Junkie (Broken Doll 1)

Jase’s eyes went wide and he held his hands up by his head. “Nothing, Boss. I swear.”

I held him back with a hand to his chest, the knife still a millimeter away from slicing into his flesh. “Then tell me what the fuck is going on. Now.”

“S-she’s been breaking everything in her room, Boss. T-tried to throw stuff against the window to get out. Shattered the mirror in the bathroom, the lamps, all of the drawers in the dresser. We… we didn’t want her to hurt herself.” He cringed away from the dagger.

I moved it close enough to graze his skin. “What the fuck does that mean?”

Jase swallowed, his wide gaze fixed on the knife. “We were a-afraid she’d cut her wrists or s-something, so George and I… w-we had no choice. We, uh, we handcuffed her to the bed, Boss.”

“Why wasn’t I called?” The fury that ripped through me at the thought of the two big men holding down my tiny redhead and cuffing her to the bed frame turned my vision red.

“We…” Jase swallowed again, his eyes still focused on the gleaming blade. “We d-didn’t think you wanted to be bothered with it, Boss.”

“I want to know everything that happens in my organization. Especially in my own fucking house.” I pushed Jase away, returned the blade to its sheath, and stuck a finger in his face. “Don’t ever touch her without my permission. She’s mine.” I held out a hand. “Give me the goddamn key to the motherfucking cuffs.”

He scrambled to dig in his pocket and dropped the small key on my palm. I pointed at the broken picture frame.

“Clean up this mess, then get out of my sight.” Jase didn’t have to be told twice. He fled down the hall as I took the stairs three at a time, heart hammering so hard I could hear it.

If they hurt Miri… fuck! I stopped outside her room to rest my head against the door. I needed a minute to calm down or I would only scare her. It wouldn’t do any good for me to enter the room wild-eyed and seething. I breathed in and out through my nose and waited several agonizing minutes until my pulse slowed, even though every cell in my body urged me to break down the door and make sure the girl was okay.

Once I was more or less composed, I smoothed down my suit and adjusted the cuffs. On a deep inhale, I opened the door. When I stepped inside, the room was near pitch black. The heavy curtains were pulled shut and every light was off. Nothing happened when I flicked the switch, and I remembered Jase saying something about Miri breaking the lamps. There was a small bit of light coming from the hall, so I left the door open and crossed to the side of the bed. When I got close, I could see Miri was asleep. Her wrists were shackled above her head, the cuffs threaded around a thick bedpost.

I had to forcibly relax at the sight or I’d punch the fuck out of something, and I hated losing control.

Miri appeared so small, so tiny in the bed. But she seemed to be relatively unharmed, though it was too da

rk to be certain, and I needed to know. When I used the key to open the first cuff, the metallic click startled Miri and she immediately kicked wildly and screamed in a pathetically hoarse voice.

“Get the fuck away from me!”

Jesus Christ, this girl was fiery. I had to give her credit. The diminutive little thing was still fighting despite the obvious futility of her struggle. She knew there was no way she was getting out of her bonds or this house unless I allowed it.

“Stop.” I spoke with a quiet authority and Miri froze in place. She was so upset I could see the whites of her eyes as they rolled in my direction. Her pupils were dilated, so I knew she had recently received a dose.

“You.” I could barely hear her, her voice was so raw.

“I’m taking off the cuffs. Hold still.” I unlocked the second cuff and opened each one.

The minute Miri’s wrists were free she pulled away, kneeled on the bed, hauled back, and slapped me right across the face. Hard. She raised her other hand to do the same and I snatched it midair. When her free arm pulled back to slap me again, I grabbed that one as well and pinned them to her sides.

“I’d think twice about doing that again if I were you.” Thoroughly frustrated, head pounding, and now supremely pissed on top of my already shitty day, I stared her down. There might not have been much light in the room, but I had no doubt Miri could see my furious expression. She either didn’t give a shit or had some sort of death wish.

“Fuck you,” she rasped.

As surprisingly sexy as her anger was, I had more than enough of the blatant disrespect flying out of her pouty mouth. A growl tore from my chest. With Miri’s wrists in my hands, I propelled my body forward, shoving her back, using my weight to hold her down on the bed. I clamped her legs in between my strong thighs. No need to let her sneak in a kick to the nuts. If that happened, I wasn’t certain I could stop myself from doing something to the feisty girl I might end up regretting.

Despite the futility of it, Miri wriggled beneath me, screaming and cursing, her voice a whisper soft, but clearly infuriated rasp. I waited patiently on top of Miri, holding her tight until she wore herself out. Yeah, the easy route would be to shut her up by returning the slap. Fuck, the one she laid on me was hard enough to put the copper taste of blood on my tongue. Anyone else would have gotten his or her throat slit or a bullet in the head for that. But it seemed beyond even my level of cruelty to beat on such a small, weak human, and I just didn’t have it in me today to take her life. The mere thought of it nearly stopped my heart. I shook my head and focused on Miri.

“Are you done having your tantrum?”

Miri said nothing. Her chest heaved as she caught her breath. Miri’s head listed to the side, certainly to avoid eye contact. I stood and held out a hand to help her to her feet. When she sneered at it, I rolled my eyes to hide the heat that shot to my groin. With an evil smirk, I snatched her by the waist, and threw her over my shoulder. She immediately clawed at my back and I heard the rip of stitches and fabric tearing apart.

Another suit all fucked up and wrinkled.

“I’m beginning to think you like being in this position, doll.”

“Fuck you.” She landed a weak blow on my backside before giving up. It appeared I had actually managed to drain the fight from her. While I was glad since my head was throbbing and I was more than fed up, the fact that Miri’s fire was snuffed sort of disturbed me. I liked that side of her, the tenacious, passionate girl beneath the pale, beautiful, wrecked surface.