He lost Lou. It was his fault, and the family he’d been hoping to be a part of would never have him now.
“I’m the one you want. You have me.” He knew it was a stretch, but he had to try. “If you let Lou go, I won’t fight you. I’ll lay down on the table and become your next experiment.”
A low chuckle moved through the room. It was some kind of speaker. Manny wasn’t in the room with him, but he likely had the whole place on CCTV. Ben started to make his way around, feeling the cool stone under his hands to figure out how much space he had.
“I’m sure we’ll get there, but unfortunately I care more about my work than hurting you. Don’t you find that interesting, Benjamin? You spend all of your life trying to chase me down and stop me and you are…a secondary concern to me. How the tables have turned. I was the boy who always wanted your attention, and now I don’t even care.”
Sure, he didn’t care. That was why Ben was in this… Yup, it was a cage. His hands found the bars. He could see something of a hallway. How long had he been out? Was he even still in England? Manny could move a person easily and quickly. A couple billion dollars and havingpoliticians in his back pockets tended to work in his favor. “I’m not dead, Manny. It would have been easy for you to kill me but you didn’t.”
Another chuckle. It was fucking good to know someone found the situation amusing. “Well, I didn’t say I don’t care at all. I think it will be fun for us to get to know each other again, Benjamin. I only wish my father and grandfather were alive so they could see how far the golden boy has fallen.”
It was so hard to believe this was his damn life. And all because Manny Huisman couldn’t handle the fact his dad and grandfather liked Ben. Sort of. He supposed they hadn’t liked him all that much, but they’d thought he acted normal where Manny had been a quiet, insecure child. “We were friends.”
“No, I was the sad boy who begged for the scraps of your friendship.” Manny was excellent at rewriting history and quite good at ignoring his own psychosis. “Do you think I don’t remember how many times I was compared to you? Me, a genius. You can’t begin to compare to my intellect. You’re nothing, Ben Parker, and I’m going to make you see that. I can’t quite figure out what to do with you. Shall I cut off your limbs one by one? I would allow you to heal each time, to begin to adjust, and then I’ll take another until you’re nothing but a torso in a box. Or I could use certain training techniques on you. I could train you to be my slave. That could be fun. Or I could force you to watch as I take another woman from you. I’ve been thinking about Kala Taggart. Such a fun female to break.”
“You didn’t break her.” Nothing broke Kala.
He caught sight of a tiny red dot. A camera. Manny was watching him. Like he was some kind of entertainment.
“Oh, didn’t I? The little bitch doesn’t go in the field much anymore. She’s learned her place, so I think I should move my attentions to her twin.”
The threat was an actual ache in his heart. “Stay away from her.”
“Yes,” Huisman’s voice purred over the speakers. “I will spend some time developing techniques to test on the other Ms. Taggart. I’ve avoided it because her father can be formidable, but I have my second wind now. I’ve joined a group more powerful than you can imagine. I’m going to assassinate the fucker and put his head on my wall. So he can watch while I violate his daughter. She would give me strong boys,I suppose.”
The thought made him nearly blind with rage because he knew Manny wasn’t above it. “I will kill you.”
He should have done it ages ago. He should have done it that night, but he’d told himself he had to be better.
Now his weakness was going to cost him everything.
“I’m sure you will try,” Manny replied with a long-suffering sigh. “I have to go. Our scientist is awake, and it’s time for her to begin her work. You’ll stay in my prison until such time as I have use for you. Don’t worry. There are a couple of guards to see to your basic needs. Try not to die from cold, and I hope you enjoy the vermin you’ll be sharing with. By the time you see the light of day again, I’ll have taken out everyone you care about. Again. Good night, Benjamin.”
He heard the call cut out and fought the urge to rush the bars and attempt to tear them apart like he was the fucking Hulk or something.
How was he here? Where was Kenzie? Was she out there cursing his name?
He sat in the darkness, trying to breathe, to find a way out.
And that was when he heard it. Such a small sound. A ping, and he glanced up.
The camera was off.
Somehow, he didn’t think that was Manny’s doing.
Ben struggled to his feet. What was going on? He still couldn’t see much, and his legs were shaky.
“Hello, lover. Want to tell me why Lou is gone but your mistress is still all happy and whole?”
Kenzie was here, and she was holding a gun on him. And he couldn’t blame her.
He loved her. He loved her so much.
He dropped to his knees, the pain clanging through his body, but so much less than the way it twisted in his heart.
He leaned over, holding onto the bars so he could feel the press of the silencer against his skin.
“Do it.” It would be better than living without her.
