Page 23 of Slay Tricksters and Silent Skeletons
Rico snorted. “Kill them right before the Day of the Dead, huh? It is a bit ironic. Knew I kept you around for a reason, kid.” He gestured to the door. “Anurak will be up soon. I need you three gone. I’m going to distract him for the day. Don’t take too long down there, or he’ll grow suspicious despite my distractions.”
“Just use your dick,” Alfonzo suggested, pushing off the wall.
Rico scowled at him. “One day, I’m going to fucking stab you with this pen,” Rico growled. “Get out, Alfonzo.”
Alfonzo laughed. “Yeah, yeah. I’m going. Have a clean-up crew on standby.”
“Isn’t thatyourjob?” Rico snapped at Alfonzo’s back as Alfonzo walked out of the room.
“It is, but you don’t seem to be doing much, so I thought I’d give you something to do,” Alfonzo called back. Rico gritted his teeth. Alfonzo was theonlyperson whodaredto talk to Rico like that, and Alfonzo was also the only person Ricoallowedto do so.
Niran pressed his hand to my lower back, leading me out after Alfonzo. “The clean-up crew is already on standby,” Niran assured Rico. “Ignore him.”
Rico sighed, and when I glanced back at the man, he was pinching the bridge of his nose, looking like he had a headache coming on. “I don’t know why I put up with him,” Rico sighed.
“Because youloooovemeeeee,” Alfonzo sang.
I couldn’t stop my laugh from bursting free even if I’d tried. “My eardrums are bleeding,” I called after him.
Niran grunted as we neared the basement door. “Do not egg him on,kon-dii. He will not fucking stop if you do.”
“I know.” I grinned at him. “Why do you think one or both of us always ends up bloody in some form in the ring when we spar? We egg each other on.”
Niran sighed. “I’m very aware,” he muttered. “I’m aware ofeverythingpertaining to you,kon-dii,” he reminded me while Alfonzo did the eye scan and fingerprint scan to get the basement door open.
“Will I ever have access to this room?” I wondered.
Niran hummed. “Maybe. That’s ultimately Rico’s decision.” His hand left my back, and I frowned as he quickly began making his way further down the hall to where the training facilities and his office were. “Be right back,” he called over his shoulder. I didn’thave time to wonder where the hell he was going because the scanners beeped, turned green, and the door clicked unlocked.
The basement was fuckingcold. As soon as Alfonzo opened the door, chills swept through my body, my teeth clamped togetherhard, and goosebumps erupted along my flesh. Before I could turn to go get a jacket becausefuckthose freezing temps—been there, done that—Niran was already settling a jacket on my shoulders that smelled like him.
“Two steps ahead of you,kon-dii,” Niran murmured as I slid my arms through the sleeves, wincing when doing so made my shoulder burn with pain.
Alfonzo flicked on a light, and we began descending the staircase into the basement. My breath fogged in front of me, and I quickly zipped the jacket up before stuffing my hands in the pockets.
“Did you do this?” I asked Niran. When he arched a brow at me, a silent demand for me to clarify, I added, “The temperature.”
He smirked. “Nice little touch, don’t you think?”Fuck, I could have kissed him. “I figured it was only right considering they’d kept you in a literal fucking meat freezer.”
The two men who’d kidnapped me were naked and tied to wooden chairs. Their lips were already turning blue, and frostbite had settled into their toes. I imagined their fingertips, which were hidden behind their backs, didn’t look much better. Alfonzo made atsking noise, shaking his head in something akin to disappointment.
“I imagine we don’t have much time,” Alfonzo said. “We let them freeze just a bit too long.”
Niran scoffed. “And to think Bento lasted fucking longer.?a s¯ngs¯ar,” Niran spat.
I had no clue what he’d said, but my dick twitched anyway. It was rare Niran spoke in his native tongue, but when he did, it was hot as fuck. He could talk to me all day in Thai—hell, he could read the fucking dictionary to me in Thai—and I’d be ready to suck his dick, bend over for him, whatever the hell he wanted me to do, really.
The younger man lifted his head, looking at us. “P-please,” he stuttered.
“Already begging?” Alfonzo asked. “I thought you had bigger balls considering the way you beat and kidnapped Perez in broad fucking daylight in a crowded parking lot.”
Niran set a chair beside me. “Sit,” he ordered. “You still shouldn’t be on your feet too much just yet.”
My stomach swooped at his compassion before I took a seat, not fighting him on it. My abdomen was particularly tender after using my muscles there to fuck myself into Niran’s fist that morning, and my shoulder was burning a bit more than usual, probably from sleeping on it last night. I knew a couple of times, I’d woken myself up trying to roll onto that side.
It hadn’t been a pleasant feeling.
Niran slid the sleeves of his long-sleeve black shirt up to his elbows, then grabbed his knife from his boot. Without warning, he roughly slapped the older man awake. The man made a noise of alarm, looking up at Niran. Immediately, his teeth began to chatter. Niran gripped his hair and yanked his head back.
