Total pages in book: 171
Estimated words: 159050 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 795(@200wpm)___ 636(@250wpm)___ 530(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 159050 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 795(@200wpm)___ 636(@250wpm)___ 530(@300wpm)
It was so surprising Knight didn’t hesitate to squeeze back, and despite the anger he felt in the face of such blatant lies, he wanted to know the answer to those questions as much as Elliot did.
“Look, if we can present new evidence then maybe people would see you in a different light.”
Fane hummed. “I will only be hated more. No one understands that all I’ve done I’ve done in the name of love. I could not bear it when a man lied to me for the safety of my money. Two of such ungrateful scoundrels lie in the room to the left of me.”
Knight swallowed and glanced at the brick wall that would lie to Fane’s left, were he facing the door on the other side.
Shit.
Fuck.
Someone must had blocked the rest of the corridor. There were no traces of this cellar in the original blueprints, as it hadn’t been designed to be known of.
“H-how many rooms should there be in the cellar, Mr. Fane?”
“How about I show you around?” Fane said, and it sent a shiver down Knight’s spine. That fucker wanted out, and Knight wouldn’t have it.
“Should we…?” Elliot whispered, looking back at Knight, who violently shook his head. The last thing he needed was Fane somehow getting out of the cellar to haunt Laurent. Thank fuck no one ever came down here.
“You wait here. I’ll get the tools,” Knight said and bolted up the stairs.
Minutes later, out of breath from running down the long corridors, he arrived back in the cellar and instantly regretted not taking Elliot with him. Down here, in the dark, bitterly cold cellar, Elliot’s joyful laughter echoed all the way up the staircase that drowned in darkness so substantial Elliot must have decided against using his phone as flashlight.
Knight slowed down, hugging the hammer and chisel to his chest.
“Yes, Mr. Fane, I did enjoy the exhibition. You were—are a man of great taste,” Elliot said, making Knight nauseated with the sweetness in his voice.
“Well, if we agree on the matter, then we both aren’t willing to compromise on any less than perfection. I can already see, dear boy, that you and I would have been great friends. Or more, dare I say.”
Knight ran down the stairs, creating enough noise to make Elliot look back at him. Regardless of the cold, Knight dropped his jacket, and then the long-sleeve for good measure, presenting his chest in the white glow of the large flashlight he brought with him. He wanted to see how that cold, limp bastard Fane could compete with that!
Elliot’s gaze definitely settled on Knight, and he took his jacket off as well. “Knight, this is so exciting. What can I do? Is it even safe? Ah, fuck it. I don’t care if it’s safe.” He got close enough to stroke Knight’s stomach but looked back at the wall that they were about to slam their way through.
Knight leaned in to taste Elliot’s mouth. “No. Stay back. Don’t want something falling on you. I know what I’m doing.”
Elliot smiled at him widely and once more stroked Knight’s arm before stepping aside.
“What you will find might be confusing, or fraudulent even,” Fane said, making Knight roll his eyes and the stupid backtracking. “If the corridor was blocked after my death, anyone could have planted anything there. But the two bodies you should find there are proof that I do not take kindly to those who toy with my heart.”
“So you don’t deny being a murderous psycho,” hissed Knight, pushing Elliot away and approaching the wall. With the heat inside his head growing, he placed the chisel at the top of the wall and hammered it against the dry mortar. It went straight through. The wall was literally one layer of brick and no one in the building’s long history had considered making sure it had been there all along.
“Oh, shit, Elliot. Can you see this?”
Elliot was one step behind him, and in the shaky light they could clearly see that there was so much more to discover on the other side. After some more chipping at the brick, a new, stale smell from the inside hit them both.
Elliot’s hand was pleasantly cool on Knight’s shoulder. “This has to be one of the biggest breakthroughs in the whole Fane case since… forever. I mean, the exhumations were one thing, but this…”
“I’m so turned on right now,” whispered Knight, shocked himself that his body was so confused with this.
Fane groaned. “And you say it’s me who is flawed? I simply have peculiar taste when it comes to men.”
But for once Elliot’s attention was back on Knight. “This is so hot, right?” He was already reaching for Knight’s belt. “No one knows what ground-breaking shit we’re up to here. Me and you.”
Knight exhaled, blinking as he looked at Elliot in the faint glow. Dust or the stale odor coming from behind the wall meant nothing in the face of such temptation. And if Fane heard them, then it was for the better. Knight hoped the bastard could never again experience true pleasure.