Page 63 of Inevitable Destruction

“What do you want with me, Everett?” I track his movement with unsteady, twitching eyes as I try out the name I uncertainly remember hearing that woman say. His head snaps in my direction, his eyes bulging.

His mouth drops open for a split second before he fixes his expression back to cold, heated indifference—but I know better.

“I want your pain, Dominik Alexander Reed, son of Alexander and Arabella Reed.”

His words throw me for a loop. That was oddly fucking specific. But then again, most of the people in this fucking town know about my family’s history, and he’s a cop—so him bringing them up doesn’t exactly surprise me.

“Well,” I croak, forcing my voice past the searing pain in my throat. “You’ve got it.” I throw my arms out on the bed until I’m spread like I’m making a metaphorical snow angel. “What do you want to do about it?”

“What I want to do,” he leans over me again, but this time he remains standing, “is press this needle into your vein and watch you drown inside your own head. Then I want to fuck you because I can.” I blink slowly, my brain lagging to catch up with his words when something comes into my peripheral.

It’s small, thin. Cylindrical.

Fuck.

My body breaks out in a cold sweat as my eyes lock on the plastic tube in front of me. So close. So fucking close, but so far.

He can’t be serious. He doesn’t really want to…

Oh, God. My mouth salivates as the syringe stares me in the face. My one true fucking love. The one thing I have fought against for what feels like a lifetime. It’s just right there, literally in my fucking face.

Rhett spins it back and forth in my face, taunting me. “I know you want this. It’s what you’ve been working up to, huh, baby?” His words are condescending, yet so fucking knowing.

“No,” I croak. “I’ve been resisting.”

“Ah, I see.” He stands to his full height and shoves the syringe back in his front pocket. Out of sight… not out of mind.

I can see the outline of it through his pants.

A finger under my chin pulls my gaze away, back up to his face—rugged, handsome. Cruel.

“Eyes right here.” I do what I’m told and keep my eyes on his as he moves around his room. He grabs the trash can and moves in closer to the bed, then when he leaves the room, my eyes remain locked on the door where he disappeared.

I can vaguely hear movement from him doing things, but I don’t pay it any mind. I can’t. Not when all I can think about is what’s about to happen.

The very thing I’ve fought so hard to overcome—well, maybe not overcome, but resist—and here I am. Willingly lying on a fucking bed, anticipating it. I can’t help but wonder what he’s going to use.

Probably a Dilaudid since that’s what he’s been giving me. That’s what I suspect, anyway. I’m curious if he knows that pills don’t always absorb right. That sometimes they clump when you heat it up… I’ve never done Ds, but I’ve shot up Oxys, and it was okay.

I’m sure it’ll be fine. He knows what he’s doing. I… I trust him…

I try to swallow the lump that has formed in my throat, but it’s stuck, obstructing my airways. I’m suffocating. That can’t be the thought I just had. I can’t trust him—I don’t even know him. And what I do know is the worst of him. He’s cruel. He tortures me, taunts me.

Everett is a bad person.

And yet, I think I trust him to do this. I think that makes me sick.

Maybe I’m past the point of any redemption. I have to be if I’m willing to let this happen—and I am.

Rhett clearly wants this. He inserted himself into every aspect of my life, showing up unexpectedly, and he made me need him—or what he would give me—by giving me no other choice. And as bitter as the truth sits on my tongue in this very moment, I have to admit I let it happen.

I could’ve just quit. I could have stayed away and got fucking sober. Hell, I could’ve gone back to rehab. The option was—is—there, but I don’t fucking want it. I want this.

I crave the drugs. The high, the numbness. I need it all, and I want Rhett to be the one to give it to me.

I’m the master of my own destruction.

“Still waiting so patiently for me, baby?” Rhett’s voice stirs the stagnant silence that surrounds me like a bubble. It bursts, and I feel like I can breathe again.

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