With a soda in hand, Douglas sat next to me, setting his booted feet on the desk in front of him. I glanced up from my work and grinned. He was looking around the room, enjoying a rare moment without inmates lurking on the other side of the curtains.

“How’s your night been?” he asked.

Things were awkward. In truth, they had been since the moment he accused me of giving narcotics to an inmate, but still, I felt better about our work relationship knowing that he defended me.

“Good. I’m getting a lot of work done tonight.” I hesitated, quickly looking over at him. “Thanks by the way,” I added.

“Thanks for what?” he asked, puzzled.

“Don’t act like you don’t know. You help save my job. Giles said you defended me. All I’m saying is I appreciate it.”

He grinned sheepishly, taking a sip from his soda to block it.

“He was a liar.” He shrugged. “He was probably just trying to throw you under the bus to stir up some shit. These inmates get bored and like to make up their own soap operas. I’m just glad it’s been taken care of.”

“Me too. It’s nice to know I have a friend here to look after me.”

Douglas studied me, his eyes swaying over my face, and then he looked away. I wasn’t sure what he was looking for. Maybe some deep-set explanation to why things around me had been so crazy lately. Then another question came to mind.

Did Douglas know I’d been green-lighted?

I was sure the COs weren’t as clueless as they seemed. They probably knew all about the shady stuff that went down at Fulton, but they had to have some secret code that said they couldn’t talk about it with anyone who wasn’t a corrections officer or something.

Pushing it from my mind, I went back to work. I still had digging to do when it came to Christopher’s case, plus a mountain of paperwork that needed to be filled out and filed.

Just when I thought the conversation was over, Douglas reached out and laid a hand over mine.

“Don’t worry, Lyla, I got your back.” At that, he stood and left to do whatever it was the officers did outside the infirmary.

The unit settled into a deep silence… one that left me humming songs and working as if I weren’t in a max pen. Briefly, I forgot about the world outside the infirmary. I forgot about the murders that were longing for my blood and the paycheck that was posed on top of my head. It was just my paperwork and me.

The buzzing of the doors cut through the silence, and Reeves was coming in with X shackled at his side.

There were no alarms. There were no codes called. There was only X and Reeves, walking in like they were out for a stroll around Fulton.

“What’s going on?” I asked, standing and directing them toward a bed.

“He said he’s dizzy. I figured I’d better bring him in here since he’s still healing from his head injury.” Reeves grinned openly at Christopher. “That’s what you get when you fall down the stairs around Fulton.”

It was a direct dig. Everyone knew that Christopher hadn’t fallen down any stairs. It was common knowledge there had been retaliation for his attack on the COs, but no one talked about. No one ever talked about it.

Christopher raked Reeves with a sinister stare, a promise that one day he’d get the last say, and I could feel the temperature drop around us.

Once I had him settled into a curtained space, he pulled me to him, his lips landing on mine so roughly that it hurt. I didn’t stop him. I wanted it. I always wanted him. Reaching up, I wrapped my arms around his wide shoulders, and he lifted me from the floor like I weighed nothing.

“Don’t stop,” I whispered, going in for another kiss when he pulled away.

He chuckled darkly and ran a single finger down my cheek.

“My little wild thing,” he said, capturing my lips once more. “One day you’ll be mine, and I’ll spend the entire might making you come over and over again.”

My body heated instantly, and I wrapped my leg around his hip to bring my center closer to him. Again, he chuckled, the sound of his deep voice striking deep in my overly sensitive core.

“I can be quiet.” I smirked.

“Yeah, right.” He tapped my nose and set me back to the floor. “As much as I’d love to bury myself inside you, we need to talk.”

I rolled my eyes. “Not this again. I already told you that I couldn’t quit. Not yet anyway. I have bills to pay for one, and for two, I need to be here for you.”

He looked down, his eyes turning sad.

“What’s wrong?” I asked. “What did I say?”