Or he’d just assume the Brumal had shown up impromptu and the two of them had left together early…
Shit.
“Hand over your multi-slate, slowly,” Bowser ordered. “Don’t make this harder than it already is, Aneski.”
“I’m going to bash your face in,” he promised as he undid the strap holding the device in place and chucked it at him.
Bowser cursed but kept the blaster aimed his way without fail, glaring after he’d caught the multi-slate. “Don’t be childish.”
“You’re kidnapping me,” he pointed out. “Like hell am I going to make this easy for you.”
“Why? Don’t you want to see Russ?”
“No.”
Bowser frowned. “You sound like you mean it.”
“I do.” He had absolutely no interest in ever seeing his brother again. “I knew the second I read those letters that he was dead to me, whether his body was rotted away or not. As far as I’m concerned, I no longer have a brother. That isn’t going to change, no matter where you take me or what you do. This is a waste of both our time.”
“He just wants to talk to you, Aneski. That’s all.”
“If that were true, neither of you would be going to these types of lengths,” Ani said.
“Just,” Bowser sighed, “start walking. I parked in the south lot. Let’s go.”
Not seeing any other way out of it, Ani decided to comply.
For now.
Chapter 26:
Ani ended up in the back seat of a rental car, his wrists tied together with rope that chafed as he struggled against them. It was a bold move to leave him in the back like that instead of tying him up front, a clear indicator that Bowser underestimated him.
As tempting as it was to throw himself at the driver and force them off the road, Ani kept his cool, letting things play out in the hopes he could find a better opening. Preferably, a means out of this that wouldn’t send Flix into another one of his mad tizzies and result in Aneski back in that collar.
He could hear it now, Flix’s scolding if he did go with Plan A and crashed the car. He’d yell at him for being reckless, for sure.
“What are you grinning about?” Bowser glanced at him in the rearview mirror but then quickly back at the road. The guy was even going the exact speed limit.
Aneski leaned back against the leather, fingers still trying to find a way to undo his binding, and chuckled. “Just thinking about how my boyfriend is going to react once he figures out I’m missing.”
“By the time he does,” he changed lanes, “we’ll be long gone.”
“Don’t count on it.”
“This is for your own good, Aneski. What were you thinking dating a Brumal member? AndFlixof all people? He’s got one of the most dangerous jobs, but he’s also no better than an errand boy.”
“It’s not the Shepards, Bowser,” Ani drawled. “He’s not going from house to house beating people down for owed money.” Flix attended shady business deals and was the first on the scene if something happened to one of their own. The whole organization would fall apart without him. He could hardly be referred to as an errand boy.
“No, I guess you’re right.” He hesitated, clearly wanting to say something but unsure if he could get away with whatever it was.
Which piqued Ani’s curiosity.
“Just spit it out,” Aneski said, trying for a casual air he wasn’t feeling. That’s what Flix would do in this situation, make his captor believe he felt the exact opposite of what he actually was. Get them to let their guard down. His relationship with Bowser, having always been a good one, should work in his favor. All he had to do was play it right. “Tell me.”
“Brumal make a lot of money,” he began, tentatively at first. “Even if they didn’t, the Fulmini are generational wealth.”
Ah. It was starting to make more sense.
