Page 13 of Brutal

That’s exactly what we’d both said, back in university, before we’d gotten here. He’s an executive too, although he likes to pretend he isn’t.

I smirk at him, taking another long sip from my cup. “I have lots of work to do, which is why I’m down here hiding so no one can find me.”

Except Caroline, but she knows I’m about to lose it, or she wouldn’t have sent me down here.

“Why is it always so damn cold in here?” I complain, adjusting my jacket sleeve and beginning to pace across his office — back and forth, back and forth, like that’ll let out some of this anxious energy.

He looks at me, then says, deadpan, “So the equipment doesn’t melt down and cost the company millions trying to replace it.”

“Right, right.” I pause only long enough to glance at him. “I got one, man. I finally did it.” I can’t talk about the details, not here of all places, but I have to tell someone. “You’ll have to come over.”

Patrick stops typing. “You got… that thing? That we were talking about?” His expression turns hungry. “Seriously? I didn’t think you’d go through with it.”

I scoff, finally stopping to face him. “Why not? I can handle it. I’m a big boy.” I leer at him. “It’s been nice so far, but I don’t have time to play until the weekend.” I know I shouldn’t whine at him in particular, since he regularly pulls overnight shifts for days on end when we have a new app launch, but he’s one of the few people who would understand my complete frustration.

“I know you can handle it.” Patrick makes a non-committal sound. “You just have a lot of ideas and usually get bored with them before they ever get off the ground.”

“Way to call me out, dude,” I mutter, but I can’t be too offended when he’s just being honest. “I know one way I won’t get bored, though…” I trail off, looking expectantly at him. “I need to put in a supply order.”

“Did you run out already?” Patrick asks, incredulous. “You’re really blowing through the stuff.” But he leans down and unlocks one of the drawers of his desk. When he sits up again, he tosses me a bottle.

I catch it and glance down at the unlabeled bottle. I have no idea what’s inside, but I know the stuff will make me feel fucking wonderful.

I tuck it away into the inside pocket of my suit, already anticipating the incredible high that’s going to come from the pills, and straighten. “You should come over soon,” I tell him. “I know you’re busy with the upgrades, but think of it as an incentive to make sure it goes off without a hitch. I’ll throw a party and everything.”

Patrick nods. “Yeah. I can do that.” After a beat, he adds, “You are going to share, right? Not like your two friends who got all possessive?”

I laugh at him. “Nah, man. You know I don’t give a fuck.” I glance at my phone when a text buzzes through and groan when I see Caroline’s reminder that I have another meeting in five minutes.

For fuck’s sake.

“Gotta go be a CEO now.” I sigh, but the subtle weight of the pills in my pocket makes me feel better. These little things are going to make the rest of the meetings so much more tolerable.

Thank fuck for Patrick and his miracle drugs.

CHAPTER 4

Mimosa

Brutal chained me to the fucking shower.

There’s enough length to the chain that I can use the toilet and get water from the sink, and he was ‘nice’ enough to include a large doggy bed and a blanket, but beyond that, I’m trapped naked in the bathroom.

But at least the views are great, I think hysterically. I get to see the entirety of New Bristol through the giant, curtainless windows. This high up, I guess he isn’t concerned about privacy.

I’m keenly aware of the other high-rises nearby, though, and I wrap the blanket around myself both to warm myself up and to minimize what any potential peeping toms might see.

I spend most of the day staring out the window. At one point I get bored enough to run a bath and relax in the tub, helped by the fact that the tub has a heating option to keep the water warm. There’s a tv in the corner of the bathroom too, but I can’t find the controls for that.

I’d complain about the boredom, but this is preferable to the dark room I’d been kept in before.

Baths and sky views don’t make the time pass that much more quickly, though. After napping for a few hours, I start looking at my options more earnestly.

I know that escaping is unlikely, but I have to get the upper hand somehow. The chain, unfortunately, is high enough quality that I don’t see any potential weak points. The bar in the shower might come loose if I pull hard enough, but I definitely don’t have the strength for that.

I rummage around the bathroom cabinets, finding extra towels and a first aid kit.

On a whim, I open it up. It’s the usual stuff I would have expected from a first aid kit—except there’s a row of small bottles at the bottom, all of them unlabeled. I open them up to check what’s inside. They’re all empty except for a single pill in one of them. I have no idea what it could be, though.