Target (Complete)

Target 10

"Goddamit!" Alex said, slapping the steering wheel of her car.

She was mad, almost furious at herslef, for letting her feelings get all jumbled up inside her head. She was mad for letting herself get confused. She didn't know how she felt about Finn, other than  a great deal of physical attraction for his body--much like every other girl he had ever encountered.

She hated feeling this vulnerable, almost at his mercy. She would never go there. She was trained not to let feelings factor in when she needed to protect herself.

She needed to find out where the bullet in the dead bird had come from.

Her contact had arranged for her to pick up the information at the lobby of a hotel close to the airport. She was in and out, wearing heels and a trenchcoat--a business woman doing a normal work transaction.

She didn't open the package until she was close to the town.

"You have got to be fucking kidding me..." She muttered under her breath.

If there was a fight coming, she needed to be prepared, and she needed one last drink.

She drove to the nearest watering hole, which was a sketchy bar famous for both its fights amongst patrons and it's micro-brew.

As soon as she stepped out of her Mini Copper, she felt like she'd done the biggest rookie mistake in history. The pain on her shoulder was almost unbearable, but manageable. The bullet pushed her back and she hit the metal of the car hard. As another hit was coming her way, she grabbed the door, and used it to push herself up and over the Copper, she slid on the hard top and fell on the ground, just as the third bullet passed through the car and graced her hip. "Fuck..." She breathed out, rolling on the floor. She saw the wooded trail behind the bar as the safest choice, took one deep breath, and sprinted towards it--as more bullets were fired. She felt pain on her thigh, but her brain and body were running on adrenaline and didn't need to deal with her injuries yet.

Her shoes were left behind, she felt every pebble and branch she stepped on, and her legs and skirt were going to be almost literary shredded, but there was only one place were she would be safe, and his house wasn't easy to get to.

Of course, he'd be waiting for her. She probably had triggered the alarms--he was after all on code red. He'd put on his nice silk pajama set, with the silk cravat, and loafers and silk robe. He had mood lighting, champagne chilling in a bucket, and last minute chocolate-covered strawberries cooling. His father's pipe was lit.

"I knew you couldn't stay away from me..." Lucian didn't count on her arriving half-bleeding, half-walking, and basically crumbling on his arms as soon as he opened the door.

"I am sorry Lucy." She said before completely giving up. She was losing consciousness, and it took two seconds for Lucian to take control of the situation.

He carried her to his dining table, stripping what was left of her jacket, and pulled everything else apart, leaving her in her undergarments. He bundled everything into a ball and put it under her head as a pillow. He grabbed the bottle of champagne and gave it to her, making her drink something. He ran out to get his first-aid kit and more liquor.

"Okay, Parker. You have a few bullets inside you, I'm going to start working my way up, bite down on this. Okay...let's see..." She actually passed out before he started to dig out the first bullet. The pain of the bullet by her lower stomach, which by some divine miracle didn't do any severe-surgery-worthy damage did spring from her profanities Lucian had never ever heard before, when the searing pain pulled her away from the bliss of unconsciousness. She barely managed to lay still.