Chapter 18
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
COAST
I avoided looking in the direction of the dead driver.
Ice and Phoenix had removed him from the chains and lowered his body to the ground. I already knew his face was a mess of incisions, and his throat was swollen from where I wrapped the seatbelt around it.
Was I squeamish? Fuck no, I just hated waste. The asshole didn't need to die. All he had to do was stay the fuck away from us. He made his choice when he worked for Sawyer. If you work for dubious people like that, they'll make you do fucked up things.
Yeah, okay, the people I worked for were little better than Sawyer Mancini, but I was alive, and the driver wasn't. That counted for something.
I moved away from the stairs and turned to watch the expression on Aidan's face as he took a good look at the body.
He was unmoved. He'd probably seen and dispensed more death than I ever had. He hid behind a mask of respectability, like we all did. More so.
There was something less suspicious about being the head coach of an ice hockey team, than there was being a centre. A certain amount of testosterone fuelled stupidity was expected of a guy like me.
"Anyone you know?" I crossed my arms over my chest and leaned back against the wall. Let him think I was accusing him. I watched him carefully for his response.
In true Aidan fashion, he gave very little reaction. He squinted at the man's face, and shook his head.
"Never saw him before." He looked from the driver to me. "What's this about?"
"I heard the way you were talking to Sinclair," I said. "And the way you look at her. I thought it best to inform you in advance, that if you ever talk to her that way again, I'll rip your fucking face off."
I kept my tone friendly, conversational. My words spoke for themselves. I meant every one of them. I didn't care who he was, who he was connected to, or what might happen to me as a result. Sinclair deserved better than to be spoken to like she was the criminal.
I didn't expect Aidan to look impressed, and he wasn't. "Interesting. I should issue the same warning to you if you flirt with Elenna."
I raised a hand to concede the point. "That only happened before you reaffirmed your commitment to her, and before she was involved with Finley and Orion."
I might have done it to get a rise out of Aidan, but I respected Finley and liked Orion as much as anyone could like a guy who doesn't seem to like anyone, including himself.
"Consider yourself warned," he said coldly. "I will put my wife before the team."
"Good for you," Ice said approvingly. "A guy should always put his woman before everything else. I always do." He moved over to the sink and started to wash blood off the knives he'd used on the driver. He definitely seemed to get enjoyment from his work.
Good thing he was on our side. I wouldn't like to get on the bad side of someone like him.
One of Aidan's eyebrows twitched, but he nodded and headed back up the stairs, effectively dismissing me and ending the conversation.
"That was badass," Phoenix said.
"Thank you," Ice and I said at the same time.
All three of us chuckled.
Phoenix rolled his eyes. "Nice to know you both have your egos intact." Apparently he wasn't going to elaborate on whom he was trying to compliment.
"Always," I said lightly. "Hey, Ice, how long have you kept someone alive down here?"
Ice started to dry his knives with a towel covered in pictures of pink kittens.
While he dried, he looked thoughtful.
"I think the record is two weeks and six days," he said finally. "We were going for three weeks, but the guy just gave up. I guess he didn't have the commitment I do."
"Yeah, that doesn't surprise me," I said. "I'm not sure if I have the commitment it takes to be tortured for three weeks either."
"And you call yourself a big bad, hockey player," he said teasingly.
"If that's what it takes to prove myself, call me a big, soft marshmallow, instead," I said.
"That sounds more accurate," Phoenix said. "A big pink marshmallow. "
"You can throw insults at me all you like, but it's still better than being tortured." I gave him a sarcastic smile. I loved bantering with him. He was like a brother to me. Closer than that maybe.
Yeah, I knew he wanted more, but I didn't know what I wanted. Feeling things and acting on them were two different things. Especially when people had expectations of me I was happy to live up to. That was easier than stepping out of my comfort zone.
I was Coast Riggs, I got my dick wet in any pussy I could get it into. I've lost count of exactly how many that was. None of them meant anything. Just a quick fuck and a quicker goodbye. I'm not saying I don't last, I do. I'm just saying I take what I want and then I leave.
What I felt for Sinclair and Phoenix was confusing all of that. Between them, they grabbed a deck of Kink or Drink cards and threw them up in the air, scattering them everywhere. I didn't know where to start to pick them up and put them back in a neat pile.
So I did what I always do. I teased Phoenix and threatened Aidan. And killed people who try to kill me or the people I care about. Not to mention, killing it out on the ice. These were all the things I did best. Things I should stick to because I knew I could nail them.
Sinclair already threw my life for a loop. I'd always thought she was cute, but the more I got to know her the more I realised there was so much more to her than that.
The way she grabbed that steering wheel, and even knew to throw the car into neutral to slow it down… She was hot as hell. Smart as hell too.
She saw right through my bullshit and still liked the guy underneath it. Most women never got that close. If they did, they tended to run in the other direction. Not her. The better she got to know me, the more she wanted to know.
Not to mention, she had the most perfect pussy on the face of the planet. Thinking about it made my cock want to jump right out of my jeans and slide into her panties.
"It might surprise you, but some people like being tortured." Ice opened a drawer and placed the knives away.
"Don't you mean you enjoy torturing people?" Phoenix asked.
"That too," Ice agreed with a grin of pure glee. "But some people genuinely enjoy pain. I've had a couple down here like that. They're absolutely fascinating. I get a kick out of working out exactly what turns them on and what doesn't. It's a fine line for some of them."
"For the record, I'm not one of them," I said. Okay, maybe I was, but not for his intents and purposes. If I was going to be chained up in here, I'd want Sinclair with a paddle in her hand, not Ice with blade in his.
"Me, either." Phoenix raised his hands to either side, as if trying to ward off the very idea.
Ice pouted playfully. "I thought you guys were more fun than that."
"We're lots of fun," I argued. "We just don't want to end up as toys of yours. I think that makes us sensible."
"Definitely makes us sensible," Phoenix said with a grunt. "Anyone who thinks torture is a party out of their fucking mind."
"That's what Ares always says," Ice said. "For some reason, he thinks I'm crazy for enjoying being on my end of it, too. As if he doesn't get a kick out of it as well." He shrugged one shoulder, obviously not too worried.
"Ares is one of Ice's girlfriend’s other boyfriends," I said to Phoenix.
He gave me a look like he already knew that. I figured he would, but I wasn't entirely sure. We didn’t follow the love lives of the other residents of Dusk Bay for shits and giggles.
"No shit," Phoenix said. "Sometimes I think you think I was born yesterday."
"Of course you weren't, bro," I said. "The day before that, maybe, but not yesterday."
He flipped me off, which, under the circumstances, was totally fair.
"You two are so cute," Ice said. "Are you together? You, Sinclair and Javey?"
I didn't meet Phoenix's glance, even though I knew he was looking at me.
"Not exactly," I said. "We're just good friends."
"Ah." Ice nodded and gave us a knowing look. "Gotcha. That's often where it starts. Where it ends, is up to you. Unless you fuck up, then you may end up here." He pointed towards the chains attached to the ceiling.
"You could look a bit less like you'd savour that," I told him.
He grinned. "I could, but where would the fun be in that? I like what I do and I'm good at it. If it means I get to throw around threats once in a while, that's an added bonus. Although, I usually leave threats to Mannix and Ares. They're better at that than I am. Given they're both crankypants."
I opened my mouth.
Phoenix pointed a finger at my nose. "If you're about to tell me Mannix is also one of Kennedy's boyfriends, don't. I already fucking know."
"I was going to say that Phoenix was a crankypants," I said, with a grin. "You had to go and illustrate my point for me."
"You fucking suck," he growled. His gaze dropped to my groin.
"You wish," I told him.
He wouldn't meet my eyes.
"You know, I have a very special form of therapy," Ice said. "It's called, chaining both of you up here until you admit what you feel."
"I feel like I've left Sinclair alone with Javey for long enough," I said. "It's time to get the hell out of here, take her somewhere more private."
"Yeah, what he said," Phoenix grunted. "If we don't get back up there, Javey will run away with her. Then we'll be forced to hunt him down and bring him down here for you to play with."
"Which I suspect you'd do, except it would upset Sinclair," Ice guessed.
I scrubbed my chin with my hand. "Probably. I guess he gets to live a while longer yet."
Honestly, I liked the guy, but for some reason he didn't seem to like me or Phoenix.
That shouldn't be too hard to remedy. I was, after all, me. I could charm just about anyone if I put my mind to it.
A number of times before, I'd even charmed people before killing them. None of them ever saw it coming. Neither would he.
"Just a bit longer," Phoenix agreed. "Lucky for him he's a Demon, or he might be that much more dispensable."
Being a member of the team wouldn't keep them safe from me if I needed to act against them. Whatever I had to do, I'd do. I wouldn't like it, because I considered the guys my brothers, but I put myself, Sinclair and Phoenix before any of them.
I know, I know. Team unity. There was a tiny sliver of truth to the rumour that some things were more important than hockey.
For fucks sake, don't tell anyone I said that. I have a reputation to uphold.