Just like I wouldn’t let Alex.
The parallel wasn’t lost on me.
Finally, I spoke. Two words that changed everything.
“Money’s transferred.”
Morpheus didn’t react immediately. He finished the paragraph he was reading, his eyes tracking across the page with deliberate slowness. Then he lowered the book, marking his place with one finger, and turned his head to look at me.
One eyebrow quirked up. “Yeah?”
I nodded.
He glanced at his watch. An expensive piece, all silver and black, the kind of thing that cost more than most people madein a year. His lips curved into something that might have been a smile if Morpheus ever actually smiled. “Less than twenty-four hours,” he said. “I’m impressed.”
“Orgasm denial is a special kind of torture.”
My words hung in the air between us, and for a moment something passed across Morpheus’ face. Understanding. Recognition. Maybe even a hint of respect. Then he growled. A low, frustrated sound that came from deep in his chest, and his eyes dropped to Lollie, still working uselessly between his legs. “Tell me about it,” he muttered.
Without warning, he reached down and grabbed a fistful of her hair, yanking her off his cock with enough force to make her gasp. She fell back on her heels, her lips swollen and wet, her eyes confused and hurt. “That’s enough,” he said flatly, already tucking himself back into his jeans. “Go find someone else to practice on.”
She opened her mouth like she might protest, might ask what she had done wrong, but something in his expression stopped her. She scrambled to her feet, her knees leaving red marks on the floor, and hurried away without a word.
Morpheus watched her go, then stretched his arms above his head, his spine cracking audibly. When he settled back into the couch, his entire demeanor had shifted. The bored intellectual was gone. Now he was all business.
“All of it?” he asked. “All seventy-five million?”
“Every dime.”
“And she just... gave it up? Just like that?”
I thought about Alex lying in my bed, her body trembling with unfulfilled need, her mind fracturing under the weight of what I had done to her as I brought her to the pinnacle time and time again, for hours, relentlessly refusing to let her come. I thought about the way she had finally broken, finally spouted off the routing number and password, anything to stop me fromdenying her orgasm. Or her face when she learned she had given up her only leverage.
I smirked. “Yeah. Just like that.”
Morpheus nodded slowly, processing. Then his expression hardened, and I knew what was coming before he opened his mouth. “Remember this, Nano.” His voice was quiet but carried the weight of an order. “She’s Poseidon’s sister. That ain’t gonna change. You either make her understand or get rid of her.”
His words landed like a punch to the gut.
Make her understand or get rid of her.
It wasn’t a suggestion. It wasn’t advice. It was a directive from my president, delivered in that calm, measured tone that meant he was deadly serious as he continued, “Got word Zeus is already asking questions. The Gods of Mayhem won’t stay silent forever about one of their own being held by us. Right now, we’ve got leverage. We got our money back, sure. But that only buys us so much time.”
“I know.”
“Do you?” He leaned forward, his elbows on his knees, his eyes boring into mine. “Because from where I’m sitting, it looks like you’re getting sidetracked. Playing fucking games with her. This isn’t a game, Nano. Attachments make you sloppy. Make you weak.”
“I’m not attached.”
“Bullshit.” The word was sharp, cutting. “I’ve known you for years, Nano. I’ve seen you torture men until they begged for death. I’ve seen you put bullets in heads without blinking. I’ve never seen you hesitate. But with her? You hesitate.”
“I’m handling it.”
“Are you?” He sat back, his expression unreadable. “Because handling it means one of two things: Either you break her completely. Make her understand she belongs to the Brotherhood now, that her old life is over, that she’s yours. Oryou put a bullet in her head and dump her body somewhere the Gods of Mayhem will never find it.”
The image flashed through my mind unbidden. Alex, lifeless. Those green eyes empty. That sharp tongue silenced forever, and something twisted in my chest.
No.
