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"Oh they would. They definitely would. Both of their life goals are to end up richer than me. They might even achieve it. They both have the balls for it." He looked approving.
I couldn't speak for Gunnar, but Mannix certainly had the balls and then some. Leo was right, he was ambitious. There was nothing wrong with that, so was I. I didn't necessarily aspire to be richer than Leo, especially since he was already richer than God, but I wanted to be comfortable and secure for the rest of my life. Whatever it took to achieve that. I never wanted to have to worry about money.
"I should leave you to finish your study," he said finally. "The sooner you finish, the sooner you can start to be valuable to me."
His words gave me the slightest shiver. There was nothing sexual in what he said, but for some reason, I felt like a commodity.
Chapter Fourteen
Mannix
"Hey." I closed the door behind me and stepped over to the table.
It was covered in a variety of knives. If I hadn't met Ice, I would have assumed there were only a few different kinds of knives. You know, the ones for putting butter on bread, the kind you used to carve a chicken or some shit like that, steak knives.
There's a lot fucking more than that. Ice owns one of every single kind. Actually, that's not true. He owns a few of each. At least a dozen were spread across the table right now, each covered in a smattering of blood and other bodily stuff. I guessed it all came from the guy who hung from the ceiling in chains. He seemed to be missing most of his toes and all but his pinky fingers.
One of his kneecaps was exposed, all white and shining. The other looked to be shattered in several pieces. His face was crisscrossed with knife marks, including several across his nose.
Ice glanced over his shoulder and grinned. "Hey. You're just in time. Our friend here was just about to tell us everything he knows about Samuel Bell and his operation."
"Oh, he was? That's great." I crossed my arms over my chest and cocked my head at the man. "You might as well. He's just started with you. I've seen him keep guys alive for weeks." That was only a slight exaggeration. Ice had a knack for pushing people right to the edge, then bringing them back. He would have made one hell of a doctor, if he didn't get a bit too much enjoyment out of torturing people.
The man grunted and spat a mouthful of blood in my direction.
Ice casually walked over to the side of the room where the other end of the chain was wound around a hook in the wall. While the man whimpered, he gripped the chain and pulled, tugging the man off his feet. He dangled from the ceiling with his full weight on his damaged wrists.
I guessed it wasn't the first time he'd hoisted the man up like this.
I turned my head to the side and said, "That looks painful." Prick got no sympathy from me. He worked for the wrong side. His life choices probably didn’t look so good right now. Neither did his life expectancy.
Ice grinned. "Doesn't it? It's one of my favourites. If it doesn't get them talking, it gets them thinking about talking. And if it doesn't do that, at least I can do this." He lifted up his foot and shoved it into the man's shattered knee, pushing him back before he let him go.
The man screamed as he swung back and forth, and twisted around, legs kicking and twitching.
"You get to have all the fun," I remarked.
Ice laughed. "I really do, don't I? You can join in at any time, if you like. You know what they say, the more the merrier."
He got off on this. Judging by the tent in the front of his pants, he really, really did. And that was hot as hell. I'd always had a thing for him, but seeing him here in his element made me hard too.
His gaze dipped to my groin and he took a step towards me. "It looks to me like you want to play." His hand slipped around the back of my neck and he drew me to him. He gave me a hungry kiss, stubble grazing against mine, tongue tasting my lips, before he pulled back.
"As much as I want to play some more, your father expects answers from this asshole."
I wanted to drag him over to me, push him down to his knees and make him suck my cock.
He was right though. My father expected results, and if he didn't get them soon, he'd start asking why. Worse than that, he may decide someone else would get answers quicker. We couldn't afford to fuck up so soon. Or at all. Fucking up was not an option. Not today, not ever.
Ice loosened the chain and let the man fall to the floor. He screamed as he landed on his feet, and would have crumbled to his ass if not for the chains holding him a bit too high for his comfort.
"I really don't want to keep hurting you," Ice lied. He could have kept going for days. He'd probably do it even if he didn't get paid. "Just tell us what we need to know and you can have a nice, warm shower. Maybe some coffee and pizza. Or beer. I might even patch you up and send you on your way. How about you start by telling us your name?"
"You're never going to let me live," the man growled.
"He's stubborn," Ice said. "I'm gonna call him Stuart. Stubborn Stuart. You know what they say?" He glanced at me, one eyebrow raised.
I decided to take the bait. "What do they say?"
