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“You know, you’re remarkably loyal to your secrets for a man currently attached to the furniture with barbed wire.”
His lips twitch, and it takes a second to realize he is smiling.
“What?”
“You think you’re going to scare me.”
I blink, then laughter erupts from me. I can’t help it. I bend forward, one hand against my stomach. “Oh. You’re braver than I gave you credit for. But you misunderstand—I don’t need you to be scared.”
I twist the knob, and a jet of water streams out. Then I hose him down from head to toe. It’s about time, as there was a stench of piss lingering in the room.
“I just need you alive. Don’t get me wrong—I want to kill you, but that would be too good for you. I plan to make you wish you were dead, and do you know how long that can take? You may need a lot of stitches after I knock you out. Then I will put in an IV, which I am terrible at, by the way, since needles freak me out a little—not getting them, giving them. But I can’t have you dying from hunger or dehydration.”
My patience is wearing thin.
“So why Jensen? He is a fucking nice guy, which really pains me to say, because the way he looks at my girl makes me want to stab out his eyeballs.”
The man decides he doesn’t want to talk again, so I find a stapler in Cipher’s bag. I am sick of him only looking at me with one eye.
I smile as I approach. “I’m not sorry this is going to hurt.”
Excitement floods my system at his scream; this may be the loudest one yet. Stapling someone’s swollen eye open is harder than it looks, and when I’m done, I stand back and admire my work. I could be a plastic surgeon and do eye lifts.
“Ask him,” he says hoarsely.
“Who, Jensen?”
The man nods.
“If you’re wasting my time, I’m going to be very creative about expressing my disappointment.”
I head upstairs and find my phone on the counter where I left it. Though I need a shower, it will have to wait, so I settle for washing my hands, then dial Vesper’s number.
“What?”
“Hello, my love.”
“Is there a reason you’re calling me?”
“Can’t I just call you? You did miss me, remember, and maybe I just wanted to hear your beautiful voice.”
“I’m hanging up on you.”
I laugh. “Don’t. Is Lucky with you?”
“Why?”
I hear her shuffle around and wonder what she is doing. Focus, Jester. There’s no time for your daydreaming.
“Can you put me on speaker?”
“No.”
“Please.”
She sighs. “What do you want with Jensen?”
“I need to ask him something.”
