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His hands move straight to the bloody wound on Gavriil's chest, covering his hands in blood as he tries to stop the bleeding. He can tell it isn't working, I can imagine his words, begging Gavriil for guidance. Nico pauses as Gavriil's head rolls to the side, then his hands move to his throat, checking for signs of life. The fraught boy fumbles to draw Gavriil's phone from his pocket, but as he does, the other two men return.
"Look out!" Caeo calls to the screen, voicing what I was thinking, but it is no use. They both grab him, dragging him away from Gavriil, despite his efforts to cling to the man. Nico goes for the unconscious intruder's gun, briefly pointing it before it's knocked from his hands and sent flying into the sink where we found it. The two men drag the screaming teen out of the camera's view before returning later for their companion. As something of an afterthought, they take Gavriil's wallet and phone, presumably trying to fake a robbery for what was clearly a kidnapping.
"Well fuck!" Dad sums up the terror we've just witnessed. "He didn't… We need to find these three arseholes and fuck them up."
"And find Nico," I add weakly. And cancel the find and detain order put out on his life. Dad specified he wanted Nico found and brought in alive, but he definitely needs to change the tone of the order.
"What the fuck do they want with the kid?" Caeo mutters.
It seems odd to take the boy and shoot the only person he means anything to. Not that he doesn't mean anything to me; I'd move mountains for that boy just out of pity. But this isn’t about me. There are easier and better ways to hurt me. Porter being the main one. I need to double his security; he isn't going anywhere without at least three guards.
"Caeo, can we run their faces through the system?" Dad suggests.
"We could do it quicker if we hand this to the cops," Caeo shrugs.
I have a wonderful relationship with the police. I help if they need something slightly illegal done and in return they don't see the rest of the illegal stuff I do. I'm not sure asking them to ID some dead bodies before I've killed them is the kind of deal we can do. There is no better proof of motive than asking the cops to find my victims for me.
"We try ourselves, or we hand the case to them. They can't help if we plan to kill those bastards." And I plan to kill them so slowly…
"Or if we don't want Nico deported," Caeo adds, sighing as he changes his mind.
"You have twelve hours and then we hand them everything we have." Dad takes the decision out of my hands.
Chapter eight
Porter
Iwassoexcitedabout finding my dance studio. It isn’t much now, but if I picture it completely gutted out, it has so much potential. Yet all I can picture now is Nico. I only met him once, and he didn’t know who I was, but I saw so much of me in him. A kid in a brutal adult world. So out of place in what was going on around us. Seeing him being cheeky towards the other guys gave me the confidence to act a little bratty to Knox's dad, and now I've had all my dreams come true. I feel like I owe it all to Nico, and the guy doesn't even know my name. I suppose looking at a confident young man my age doesn't make him incapable of murder, especially given what role he has in this cult thing Knox calls a family. It's not much of a family if they can turn on Nico like this without any evidence. They may say they are trying to find him so he can be saved, but deep down, even Knox thinks he is guilty.
Knox looks white as a sheet as he emerges from the living room. I don't want to pounce on him right away, but I need to know what's happened.
Edward just walks off, but Knox comes over to me.
"Porter, I have a lot of work to do, I'll tell you everything later, I promise. But I can tell you Nico didn't shoot Gavriil."
"Oh, my goodness." I'm relieved to know I was right to hope. But this is far from over. "You have a lead now, though. Right?"
"Yes. Thanks to you, we have everything we need."
"Then get to it." I want to hold him and tell him everything will be OK. I want him to hold me and tell me everything will be OK. But it will only be OK if Knox leaves me and finds Nico.
"I'll be here, eating muffins when you get back."
"I'm not leaving. I can work from here.
"Then I'd rather dance naked around the pole," I grin.
"I'm sure you would."
"Can you work from the dance studio?" I hint, letting my bottom lip slip between my teeth.
"Yes."
That word lifts my heart. It means he’s worried, rather than upset.
We enter the dance studio, and I strip. I don’t dance completely naked when Knox is watching me, we have a little box stored in the corner with what I need inside. Leather cuffs for my wrists and ankles, and a leather collar that time is sculpting into shape.
"Before we start, I need to know." I can't even tell him what I need to know, but he understands me anyway. "Not everything. Just something."
