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JOSHUA
County jail isn’t anywhere nearly as unpleasant as I would have imagined. Yes, the food is disgusting, and there’s nothing pleasant about sharing a cell with ten foul-smelling men or pissing in a stopped-up toilet while they watch. But by the second day, they all knew not to look. One of the men, who kept staring at my dick when I pissed on the first day died in his sleep that night, or at least nobody will ever be able to prove how he died. One of the other men somehow bounced off a wall and shattered every bone in his face.Oops.
After that, they were eating out of my hand. I was the king of the cell. They practically bowed when I walked past them.
And the filth of this place? I embrace it.
I like cleanliness. I like order. That’s why dirt and chaos are my friends. That which hurts me strengthens me. Being in a place like this is the same kind of trial that my father put me through as a child, and the same kind I put myself through after I left him, to make sure I never got soft.
I know Tamara is in a hospital, covered in bruises and cuts, with a fractured ulna in her right arm…but she’s safe now. That’s all that matters.
My brother is under police guard at a different hospital, waiting to be transported to a special high-security lockup when he’s well enough to be transferred.
I was standing over him with my gun trained on the spot right between his eyes when the police pulled up. It’s a shame. I wanted to see what the inside of his head looked like, but the police would have shot me right there if I’d pulled the trigger.
They cuffed me and marched me away before I could speak to Tamara. I wanted to run to her. I wanted to tell her I was sorry I let her down, but they hustled me off and stuffed me in a squad car before I could say a word.
My brother has been charged with multiple counts of kidnapping and assault and one count of murder. He has refused to speak to the police at all, from what my lawyer says. He hasn’t told them anything about me, about our past. He’s refused to even give them his name.
My security chief Garrett followed my instructions and released Dr. Barnard and his two sons. I made the boys a deal before I flew here. I promised them I’d save their mother and sisters, but they couldn’t say a word to the police about me kidnapping them. Am I a manipulative asshole? Did I promise things I had no way of knowing I could deliver? Hell yeah. I don’t lose a wink of sleep over it.
Dr. Barnard won’t dare say a word, because if he rats me out, then I’ll tell the police about our deal and they’ll know he took bribes to keep my brother locked up. He’d go to prison right along with me, and lose his medical license.
Mrs. Barnard has filed for divorce and is demanding full custody of the kids. She blames him for what happened to her and her children, and she’s right.
He’s lost his manhood and his family. I’ll settle for that, for now.
The police and the district attorney have done everything that they can to build a case against me. The fact that they’ve failed means they have been unable to get testimony against me from the one person who could have put me away for life.
Tamara.
The days float by in a haze. I need to see Tamara. I need to touch her, to be with her, but I can’t, and my hunger is eating away at me. I’m still holding tight to my emotions, stuffing everything into a little box. When I get out of here, I need to hunt, and I need to do itsoon.If I don’t bleed off some of the emotion boiling inside me, I’m going to explode like a supernova, consuming everything around me with the fire of my rage.
My lawyer manages to get me out after five days.
There’s a limo waiting for me outside the prison. I head straight to the hospital. I have so much I need to tell Tamara.
When I get there, Carter is just leaving Tamara’s room. From what my lawyer’s heard, he’s been fired from the NYPD for going rogue.
His face flushes with anger when he sees me coming down the hall. Apparently, our recent adventure together and the fact I saved his life haven’t gained me any favor with him. “I heard you got out. Figured I’d try to talk sense into her one more time,” he says coldly. “You’ve got some kind of hold on her. You fucked with her head. I know Stockholm syndrome when I see it. Don’t get too comfortable, asshole. I’m sticking to you like white on rice.”
Once upon a time, I would have gloated in my triumph, and humiliated him. There’s nothing he can do to me now. But something in me has changed. I’m far from a decent human being, but I am less cruel than I used to be.
Because of Tamara.
And he did save her life.
Of course, he should have told me he’d figured out where my brother was, but I had a tracking device on his car, so I was never far behind him.
Standing outside the room, with him blocking my entrance, I stifle the urge to hurl him out of the way. “My offer still stands,” I say to him.
“You think I did this for money?” he scoffs.
“Not that offer. Well, that’s still there if you want it. But the other thing we discussed. Making life a little more…fair.” I’d cheerfully kill the rich little shit who gave his daughter the fatal overdose, or the asshole boss who caused his wife to die. Why not? Even if they’re not worthy fighters, it would still be fun.
I see the temptation in his face. But he shakes his head firmly.
“I’ll never work with you,” he says.
