Page 11

Chapter Eleven

Chelsea

I reached the bottom of the stairs leading into Ice's workroom. The air inside was cold. Cold enough to make me shiver. I wrapped my arms around myself and tried not to look at the person that hung from the chains today.

"Who's Dominic King?" I asked.

Ice turned to me and smiled warmly. "Chels, I wasn't expecting to see you today." Hands covered in blood, he stepped over to kiss my cheek.

"In answer to your question, he's a problem." He stepped over to the sink and start to wash his hands, seemingly oblivious to the groans of his victim. "Mannix thinks he sees himself as a rival to the Brantley family."

I sighed. "Of course he does. Working for him is going to be a problem, isn't it?"

Wasn't that just life? As soon as I get my dream job, I might be forced to walk away from it after all.

"Not necessarily," Ice said. He grabbed a towel and started carefully drying his fingers, one by one. "You might be able to get information from him using more subtle methods than me."

I rubbed my temples with my thumb and the tips of my fingers. "Did any of you encourage Atlas to kill Bruce Fergus? Because all of this is too convenient. You know I want to stay out of all of the mobster shit."

"I know, but all that mobster shit still wants you." He grinned. "You'd be surprised how liberating it is when you embrace it, instead of trying to push it away. Take our friend here." He gestured towards the bloodied victim. "We're having a lot of fun together."

"It doesn't look like they're having fun," I remarked.

Ice clicked his tongue. "Of course he is. He's learning all about the limits of what he can tolerate."

"What use is learning something like that when he'll be dead soon?" I asked.

Ice tossed the towel aside and adjusted his bun. "He'll die understanding himself better. How could he not be grateful for that?"

"I have no idea," I said dryly. "So, about Dominic King. And Bruce Fergus."

"I didn't say anything to Atlas about killing anyone," Ice said. "But I can't rule out someone else telling him to. Mannix might have. He doesn't tell me everything. Almost everything, but not literally everything. If he didn't, why would Atlas do that?"

I quickly explained his reasoning.

Ice nodded slowly. "Remind me later to tell him he did a good job. If I knew Bruce was going to hire someone else, I would have dealt with him myself. Just think, he could have been chained up beside our friend here." He cocked his head and smiled, pleased at the idea.

"He didn't deserve to die just because he wasn't going to hire me," I said.

"Of course not," Ice said reasonably. "But if he refused to listen to reason, and it sounded like that was the case, then of course we'd do that for you. That's what we do when we love someone."

"Other people give boxes of chocolates," I said dryly.

"Some of us do both." He gestured toward himself. "Or we bring you pyjamas and socks. Do you need more?"

"No." I held up a hand. "I'm good on socks and pyjamas. Thank you. What is Dominic King doing to make you think he's going to cause trouble?"

"I could ask you the same thing," he said. "You're here talking to me about it. What did he do, and do I need to clear my schedule this afternoon to make time for him in here?"

"Not this second," I said. "He knows about me working at Flirts. He says he'll keep quiet about it." Reluctantly I added, "For now."

"Ah. Classic subtle blackmail." Ice nodded. "I'm going to go out on a limb here and suggest he knows we're related."

"You think he wants to use me to get to you?" I asked. "Or to manipulate you in some way?"

Ice looked thoughtful, lips pursed. "It's what I'd do if I was him. I'd find out exactly who was working for me that I could use to benefit myself. It's exactly what any member of the Brantley family would do. Except maybe Zeke."

"And now they're going to use me to benefit them," I said, the last couple of words ending with a sigh.

"Your boyfriends too," he agreed. "Especially them. Their connection to us is newer. It's possible Mr King doesn't know about it yet. It would be a good idea if he didn't find out."

"He's not going to find out from me." I wrapped my arms around myself again. "How long before the Smashers are hunting for a new GM?"

"That depends on Mr King," Ice said. "And what our orders from the boss are. He'll be watching closely, waiting to see if Dominic King makes any moves. And Otis Skinner as well. From what I've heard, those two are thick as thieves."

"Should I worry about Atlas and Jay? They used to play for the Devils. Is it likely to be a coincidence all four of them are here now?"

"Probably not," Ice said. He picked up a knife and started to clean the blade. "That's a conversation you might have with them. Subtly, of course. If you find out they're up to something, let me know and I'll deal with them."

Now I pictured the two guys hanging from the ceiling, their wrists in chains, bodies covered with random incisions. Or not so random, given my brother would be the one doing the incising. He never did anything without a reason.

"Daze trusts them," I said.

"Daze is a good judge of character," he said. "You may not have anything to worry about, but I don't believe in coincidences. There's probably more to what's going on than either of us know."

"Are you trying to tell me you don't know everything?" I teased, wanting to lighten the mood. Given the still-groaning man on the other side of the room, that wasn't an easy feat. Not for my mood anyway. My brother was as unshakable as always.

Ice chuckled. "I know, it's shocking isn't it? Big brothers are supposed to know everything." He put down the now-clean knife and stepped over to offer me a hug.

"In this case, I should know everything. One of my missions in life is to keep you safe and happy. It's harder to do that when not every player is showing their cards."

"How powerful is Dominic King?" I rested my head on his shoulder and absorbed his warmth. He always made me feel safe, even if I wasn't.

"He has growing connections," Ice said. He ran a hand up and down my back, slowly, soothingly. "And, from what I gather, growing ambitions. So far, he's managed to keep his nose relatively clean. If he's going to try to take a shot at Reuben, it won't be soon. He'll take his time and build his empire, if he can."

"Starting with the Smashers," I said.

"No offence, but I think it has more to do with Dusk Bay than it does with the team," he said. "An opportunity arose and he took it."

"Because Atlas created the opportunity." I kept turning that detail over and over in my mind.

My brother was right, it was too much of a coincidence to be an opportunity Dominic King happened upon. If Atlas hadn't killed Bruce, he couldn't have been appointed GM.

Was I just a convenient excuse? A cover for what Atlas did? Did he care about me at all? Did Jay?

"Would you prefer I talk to Atlas?" Ice asked. "I have a way of getting people to…open up." He grinned at his own joke.

"I'll talk to him first," I said quickly. "People have a way of not lasting long once you get your hands on them."

If there was a chance Atlas wasn't working for Dominic King, then he didn't deserve to end up here. Not to mention it would piss Reuben off if we killed someone we shouldn't. If he ever found out about it, that was. My brother had a way of covering his tracks, even from those he worked for.

"By the time they get in here, they weren't going to last anyway," Ice said. "Take this guy here." He stepped away from me and jerked his thumb towards his hanging victim.

"What did he do?" I should know better than to ask, but curiosity let the words slip from my mouth.

"His stepdaughter," Ice said. "She was underage. And not consenting."

His eyes flashed with anger, all directed at the man in chains. My brother was nothing if not protective of other people. Women in particular. If anyone fucked with them, he was only too happy to fuck back, twice as hard. And several times as bloody.

I made a face. "Okay, I guess I can agree he deserves to be here." Anyone who would do that to a child should be chained up and tortured.

"I agree." Ice smiled. "That's why he currently has no balls and no penis. Those were the first things to go when he got down here. He watched while I incinerated them in my oven over there. He didn't seem to enjoy the smell of cooking meat."

My brother could have been talking about what a nice day it was outside and how cute puppies were. His words chilled me right to the bone.

I hadn't looked that closely, but I glanced down now and winced. That was the source of much of the blood on him and on the floor at his feet.

The man groaned, the sound of despair echoing through the space. Pure agony and grief for his lost body parts. Hoping like hell he'd be dead soon and the suffering ended.

"Satisfying, isn't it?" Ice asked. "Now that you know what he did."

"That's not the word I'd use," I said. "You could have ended him quickly."

Either way, he'd end up dead. A slash across the throat, or a bullet in his brain would have stopped him from reoffending. I hoped like hell the stepdaughter was okay. It was likely she'd never know what my brother did to dispense justice for her.

I hoped she never did. It sounded like she'd been through enough without knowing this room existed, much less what took place in here. It would give a sane person nightmares.

"It's not as much fun if he doesn't suffer for what he did." Ice picked up a clean knife and looked at his victim appraisingly, trying to figure out where to slice next.

"I'll have to take your word for it," I said.

"Why take my word for it when you can find out for yourself?" He offered me the knife, hilt end first.

I held up my hand to decline the offer. "I wouldn't want to deprive you of your fun."

I knew full well he saw it as exactly that, as well as his own brand of justice. He got off on what he did. Unlike other people, he'd at least admit he was slightly unhinged. He never bothered to hide the fact. Not when it came to his job.

"I don't mind sharing," he said lightly. "Especially with my baby sister. You might find you actually enjoy this."

"That's exactly what worries me," I said. "That I'll like it. I think I'll leave you to it. I need to go and talk to Atlas."

I hoped like hell I could get to the bottom of what he did, especially if I could do it without him realising. If he was working on the opposite side, then he could very easily lash out at me for digging into him.

Just when I thought life couldn't get more complicated, it turned ass-up.