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"Isn't it a circus trick?" Mannix asked. "It's not real gymnastics."
"It's not a recognised apparatus," I agreed. "But it's still fun and requires hard work and skill. Do you want to try?" I was goading him. He clearly didn't want to try, but I couldn't resist. Judging silks was like judging pole dancing. Until people tried it, they didn't know how much was involved and how difficult it really was.
"I do." Ice grinned and stepped forward.
Mannix cut him a hard look. "You'll kill yourself."
That only made Ice's grin broaden. "At least I'll die having fun."
Mannix shook his head. "You're insane. Anyway, that's not what we're here for." To me he said, "I have a surprise for you."
"Hey," Ice protested. "I was in on it too."
In my peripheral vision, I saw Charlie looking wide-eyed at both guys. He noticed me watching and hurried into the office. He reminded me of a scared rabbit.
I turned my attention back to the guys, who were in the middle of a brief argument over who was and wasn't involved with whatever the hell they were talking about.
I waited until they realised I was waiting, one eyebrow raised.
"Is one of you going to explain?"
Mannix pulled a piece of paper out of his back pocket and handed it to me. "We did a little something for you."
I eyed the paper before I took it from his hand. "What did you do?" Since the last time he did something for me—aside from the picnic—I ended up with an expensive car, there was reason to be suspicious.
"Open it." He looked more smug than usual.
I gave them both a look, then slowly opened the sheet of paper.
I read it.
Read it again.
What the absolute mother-loving fuck?
"You didn't. You couldn't have."
Both of them smiled. Ice rolled from his heels to his toes and back again.
Mannix looked like the cat that got all the cream. "We could and we did. It took some time to convince Nicola to sell, but she gave in eventually."
I looked up from the deed which had my name on it. "You didn't threaten her did you?"
Mannix shrugged one shoulder. "We didn't need to. Everyone has their price and we finally reached hers. That's all."
"You didn't even want me working here and now you bought me the place? This must have cost a fortune." I couldn't get my head around it.
"It didn't cost as much as the car," Ice said. "This way, we can put in all the security measures we want to take care of you."
"What does Ares think of this?" I asked.
"He said he thinks it's idiotic, but the truth is, we'll all come here and work out. We might also have bought the building next door to put in weights and machines. Think of it as the start of your empire." Mannix spoke as if all of this was perfectly reasonable.
"All of this will help fund your dreams of having a computer security company," Ice said.
I shook my head. "You guys have put way too much thought into this. Honestly, I don't think I can accept a gift this extravagant." Especially knowing what Ares would have to say about it. Something about owing the guys a bajillion blowjobs. I hadn't even given one of them yet.
"It's in your name," Mannix said easily. "You can keep it running or shut it down. It's up to you."
