Page 111 of Under His Heel

Tracht had changed from the formal getup he’d been wearing for the party and was now back in his captain’s uniform, complete with heavy boots.

“Hey! You brought the money?” Nick asked in that voice he thought was charming but, as far as Alex was concerned, was actually really infuriating.

“Alex first,” Tracht responded in a bland tone. He stepped around Nick and came over to Alex.

“No, hey—!” Nick followed and grabbed Tracht’s shoulder to stop him. One glare from Tracht had him quickly letting go. “I mean, you can look, I guess. But I want the reward we agreed upon.”

“Hmm.”

Tracht leaned over Alex and casually touched his face. The cold expression slipped, and Alex saw Tracht taking in Alex’s form, his lips parting lightly and quirking into a small smile. His hand lingered on Alex’s jaw, warm and comforting, all while Alex was pretty sure Tracht was somehow getting off on this.

Then Tracht let his hand wander down to Alex’s arm and lifted it up. Alex held it for a second after Tracht let go, hoping Tracht would notice that Alex was recovered.

“You said you found him trying to escape?” Tracht asked, still looking Alex in the eyes.

“Yep. I remembered how things went down the last time, and I thought, wow, it would be super bad if he actually got away.” Nick got closer and loomed over Tracht’s shoulder.

Fear seeped into the pit of Alex’s stomach. “I didn’t—I didn’t try to—” but the drug was still numbing his mouth, making it hard to speak properly.

Nick shook his head theatrically. “Look at that. He’s denying it even now. I know he’s hard to control, but I’m pretty good at doing that.”

Alex saw red, and he tensed his muscles, ready to attack Nick. Tracht squeezed down hard on Alex’s arm though, and that was enough. Yeah. Just wait. He relaxed again.

“So how did you?”

“Huh?”

“How did you ‘control’ Alex to prevent his escape?” Tracht gave Alex’s arm one last squeeze and then turned around.

Nick looked surprised, but he was always good at making shit up on the go. “He was getting totally drunk. Trying to party it up before he got out of there. It was pretty easy to drag him into a hotel from there, especially since he still trusted me.”

“So Alex, who knows me very well, decided to go on a drinking spree that would impede his decision making, and then run off to a passenger ship off planet—the ships that rigorously screen their passengers and would never let a drunk man in a bondcollar on board? Alex did all of this, without a single thought to the consequences of me finding him?”

Nick laughed a bit and shrugged. “Yeah, he was never all that smart. But tell ya what. Once you’ve paid me the reward, I can give you a few pointers. You could keep me on retainer, to help you keep Alex in line. I’ve got experience with that.”

Tracht’s eyebrows shot up. “Am I understanding this correctly? You’d like to sell your brother to me, again?”

How had Alex ever thought that Nick was looking out for him? He couldn’t believe that Nick was using him like this, trying to make more money from Alex.

“No, no, I’m not selling Alex to you! I’m selling you a service, an upgrade! You already have Alex; I’ll get you the nice and compliant version of him.” Nick smiled his smarmy grin, the one he wore when he knew he was going to get his way.

“Interesting.” Tracht stood up and extended his hand to Nick, which Nick eagerly shook. “However, you neglected to consider one thing.”

“Huh? What?” Nick tried to pull his hand away, only Tracht kept his grip tight.

And then Tracht smiled. “Alex is already completely mine.”

Right, that was his cue. Alex stood and launched himself at Nick. He was still a little bit woozy, but it didn’t stop him from grabbing Nick’s shoulders tight. Tracht let go of Nick’s hand.

“What? I thought you were still out!” Nick wriggled his shoulders and tried to dislodge Alex, but Alex had always been stronger and had at least several pounds of muscles on his brother.

“Hey! Alex, bro! Let go!” Nick kicked Alex’s shin and jabbed his elbow into Alex’s stomach. The pain was enough to get Alex to loosen to his hold, so that Nick slipped free.

Nick tried to run for the door. Alex ignored the slight dizziness and tackled him to the ground, and then he had Nick pinned completely. He straddled Nick’s back and pulled his arms painfully high.

“Fuck! Alex, Alex, stop! I give up!”

Tracht came to stand in front of Nick’s head, and he tapped Nick’s face with his boot.

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