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"Why did he do that?"
"If not, he would not need me. He worried Knox would take me from him to do another job and he needed me."
"Aw, it's nice you two were friends." I give him a firm grin to hide all my deep feelings. Nothing I've heard about Gavriil's behaviour towards Nico is what I'd call nice. "Are. Are friends."
"Yes. Friends." Nico sips from the cup of his special drink. "But we were friends. I think we are not longer friends. When he home, I will tell him I have Porter now."
"I like the sound of that." I want to hug him, and as inappropriate as it feels to grab this relative stranger, that's exactly what I do. He is young, but also technically a hardened criminal. He's probably killed people; he's definitely seen it. But all I can offer him is this hug, and he doesn’t seem too concerned by the frequency or length.
"Morning," Freddie announces his arrival with a fresh jug of liquid. "You should tell the truth about why Gavriil needed a runt like you."
His words reveal that he was listening outside.
"I cannot speak ill of him so close to death," Nico mutters dismally. "He was not a great man, but he was good to me."
"Well, I can say what I want," Freddie huffs. "Gavriil needed the kid because Nico is great at reading people. Great for torture. Great for ripping people off at Poker."
"I did as he wanted, and he gave me food," Nico admits.
"Then he threw you out after so he could watch porn," Freddie huffs.
"Where did you go to sleep?” I ask, trying to distract him from Freddie’s comments. “So I can have someone pick up your stuff."
Though it isn’t an entirely honest offer on my part as Nico can use my things. I'm more curious to see what he was using as a home.
"I have no things," Nico replies.
"It's no trouble," Freddie encourages, seeming as keen to find out as I am.
"There are no things I need." Nico straightens his back as best he can. Looking at Freddie with what I would imagine he thinks is a death stare but isn’t quite making an impact.
"Suit yourself," Freddie nods with a shrug. "I won't be far, so holla if you need anything."
"Someone got into trouble for leaving you alone yesterday," I giggle as he leaves the room.
"He only needed bathroom. He is not a bad man. Gavriil hurt him big," Nico defends him. "His tell was hard to find, Gavriil lost big money to Freddie long time. When I worked Freddie tell out, Gavriil took him for everything he had. He lost his house, his wife, and his job. Knox felt pity and had him come here."
I always wondered why Knox had around the clock security in an empty house. Now I see it is a collection of his father's abandoned staff. More proof no one leaves the family.
Chapter twenty
Knox
Ienterthewarehousewhere my need to avenge Nico's situation takes precedence over helping the boy live beyond what was done to him.
This is not what I usually call work. This is what I delegate, mainly to Caeo, who feeds it down the chain to Gavriil. Torturing information out of people is what I call hands on, and something I try to avoid.
Gavriil wasn't always my go-to man. It was adopting Nico that changed him into the torturer we all came to rely on. Gavriil was small fry, working as much outside the family as in it, I know about the gambling, but I'm not sure what else he got up to. Nico gave him a unique edge the other guys didn't have. The big man with the pliers and little boy sweetly asking questions proved highly effective. Now I'm lost without them.
So lost, I'm having to do their work myself.
Two men kneel in Gavriil's warehouse, but I have no idea what to do with them. Our two surviving kidnappers, awaiting questioning and my mind has gone blank.
I pace before them, taking in my surroundings in a way I always tried to avoid before. The smell of bleach is too much like the fragrance of my swimming pool, but I know its use here is to hide the blood. Here, there is a copper tang to it, the metallic sign that blood has been spilled in here.
Nico would pace like this, only instead of his shoes clicking on the cold floor, he'd wear trainers that always squeaked. It was intentional, and annoying as fuck, but no one ever commented. What it did to the mental state of a prisoner was fantastic. The sound of my walk is too predictable, the two men know the sound I'll make when my shoe hits the ground, just like they knew the clank of metal that would come as Gavriil unpacked his torture kit. But Nico's shoes were quite unpredictable, and the squeak would often take everyone by surprise.
"Well, Gentlemen, welcome to hell." Again, I lack the terror to my words that Nico could bring, especially before his voice started to drop. 'Hell-oh, genital-men. Well-cum to heel.' The accent and the naive voice made his words sound like a mistake, but it was all clever subterfuge. And it was all Nico. He was the expert interrogator, and Gavriil was just the dumb muscle holding the pliers.
