Heartstrings

Chapter 37

_ "what are you doing to me?" He asks in a whisper, placing his hand on mine, which still rested on his cheek. My eyes widen in shock and confusion, and I feel my cheeks flush bright red. He chuckles.

_ "w-what do y-you mean" I stutter, before clearing my throat and repeating: "what do you mean?" He chuckles once more, the sound of his laugh numbing all my senses. It wasn't often he smiled, let alone laughed.

_ "don't you understand that I care about you?" He starts. "I care about you alot... more than I should. This is why I always got livid when you used to come all beaten up from the Underground. That's why I don't want you to join The Saints. Cartel life isn't easy Heaven, you see and do things that will leave you scarred for the rest of your life. You loose people you love, you put them and yourself in danger. Nothing will ever be the same after it." He says, his grip on my hand tightening and his eyes shutting. I take both his hands in mine and say:

_ "I'm already scarred Landon. I did and witnessed things I'm not proud of. I fought in an illegal underground fighting club for money and my father and brother are abusive drug addicts for god's sake. I appreciate you looking out for me, and I care for you too. A-lot actually, but a woman's' gotta do what a woman's gotta do to survive. The leader gave me a chance, and I'm taking it, and you're not the boss here so you can't make me leave." I say calmly. His eyes were full of emotions I haven't seen before. There was worry, concern, sympathy and regard in them.

_ "what if I told you I am the boss?" He says, his face morphing into the devil's.

_ "sure you are" I brush it off.

_ "oh so you don't believe me?" He says in a smug tone, pulling me closer. His towering bare chested figure over mine intimidating me.

_ "the leaders family name is Garcia, you're a King. One, there already is a boss, who is Juliano Garcia. Two, if you were the heir, you should've been Landon Garcia, unless..." I trail off.

_ "unless I go by King to hide my true identity" his hot breath grazes my ear.
I take a step back, shaken. Out of all the people on earth, a gang heir was the one I fel-

Athena steps into the room, summoning us into the shooting range.

_ "give us 2 seconds" says Landon. She nods and leaves.

^Landon's POV^
Heaven stepped back from me. I reached out my hand, motioning for her to stay. My heart tightened at the fact that I might of scared her off.

_ "H-Heaven, please. D-Don't be afrai-" I start.

_ "You didn't scare me off Landon, this doesn't change a thing, you're still the Landon I know. You just caught me off guard." she says, grabbing my reached out hand. "I was right after all, although I never thought you'd be the heir to the number one most feared gang."

_ "you knew!?" I exclaim.

_ "sort of, now let's go, we'll talk more later. We've already kept everyone waiting long enough."
With that she leaves the room.

As I enter the shooting range a while after, I see Heaven, Cyrus and Elena each already positioned at their stations.

_ "Each of you has 3 bullets" Justus starts explaining. "You each will have to use these three bullets to shoot, one vital organ, one non vital organ you aim at as to distract your enemy and not to kill him, and the final bullet shall be used either to perform a clean, perfect headshot, or shoot at the heart."

_"You will each choose your choice of weapon, and you may begin. Any questions? No? Okay great. Go" continues Athena not even giving anyone the chance to ask questions.

Each chooses a hand gun for their first up close test. Then consecutive gunshots resound through the range. After performing three shots each, Athena, Justus and I check them out.

Elena had performed a clean headshot, and shot the dummy twice in the stomach but in different places.

_ "and which one is supposed to be the bullet that hits a non vital organ?" Asks Athena.

_ "The stomach" replies Elena.

_ "The stomach is not exactly the safest place to aim at. You could be lucky and shoot a non vital organ, but you also may kill the person because you can never be too sure. It would have been better if you shot the arm or leg, it would have been a safer option. Otherwise you did okay." Concludes Justus in a monotone.

We move on to Cyrus, who had shot the dummy only twice, once in the shoulder and once in the leg. Third bullet was stuck in the wall.

_ "okayyy..." says Athena "have you ever held a gun before?"

_ "no" replies Cyrus.

_ "we're gonna have to work on that" says Justus.

We move on to Heaven. I was left speechless and agape as I inspected Heaven's work. She had shot the dummy straight in the head, right between the eyes. Then once in the leg as the distraction and in between the ribcage were lies the liver and stomach... two of the most important organs a human can't live without. I look at Heaven who was smiling cheekily at Athena.

_ "woah" said Justus.

_ "how'd you learn how to shoot?" I ask.

_ "learned from the best" she winked at Athena.

_ "you taught her!?" Asks her brother.

_ "yes I did... you made momma proud honey" jokes Athena.

As unexpected and hot as it was, the six of us continued taking the rest of tests which Heaven had passed with flying colors.

As much as I didn't want to admit it, she was great at what she did, she had a great aim, stamina, was very strong, concentrated and witty, and she would be a perfect addition to our cartel. Despite all this, I still didn't want to put her in danger.

*Heaven's POV*
After training ended, Landon grabbed me by the hand and pulled me into a room...

________________________________
What was Heaven gonna say when she said "out of all the people on earth, a gang heir was the person i fel-" ?
(It's kinda obvious but still...)

Also things are finally getting steamy!
What will happen next? Will Heaven join the Saints or will Landon stop her from doing so? What will happen in Mexico?
Find out in the next chapter of "Heartstrings!"