we will not lie to you.”
She nodded, eyes riveted on Jaxson’s actions as he took deep, even breaths letting off four shots. When he sat back up and recalled the target, there was one hole in the head of the paper silhouette.
“You missed,” Harper said, cocking her head to the side, looking over the paper. “You shot four times, but there’s only one hole.”
“Well, gorgeous, you might be right, or I might be so good that I shot each bullet through the same hole, not leaving any sign of how many times I fired,” Jaxson countered. “A hundred and fifty yards is rather easy for me, so I have to come up with a different game to play.”
Harper’s jaw all but hit the floor at his words. “You’re that good?”
Jaxson smirked and booped her on the nose. “I suppose you could say that, but I don’t want to get a big head about it.”
I snorted at this, knowing he was playing cool to impress Harper. “All right now, let’s move to the other side, where we can work on her hand-to-hand skills. Ghost, I’m putting you in charge of instructing, and I’ll be her sparring partner.”
Ghost gave me a questioning look, knowing out of the three of us, I was the best at close-range fighting.
Not that he was bad, but I was the one who pushed them both to their limit when we sparred.
I had a plan, and it was more to do with getting Harper to work with me instead of always fighting against everything I said.
“Harper, I want you to dismantle the gun you used. I’ll be teaching you how to clean it when we get back to the house,” I instructed.
Much to my surprise, she nodded and got to work doing as I asked. Once everything was packed up, we headed out of the shooting range into the gym. Jaxson returned the guns to the car while Ghost and I gathered the things we would need for this part of the afternoon.
“You said Dax taught you some self-defense?” I questioned as I stood before her, arms crossed, trying to make myself look imposing.
My plan was to use her anger and frustration with me to drive her into a state that would be closer to what she would feel if she was attacked. Learning in a clear, calm state of mind was good, but many people failed when it came to the increase of adrenaline and panicked state of mind.
Harper nodded, rolling her shoulders, trying to loosen up her body for the workout. “We did basics, how to get out of various grab holds, breaking out of zip-ties, things like that.”
Interesting—it was almost as if Dax expected her to get kidnapped one day. Although I supposed it was better to be prepared than not.
“You were recently attacked in your own home. Where do you feel like your training failed you?” I inquired.
“Wow, you’re just going for the kill on that, aren’t you,” Harper snapped, and I could see the flash of anger in her eyes.
“For one thing, I was asleep when they attacked me. By the time my brain registered that something was happening, they were already dragging me out of my bed. I’ve also not done much training against multiple attackers with guns who were as big a brick wall. ”
Nodding, I had to agree with her view on things. We’d watched the footage of what happened as a way to ensure it wouldn’t happen again, but now that she was with us, it was no longer a problem.