Free Billionaire's Trust (Standalone Book) (Billionaire Bad Boy Romance) by Alexa Davis

was cheating me. So far, so good, but I knew I
couldn't ever drop my guard or they'd be at me like wolves on blood.
    "I'm talking
about the fact that you cut me off, big brother!" He was frantically
pacing the floor in front of my desk. He was obviously in need of a fix, but
not jonesing too hard yet. "You told all the
street dealers not to sell to me! The fuck, man?"
    "Beck, I've
given you every opportunity to sober up and get clean," I repeated the
same speech I'd been giving him for the past five years, knowing full well that
it would do as much good as all the other speeches I'd given him. Beck hadn't
yet hit bottom and until he did, he wasn't going to be motivated to get clean.
My heart ached from wanting my little brother back, but I also knew that I
couldn't do anything for him. He had to want it for himself.
    "Fuck that clean
shit, man," he waved at me as he paced restlessly. "Take your
do-gooder bullshit to another audience, bro."
    "It's not
bullshit, Beck," I said as I watched him. He was deep in the grip of a
heroin addiction, and I could see the effects. His skin was pocked and bleeding
in places where he'd picked at it. He was wearing a long sleeved shirt covered
by a sweatshirt and a hoodie even though it was ninety degrees outside. And, I
could see that he still hadn't gone to see the dentist I'd found for him. He needed
to get his teeth looked at, but he refused to go.
    " It's absolute bullshit, Dax , and
you know it," he said.
    "Why do you
say that? I'm doing everything I can to help you," I replied.
    "Yeah, but
you're still selling the shit," he shot back. "You're a fuckin'
street dealer who counts on the junkies like me to need what you're selling.
You feed on us, bro. You create the habit and then you keep us weak and
enslaved so you can sit in your penthouse counting your cash."
    "That's not
fair, Beck," I said in a measured tone. "You know what I do. I
provide a product to those who require it. It's as simple as that."
    "Yeah, but
it's not simple when you're sitting on your high horse preaching to your little
brother who is a smack addict, now is it?" he said pointedly.
    "You have a
choice," I replied.
    "And so do
you, big brother," he said as he put his palms on my desk and leaned over
to look me straight in the eye. "You've got a choice to hook me up with
what I need or to face the consequences of your actions."
    "What the
hell are you talking about?" I said as I waved him off. "Get the fuck
out of here!"
    "I'm talking
about what we both know," he said. His eyes were burning with a fevered
light. "You know what I'm talking about. If you don't hook me up, I'm gonna go down to the precinct and tell them everything I
know about this business."
    "Beck,"
I warned. He'd threatened this a hundred times, and every single time I'd
explained how it would work if he did that. Somehow the fact that he was a
junkie didn't quite sink in and the fact that I'd worked hard to keep the
business buried deep underneath a number of legitimate businesses buried under
a number of other legitimate businesses didn't seem to register. "You
don't want to do that."
    "No, you
don't want to do that!" he yelled. "Give me my stuff! Dammit, Dax ! Give me my stuff!"
    He was dangerously
close to a total meltdown, but we'd been to this edge many times before. I
watched him as he spun further and further out of control, hoping that this
time would be the time he realized that he needed help. He stomped and screamed
and threatened me with every violent act he could think of before he turned and
looked at me and screamed, "I hate you!"
    "I know you
do," I said. "But I love you enough to let you hate me if it means you'll
get help and come back and be my brother again."
    "Fuck that
shit, man," he scoffed. "Why the fuck would I want to be your
brother? A fuckin' loser like you? Hell no, motherfucker!"
    "Beck,
please," I said quietly.
    "Fuck you,
man," he said as he stalked to the door and flung it open. "You're so
fucking selfish, Dax . Always