same kit from yesterday—syringe, tiny packet of white powder, lighter, spoon, and tourniquet. My eyes flicked back and forth between the kit and the intensity of Boss’s gaze staring down at me.
I squirmed in the chair. “I-I don’t understand. You’re… you’re what? Going to keep giving me drugs?” At this point, I was way past being frightened and had gone straight to completely confused. I nervously twirled a piece of hair around a finger while chewing on my bottom lip, unable to figure out what this man expected in return for the H. “W-why? Why would you do this? I’m no one. Nothing. You don’t even know me.”
What does he want? Nothing comes without strings attached. Nothing.
The sad look in his eyes surprised me. The same time Boss appeared to show a smidge of compassion, his mouth and jaw tightened.
“You’re not nothing,” he hissed, so vehemently I flinched. Boss closed his eyes and breathed deep, as if he needed a moment to hold himself back from reaching out and strangling me. Those brilliant blues opened again, trapping me with their intensity. “Besides, you can’t stop cold turkey, doll. You’ll end up incredibly sick.” His gaze bore down on me as he crossed his arms over his broad chest, pulling his shirt taut across his wide shoulders. “I’m afraid you’re not leaving the property until I find out how you got here and what your intentions are. It’s not every day someone has the audacity to show up at my house…” He put his hands on the arms of the chair, trapping me, his body surrounding me, and leaned down, close enough to smell his aftershave combined with that fragrant green body wash. Close enough for me to pick out every single individual shade of blue in his irises. “It’s even more rare for them to live to tell about it. That’s what worries me, doll. I can’t have you running to the police with any information now, can I?”
I gulped and sucked in a breath. “What about my… my, um, boyfriend?” The word left a bad taste in my mouth, but I didn’t know how else to refer to Mason without over-explaining myself. Yeah, my drug supplier? The guy who fucks me? No way. So boyfriend it was.
“You have a boyfriend, doll?” Boss straightened, pulling away and taking that wonderful scent with him. His countenance was neutral and gave no hint as to what the man was thinking. Boss tugged on each of his crisp cuffs, fiddling with and straightening them to the point I wanted to scream.
Anxiety plucked at every nerve in my body. Each one tightly wound, vibrating in turn, and sending out wave after wave of stress like concentric ripples on water. I scratched at my arms, the itching returning with a vengeance at the thought of getting my next fix.
“Mason, well, he’s not really my b-boyfriend. I mean, I live—no, lived with him but…” My hand went to my hair and I grabbed a loose tendril, twirling and pulling furiously. “He’s… I-I don’t know what he is. He… he gives me H.” My shoulders sagged in defeat, unable to describe the complicated situation clearly.
“I see.” Boss remained unaffected by my confession.
“Mason was s-supposed to be here. At your house. That’s why I came. Is he? Here, that is?”
My heart throbbed painfully against my ribcage as I questioned a man most people were too afraid to speak to, let alone look him in the eye and ask for answers. It wasn’t as if I hadn’t heard the stories, the rumors of Boss’s ruthlessness. Mason told me plenty. Said the guy rose through the ranks of the organization, starting as a lowly runner at a very young age, doing that for years. Once he worked his way to petty dealer, Boss fought and clawed his way to top of the chain all in less than five years.
The way I heard it, from others, not just Mason, Boss took down his mentor and predecessor, along with all of the men loyal to him, in a gruesome bloodbath. Going by the nature of the threats he’d laid on me, both subtle and direct, I
I squirmed in the chair. “I-I don’t understand. You’re… you’re what? Going to keep giving me drugs?” At this point, I was way past being frightened and had gone straight to completely confused. I nervously twirled a piece of hair around a finger while chewing on my bottom lip, unable to figure out what this man expected in return for the H. “W-why? Why would you do this? I’m no one. Nothing. You don’t even know me.”
What does he want? Nothing comes without strings attached. Nothing.
The sad look in his eyes surprised me. The same time Boss appeared to show a smidge of compassion, his mouth and jaw tightened.
“You’re not nothing,” he hissed, so vehemently I flinched. Boss closed his eyes and breathed deep, as if he needed a moment to hold himself back from reaching out and strangling me. Those brilliant blues opened again, trapping me with their intensity. “Besides, you can’t stop cold turkey, doll. You’ll end up incredibly sick.” His gaze bore down on me as he crossed his arms over his broad chest, pulling his shirt taut across his wide shoulders. “I’m afraid you’re not leaving the property until I find out how you got here and what your intentions are. It’s not every day someone has the audacity to show up at my house…” He put his hands on the arms of the chair, trapping me, his body surrounding me, and leaned down, close enough to smell his aftershave combined with that fragrant green body wash. Close enough for me to pick out every single individual shade of blue in his irises. “It’s even more rare for them to live to tell about it. That’s what worries me, doll. I can’t have you running to the police with any information now, can I?”
I gulped and sucked in a breath. “What about my… my, um, boyfriend?” The word left a bad taste in my mouth, but I didn’t know how else to refer to Mason without over-explaining myself. Yeah, my drug supplier? The guy who fucks me? No way. So boyfriend it was.
“You have a boyfriend, doll?” Boss straightened, pulling away and taking that wonderful scent with him. His countenance was neutral and gave no hint as to what the man was thinking. Boss tugged on each of his crisp cuffs, fiddling with and straightening them to the point I wanted to scream.
Anxiety plucked at every nerve in my body. Each one tightly wound, vibrating in turn, and sending out wave after wave of stress like concentric ripples on water. I scratched at my arms, the itching returning with a vengeance at the thought of getting my next fix.
“Mason, well, he’s not really my b-boyfriend. I mean, I live—no, lived with him but…” My hand went to my hair and I grabbed a loose tendril, twirling and pulling furiously. “He’s… I-I don’t know what he is. He… he gives me H.” My shoulders sagged in defeat, unable to describe the complicated situation clearly.
“I see.” Boss remained unaffected by my confession.
“Mason was s-supposed to be here. At your house. That’s why I came. Is he? Here, that is?”
My heart throbbed painfully against my ribcage as I questioned a man most people were too afraid to speak to, let alone look him in the eye and ask for answers. It wasn’t as if I hadn’t heard the stories, the rumors of Boss’s ruthlessness. Mason told me plenty. Said the guy rose through the ranks of the organization, starting as a lowly runner at a very young age, doing that for years. Once he worked his way to petty dealer, Boss fought and clawed his way to top of the chain all in less than five years.
The way I heard it, from others, not just Mason, Boss took down his mentor and predecessor, along with all of the men loyal to him, in a gruesome bloodbath. Going by the nature of the threats he’d laid on me, both subtle and direct, I
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