“Nothing’s wrong with me,” I muttered, focusing on my tray and the shitty food on it.

“Uh-huh. You’re so full of shit, man. You’ve fallen for her, haven’t you?” he asked with a conniving smile.

I looked up in shock. Was it that obvious? “Who?” I played dumb, squinting in confusion.

He saw right through it. “Don’t try to bullshit me. The nurse… Ms. Evans, she’s gotten to you.”

His face paled when I continued to ignore him and poke at my food. I wasn’t about to feed him any information on Lyla. He knew enough as it was. I trusted Scoop, but my trust only went so far. She wasn’t about to be part of anyone’s game.

“You don’t have to answer, but listen up.” He hunkered down and began to whisper so no one around us could hear. “You need to be careful, bro. You know forming attachments in prison is dangerous.”

Scanning his face, I sensed that something was up. He met my gaze, probing my brain as if to pass me some secret message that only the two of us would get.

“What’s wrong?” I asked, watching his eyes shift back to his food.

He looked around before leaning in once again.

“Don’t trust anyone, X. You need to get your girl out of here if you care about her.”

A heart I didn’t know I still had dropped into my knees, and I felt as if I were suffocating. “Why? She’s safe here. No one will touch her as long as I’m here.”

As the words left my mouth, the reality of it hit me. I couldn’t protect her if I was behind bars all the time. What if something happened in the infirmary and I wasn’t in there?

Scoop looked up at me, hesitation across his face.

“What aren’t you telling me?” I asked, anger slowly filling me. Something was definitely going on, and he knew it.

“I didn’t want to tell you. She’s been digging in places she shouldn’t, man. It has to do with your case. Some crazy mafia bullshit mixed with murder. I don’t know, but she’s stirring some shit up and it’s pissing the high rankers off.” His gaze dipped once more before he met me eye to eye. “She’s been green-lighted, man.”

My heart slammed into my ribs so hard that it knocked the wind out of me. Being green-lighted meant someone had money on her head, as in the person who took her out was in for a massive payday. “Who knows?”

I tried to remain calm even though my body was so tense I was sure it was ready to snap in two.

“Everyone knows. The first person who succeeds in killing her gets the dough. And X, it’s a lot of fucking money, man.”

“Who issued the hit?”

I would find them, and I would squeeze the life from their body. They wanted to turn me into a monster? Well, they’d won. I was going to be the biggest, meanest monster they’d ever met, and I’d kill any motherfucker who thought it was okay to mess with what was mine.

“No one knows.”

I ground my teeth together so hard that my jaw ached. Scoop had better not be fucking lying to me. As if sensing my thoughts, he held up his hands in defeat.

“I’m serious, bro. I have no fucking clue who did it.”

As I stood from the table, my tray slid off and crashed to the floor. I had to do something to stop this. I needed to get to her and warn her before anything happened.

Looking around the cafeteria, I could feel the shift in the environment. Everyone knew what was going on, and everyone wanted that money. I could see the thirst in their eyes—the sick desire to end her life and get paid.

Taking my seat, I waited until the chaos died down. Scoop stared at me like I’d lost my mind. Maybe I had. Once no one was paying me any attention, I stood again, snatching my empty tray from the dirty tile.

I headed straight for Jose, only he had no idea what was about hit him. He was in deep conversation with his thugs, laughing about something they were whispering about. His goon squad saw me as I approached him from behind, but it was too late. I reared the tray back before crashing it over the top of his head.

He fell to the floor like a dead fish, and I dropped the tray to my feet. Standing stock-still, I waited to get pummeled. The only thought that went through my head as the rest of Jose’s crew came my way was Lyla. I had to get her out of Fulton. And if getting my ass beaten half to death was the way to do it, then so be it.

CHAPTER 19

LYLA

X WAS A rollercoaster ride—one that turned my stomach inside out and made me fear for my life—and it was amazing, crazy, but so freaking amazing. The terror and excitement of him was intoxicating. Addictive.