Page 165 of Merciless

“I’d rather you took me,” Alana confesses, her voice rough with desire. I don’t want to look at her, but when her glare begins to burn the side of my face, my body takes on a life of its own.

My breath catches at the darkness in her eyes. She’s horny, sure. But I’m pretty sure there’s something else there too.

“Stay and watch if you really want. I’m sure real life is better than watching through a screen,” she taunts.

I hold her stare, refusing to react to her offer as I replay the events of yesterday in my mind.

I had my suspicions about what her past entailed. She’d alluded to a couple of things in her time down here, but I didn’t want to believe it. It opens up the possibility of things happening around me that I should have seen. That I should have been aware of. That I should have done something about. But watching her maim Jonno yesterday. It was so fucking poetic yet haunting at the same time.

Before our eyes, she morphed into an entirely different person. Each roar of anger as she stabbed my knife into his body confirmed what I suspected.

It doesn’t answer all my questions, or my suspicions. But it sure connected a few dots.

But it was nothing compared to the moment she confirmed it in the shower. In that moment, she was no longer a hot, young woman but a girl. A broken, little girl who’d lost everything to men who shouldn’t have had access to her.

And right now, I can see it again within those dark shadows in her eyes.

Refusing to focus on how everything I’ve learned about her in the last twenty-four hours makes me feel, I return my stare to my horny best friend.

“Two minutes, JD,” I bark before turning to leave.

“Two minutes?” he echoes. “I’m good, man. But I’m not that fucking good. Give me twenty.”

“Two minutes,” I repeat before slipping out of the room to the sound of my best friend shouting, “miserable motherfucker needs to get laid.”

I march up the stairs and make a pit stop in the kitchen for an energy drink before making my way to my office.

Part of me expects him to defy orders and make me wait. But much to my delight, only a few seconds later, his footsteps grow louder before his angry form darkens my doorway.

“Ah good, you are capable of putting her down.” I scoff.

“The fuck, man?”

“I told you not to touch her.” It’s a weak argument at best, but I fall back on it nonetheless.

He moves closer, his smug grin getting wider before he drops into his unofficial chair on the other side of my desk.

“You’re just pissed she wants me and not you.”

I don’t react.

“Oh dude, don’t pull that impassive, ‘I don’t give a fuck’ bullshit with me,” he says, sitting forward and resting his elbows on his knees. “I know you care. I can see it in those haunted eyes of yours.”

“Fuck off.” I bark.

“Jealousy isn’t a good look on you, man.”

I bark out a laugh. It’s bitter and full of hate, and he sees right fucking through it. “I sincerely hope you wrapped it. Pretty sure she’s fucked half the germ-ridden dicks in this town.”

“You really need to get to know her better,” he counters, resting back once more.

“And you need to stop being so blinded by that pretty little gem in her cunt.”

“Oh, man. You should hear the way she howls when you tug it with your teeth. Fucking gold. Oh, wait… You know, don’t you? You watched every fucking second of us together yesterday. How many times did you nut? As many as her?”

I neither confirm nor deny his words. Instead, I get down to business.

“I’ve been given some new contacts,” I state flatly.

---