Merciless

Chapter Eleven

Carter

It's different when I'm in the cell with her. When there's nothing but an isolated war between the two of us. I know she'll break, and she'll love it when she does.

When I'm in there with her, staring her down and watching every small, calculated movement from her, all I feel is the need to bring her to that edge and watch her fall.

I can picture her beautiful hair a tangled mess as I fist it in my hand, taking my pleasure from her even if she'd give it freely. She'll be on her knees, desiring the same things that I do.

It consumes me when the four walls of the cell surround me, but the moment the steel door closes behind me with a finality that another day has passed where I don't have control of her, the desire changes to desperation.

She has to submit. To kneel when I walk into her cell and to wait eagerly for my command.

And soon.

I have other plans and I want her to be a part of them. She needs to give in. It starts with a simple kneel.

I'm still reeling from seeing her sweet defiance when the door shuts tight. Slipping the painting back into place, I get a glimpse of my brother as he walks toward me in the hall.

"You're waiting for me?" I ask him, and he matches my pace as we head toward my office.

"I think I know why it's hitting heavier on the edge of the south side, closer to the Romanos." He doesn't waste a second to start talking business.

"The supply?" I ask him for clarification. The drug market is predictable. That's the best part about an addiction. It's steady, rampant, and easily maintained. When demand increases in only one area, there's a reason for it. And I need to know why this shift is so unexpected.

"Romanos have their hands on it. They have to be producing it by the amount they're selling." My blood chills in response to Jase's revelation. My jaw tenses as we make our way down the stairs. Each step only emphasizes the hollow pounding in my ears.

He wanted an ally.

He wanted to do business together.

He's nothing but a liar, a thief, and a spineless prick.

But none of that is news to me.

"He's selling S2L?" I ask him. "Are you sure?" The drug is ours. Ours alone. It was only a matter of time before everyone else wanted it, but instead of getting the details, Romano stole it. The stupid fuck.

"I'm positive," Jase answers me and I imagine Romano's ugly snarl of a smile as I punch his teeth in. I can practically feel the way the tight skin of my knuckles would split as his teeth broke under them. "I got a sample from their streets, took it back and it's definitely our mix. A heavier version than what we got off Malcolm."

"Do you think Romano knows why the pharmacy pulled it and the side effects?" I ask Jase as I push my office door open.

We acquired a banned drug, manipulated it, and just started selling S2L, street name Sweet Lullaby. It was designed to help with anxiety and insomnia. It can aid in weaning off an addiction to harder drugs. But S2L is the most addictive because of the way it calms you, assures you and your entire being that everything is just as it should be and lull you into a deep sleep. Thus, the name, Sweet Lullaby. The undesired side effects were too great to risk... for them. Not for us.

"I think they know exactly what it is," he says with a touch of anger, "seeing as how they fucked with the formula." The door practically slams shut from the weight of his push. He doesn't look me in the eyes until he's seated in the chair opposite mine. It's only when he says the next sentence that I finally fall into mine. "They made it more potent. It's practically lethal with the way it numbs the senses, slowing the heart and forcing the body into a deep sleep."