Page 153

Story: Mutual Obsession

Bree hands the pictures over to Kian, and they appear to have a silent conversation with their eyes, as he slides them back into the folder. Suddenly, another scream echoes around us as Bree slices across Gregg’s chest, in the opposite direction to the wound she just made.

He now has an X shape carved into his chest, blood dripping from the wound as Gregg screams and thrashes around, while Bree just smiles at her handiwork.

When Gregg’s sobs finally die down, Bree leans closer to him, her lips twisting into a sadistic grin as she says, “Did you know you have a tell?”

“What?” he splutters.

“There was one image that you barely even glanced at, while the others you spent more than enough time assessing. My guess is the one you couldn’t bring yourself to look at is the correct image,” Bree states, nodding her head towards Kian, who is now holding up the picture in question.

Gregg winces, his eyes growing wide as the gravity of the situation hits him. “It’s not. I swear, it’s the other image.”

Bree leans forward even more, and with a quick flick of her wrist, she slices open his right cheek. Blood mixes with his tears and snot as the facial wound drips down to join the rest of his bodily fluids.

“Do. Not. Lie,” Bree barks, punctuating each word with a growl.

Kian then holds up another image beside the first, which he’s taken from the folder he was holding. Gregg’s eyes widen, clearly terrified of what he sees.

Kian’s face lights up, and when he speaks, his excitement is evident. “We used the images to run facial recognition software against anyone you have been in contact with over the last couple of months. Although you were very careful with where you held your meetings, we have a world-class hacker on our payroll, who can get into any security system.

“This image, which you refused to look at, is the one that got us this hit. It looks to me like you were meeting The Count just two weeks ago. Unless you’re telling us this isn’t him?”

There’s a challenge in Kian’s tone, and Bree shuffles anxiously as she waits to see if Gregg has realised how fucked he is. Will he just accept the situation, or is he going to go down fighting?

For a few minutes, as the deafening silence drags on, making the tension in the room grow so thick you could cut it with a knife, we’re all on tenterhooks waiting for him to decide. Finally, he drops his head, his shoulders sagging in defeat.

“It’s him. I can also give you everyone that I know of who works for him. I have a ledger,” he says, sounding exhausted.

“Thank you,” Bree says cheerfully.

Gregg’s eyes snap up, confusion at her tone written across his face. Kian chuckles, drawing Gregg’s attention over to him. Hepulls a small black book out of his back pocket, and Gregg’s eyes become almost comically wide as his brows fly into his hairline.

“We already have your ledger. We just needed you to confirm our suspicions,” Kian taunts him, flicking through the book for dramatic effect.

Jake shuffles beside me, looking over at Liam, who is watching his wife with adoration on his face. “If you have all the information, what’s the point of this?”

“Those four mock-ups could have all been him. We found real people that Gregg met with who looked similar to each of them, so any could have been The Count. We hoped he’d just confirm which mock-up was accurate, but this was a good back-up plan. We knew he’d give him up eventually, this was just the harder way,” Liam explains.

“Couldn’t you have found him from the ledger?” I ask, my brain ticking over all the possibilities of what could be in that little black book.

“We would have found him eventually, this just speeds things up,” Liam replies.

Another scream turns our attention back to the room, where Gregg now has another slice on his opposite cheek. Bree is glaring at him, looking furious. “I said, don’t be disrespectful or our deal will be over. I need to know where to find The Count. The faster I find him, the sooner we can verify your information, which means our deal will be complete.”

Gregg shakes his head violently. “I can’t tell you that. He’ll kill me.”

“If you don’t tell us, we’ll kill you. At least with him you have a chance to run and hide,” Bree replies, twirling her knife once again.

I’m not sure if she’s doing it for visual effect, or because it’s a nervous gesture, a way of keeping calm. She’s very at home with the knife in her hand, which only makes me more wary.

Gregg lets out a sigh that turns into a huff. “If I tell you, do you promise to capture him before you let me go? I need to get far away from him before he’s released.”

Bree throws her head back and laughs loudly, startling both Gregg and Kian, who hadn’t been expecting it. “I can assure you, once I have The Count in my custody, he will not be going free. I’m certain none of The Aristocracy will be open to negotiations. Therefore, I can’t allow them to continue flouting my rules and denying my leadership.”

“You’re going to kill him?” Gregg asks in disbelief.

Bree nods. “Surely that’s not a surprise.”

He pauses for a couple of seconds, which is all it takes to consider the life of a man who has been a father figure to him for most of his life. “Fine, I’ll tell you where to find him, as long as you guarantee he won’t come after me,” Gregg states, his shoulders dropping in defeat.