Armen raises an eyebrow, still grinning. “Oh…I’mthe weird one here, huh?”
Before I can reply, Soren walks in. Without saying a word to anyone, he dumps a full bucket of cold water over Samuel’s head. He jolts awake with a gasping, choking scream. The second his eyes land on his own skinless leg, he starts panting and whining, body shaking violently against the ropes.
I huff a soft laugh and tilt my head, meeting his terrified gaze. “Would you be so kind as to repeat the location of the drugs?” I ask calmly. “Or I’llhappilyget started on your face.” I lean over slightly. “Maybe we could havematchingscars.”
Samuel’s eyes trace the long scar on my face, and he shakes his head frantically.
“It’s… it’s in an old chest,” he rasps, voice hoarse and broken. “At the back of a storage container on the east side of town… Gully’s Lock-up. Unit 320. Please…please…”
Soren grunts, studying Samuel’s face carefully for any sign of lies. Samuel swallows hard, eyes flicking away nervously, under Soren’s intense gaze.
I start unbuttoning my white lab coat, now soaked with blood.My work here is done.I fold the fabric neatly and leave it on the side table. “Well, this wasfun, Samuel,” I say lightly, “but I’m gonna leave you with the boss now.”
I walk toward the door, then pause and turn back with a wicked grin. “Oh, and… don’t make me have to come back down here. I’m not asnicethe second time around.”
Armen howls with laughter and claps as I walk out of the cell and head toward the stairs leading up to the garden. I don’t look back.
Chapter Thirty-Five
~ Talented Boy of Mine ~
Soren
I walk through the estate with heavy steps, boots thumping against the marble floors. My mind is still replaying what I just witnessed downstairs.
Kit took complete control. He didn’t hesitate. He knelt in front of that piece of shit and skinned his leg with the calm precision of someone who’d been waiting for the chance. The way he held up those dripping pieces of flesh, the cold, almost clinical curiosity in his voice when he explained exactly how long he could keep going before Samuel died… it was beautiful.
And when he licked the karambit clean… tongue dragging slowly along the bloody blade while looking straight at me,fuck. That single act nearly made me drag him up and fuck him right there. He’s changing… becoming something sharper,darker.
I sent Armen and a team to Gully’s Lock-up twenty minutes ago with strict instructions… go in careful and assume it could be a trap. The doctor’s currently downstairs with Samuel, keeping that miserable fuck alive. If he was lying, I won’t hesitate to send Kit back down for round two.
I’ve checked the break rooms, the kitchen, and even our bedroom; no sign of him yet. I push open the door to the main dining room and stop… there he is. Kit’s sitting at the head of the table, inmyseat, fingers flying across a laptop with intense focus. Selina’s sitting right beside him, leaning in, watching every move he makes like she’s witnessing something sacred.
Selina notices me first. She leans back slightly and whispers, “Don’t disturb him. He’s in the zone.”
I step closer, voice quiet. “In the zone ofwhat?”
She grins. “Oh, you know… just following Samuel’s cash trails back to hiscustomers.”
I raise an eyebrow. “What?”
Selina’s grin widens. “Apparently Samuel gave him a name. From there, Kit has already tracked down twenty people who boughtyourproduct from Samuel.”
I stare at Kit, stunned. “How the fuck…”
Kit doesn’t even look up from the screen, fingers still moving rapidly. “You neverdidbother to ask what I was studying in college before you pulled me out.”
I grunt, narrowing my eyes at his attitude. But he’s right; I looked into everything about his lifeexceptwhat he was actually doing with it. The guilt sits heavy for half a second before fading. Clearly the kid is good with computers.
Kit finally glances up, still typing. “I was doing computer science. Coding, data analysis, systemsinfiltration. I did a lot more in my own time too. It’s not that hard once you understand the logic.”
I walk over slowly and lean down behind his chair, hovering close enough that my lips nearly brush his ear. I watch his screen… lines of code, bank transfers, IP addresses, names and locations popping up one after another. He’s moving through systems like he was born to do it.
“Jesus Christ, Kit…” I murmur, genuinely impressed. “You can skin a man alive and hack his entire life in the same day. Two skills I didn’t know you had.”
I brush my lips against the shell of his ear. “I want to discover them all. Every single hidden part of you.”
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