Page 18 of Collide

Whether she knew it or not, Riley Alyssa Bennett,Star, was mine.

Maybe once I had her by my side, I’d be able to refocus on finding outwho murdered my brother.

Before I could execute my plans to get Riley into my life though, I hadto deal with a smallissuestanding right in front of me at this very moment. Although technically not standing,hangingfrom ceiling hooks would be more appropriate. I mentally locked away the information I had on Riley and re-focused my attention on what was going on in the room.

Hendrix Becker and Danny Jones, two of my most trusted advisorsand closest friends, along with my cousin, Miles Wolfe, were currently kicking the shit out of little Nicky Williams who was my current issue, and hanging naked from the ceiling by chains wrapped around his wrists.

He was known as Little Nicky out on the streets because heapparently resembled Adam Sandler from the filmLittle Nicky. I wasn’t one to sit and watch films so I couldn’t say who the fuck he looked like, but right now, he looked like most people did when they were hauled in front of me.

Petrified.

Nicky was stretched so taut that he could barely touch the floor withthe tips of his toes and every time one of my men hit him, he let out a painful grunt.

Yet he continued to deny his crime.

It seemed that Nicky, one of the newer recruits in The Shadows,my street gang who were responsible for drug supply, both at a local and national level, had taken a liking to my product and thought he was entitled to help himself.

I didn’t tolerate thieves in my organization, a rule that nearlyeverybody followed but every so often, there was one arrogant cunt who thought they wouldn’t get caught.

Spoiler alert. They did.

Nicky was only a young boy, eighteen, nineteen at a push, and likemany of my employees had grown up in care. He’d been recruited with the promise of being looked after like the rest of my employees, but the temptation of the product had got the better of him.

Shame really, my employees were well looked after, no matter whatrank they held in my organization, it kept them loyal to me.

Nicky could have had a comfortable life, a roof above his head, andfood on his table, but now he was facing living in hell for the rest of his pitiful existence.

My phone pinged and I pulled it out of my jacket pocket to see amessage from Isaac who had been keeping an eye on Riley.

‘One hour until closing time.’

Time to wrap this shit up.

I stood from the chair I had been perched in and strode towards Nickyas I closed Isaac’s message.

Flicking through the apps on my phone until I got to my video gallery,I selected the video that was undeniable proof Nicky was the one who had been stealing from me.

“Let’s stop fucking around now shall we, Nicky?” It was the first thing Ihad said since coming down to the basement at my apartment block over an hour ago. I owned the entire block and had transformed it into my own castle which overlooked my city. And it came complete with my very own personal torture chamber in the basement.

My playground.

I had let Hendrix, Miles, and Danny take the lead in extracting thetruth from Nicky.

Theo and I had grown up with Hendrix and Miles our entire lives andDanny had joined our crew when I was in my early teens, through loyalty he had proved his dedication to my family and the five of us became inseparable. Theo had been my second in command and now that he was gone, I ought to have promoted one of them, I just couldn’t bring myself to replace my brother.

“Boss, I swear, I never touched the product,” Nicky wheezed, bloodfrom the lashes inflicted by the chain Miles had used ran down his naked torso. He’d cried out like a little bitch at every lashing which had only made Miles hit him all the harder.

If I was honest, I was a little impressed he was still conscious.

“I don’t like thieves in my organization, Nicky. I hate liars even less.”My tone was cool, calm......unemotional. I held the phone out in front of him and pressed play on the video.

The screen flickered to life, a black and white film played from thesecret camera I had installed in the drug packing warehouse when I was alerted to Conroy’s suspicion that someone was stealing from me.

Conroy was the leader of The Shadows and was responsiblefor recruiting new candidates. He’d dropped the ball with Nicky, that was for sure. No one had known about the camera, not Conroy, not even Hendrix, Danny, or Miles so the look of amusement on their faces when they realized what they were watching was priceless.

Nicky however, well, his face dropped in sheer horror as he watchedthe video of himself sneaking into the warehouse in the early hours of the morning and grabbing a packet of cocaine worth around $1000. He shoved it underneath his jacket before heading out. The camera had been positioned to get a clear shot of his face as he left the warehouse, a cocky smirk playing on his lips as he looked straight up at the invisible lens.

Funny, his smirk was nowhere to be seen right now.

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