Page 10 of In Death, Love Survives

FIVE

Wolfe

Doctor Nova Fletcher is something else.

I only attended group to get more insights into who she is. The woman fascinates me. Even though I should be focused on my plans to leave here, I’m more fixated on the woman down the hall.

She handled every single prisoner with care in that room, and I don’t think I’ve ever seen anything like it. It’s as if she thinks she can make a difference in our lives, and as much as I want to mock it, I can’t, given how pure of heart she must be to have these notions.

Each of these fuckers left thinking she was an angel, but little do they know how I feel about the doctor.

“Wolfe, what do you want me to do about it?” Toby asks.

I peer up at him as I take a drag of my cigarette.

“What’s this about?”

“Come on, man,” Toby says with a nervous sigh.

I stare at him blankly.

“The new guys. They come in this afternoon.”

New guys. Another set of prisoners coming into this hellhole. The only bright side is my angel, who I’m learning the other men adore.

A pang of jealousy courses through me at the thought. Nova is mine, whether they like it or not.

“Do what you usually do.”

“You don’t want to be involved?”

Toby scratches the back of his neck anxiously.

“Nah, man. I’m not getting into that here. Enough problems back home.”

I notice that Toby is acting stranger than usual. Glancing around the open yard, I spot a few people staring in our direction.

“What’s going on?” I ask.

Toby’s eyes snap to mine.

“You know how it is. People in here, they know you have a reputation on the outside.”

“Oh yeah? What do these fuckers have to say about me?”

Standing, my broad frame towers over Toby’s thin one. His gangly features look even smaller when standing next to mine. If only he didn’t have a connection to the MC, I wouldn’t tolerate him at all.

The man is doing me some type of favor, so I have to give him a break.

“Nothing like that. Nothing at all,” he stresses.

“Tell me what’s going on,” I demand.

“Look, my boys thought that with you here, maybe you could be of assistance.”

“Assistance?”

I cock an eyebrow impatiently.

“Usually, the new guys, they need to be taught lessons. We were thinking since you’re you, you could help us.”

“Toby, I don’t usually get in the habit of repeating myself, so you listen good here. Got it?”

Toby swallows thickly at my tone.

“I’m not in the business of assisting anyone outside of my brothers. If my reputation precedes me, then you also know who the fuck I am. Do you think I take orders or requests from anyone who’s not me ?”

Toby gulps as he violently shakes his head no.

“Good. Then you understand me.”

“I-I do,” he stutters.

“I like you enough, Toby, but don’t go thinking you and I are anything but what this situation is. If you help me, then we’ll see about you when we get back.”

Toby straightens and gives me a curt nod. I toss my cigarette to the ground and put it out.

I go to speak but am suddenly distracted by whistling and hollers from the other side of the yard, where Toby’s companions are all waiting in the distance.

That’s when I spot her—my angel.

Long legs that go on for miles and a swinging ponytail I’d like to grip onto right about now and let off some steam.

Fuck.

I’m no better than the rest of these fuckers, but at least I’m starting to see my girl for who she is and not just for how she looks.

As I watch her walk down the sidewalk to get to the other side of the prison, I notice how tense her shoulders are and how stiff her back looks.

She’s uncomfortable.

Fuck, of course she is with this attention.

“Knock it off,” I shout loudly.

Everyone’s heads turn and face me directly. I’ve been keeping my distance in here, with good reason, but I’m not going to let anyone fuck with Nova.

Nova pauses, and I watch the way her chest heaves up and down as she catches the breath she was holding in. Slowly, she faces me too.

Parted lips and big doe eyes drink me in. The way she’s looking at me makes me feel like the hero in her story when I can never be that for anyone.

“Don’t put a mark on the doc,” Toby whispers.

It breaks me out of the trance Nova and I were just under.

“What?” I ask.

“If they know you have a thing for the doc, they’ll go for her. Not everyone is like us in here.”

My eyes darken, and my jaw clenches as I realize he’s right.

“No thing for Dr. Fletcher. She just deserves to be treated with respect.”

I sit back down on the bleachers, and Toby sits next to me as we watch Nova slipping between a set of double doors. Everyone else resumes what they were doing, except for someone I can’t recall meeting.

“Who’s that?” I ask Toby.

He looks in that direction and coughs loudly.

“He’s the one who wants you to help out.”

It’s all starting to make sense.

“What’s his name?”

“Sam. Sam Snow.”

“What’s he in for?”

Toby swallows again, and I realize he’s also terrified of Sam.

“Murder.”

“He has life?”

Toby laughs in disbelief.

“Yeah. As he should.”

Facing Toby, I wait for him to continue.

“He’s killed like God knows how many innocent people. Fuck. It’s rough.”

Innocent. Such an obtuse word.

“How do you know that?”

“Like anything in here, really.” I hum in response.

“If anyone asks, nothing between me and Dr. Fletcher.”

“Don’t worry, I like the doc.”

“She’s helpful,” I say.

Toby laughs.

“She’s the only one who gives a flying fuck about us in here.”

“She does, doesn’t she?”

I pull out my pack of cigarettes and light one up.

“I don’t get it.”

“Get what?” I ask.

“Why is someone like her here? It just doesn’t add up.”

Another good point that Toby is making. I need to find out more about her story. Why is she here? She could be anywhere but here practicing medicine.

I take a puff of my cigarette and know that tomorrow, when I see Nova, I’ll be finding out who she really is.

I don’t seem to have a choice at this rate. My angel is pulling me closer than I’ve ever been before.

Officer Walls guides me to the same room where I’ve been meeting with Nova. As I step through the doorway, I see Nova’s eyes on me immediately. There are no notes or pretending like she doesn’t feel this connection as she stays focused on what’s important—me.

Every step I take, she watches intensely. I take a seat in my usual chair, and Officer Walls shuts the door behind him as he leaves.

“Good morning, Dr. Fletcher.”

Nova’s eyes twinkle with something akin to desire. Then it quickly goes away.

“Good morning, Mr. Walker.”

I settle back into my chair.

“How are you feeling today?” she starts.

“I’m better now that I see you.”

Her shoulders bunch slightly and then relax.

“Mr. Walker, I’m going to record this session.”

“You haven’t been doing that.”

“And it’s wrong .” Her eyes are pleading with me to understand.

“Wrong,” I repeat.

“Yes.”

Nova crosses one leg over the other and tightens her hold on a yellow notepad. She doesn’t go for the recording device just yet. Once she does, we can’t be personal with one another.

“Tell me this. If not recording our conversations is so wrong, why does it actually feel right?”

She tightens her lips into a thin line before chewing the inside of her mouth. I know she’s debating how to move forward.

“For argument’s sake,” she starts.

I give her a tilt of my head to indicate I know she needs to pretend like it’s not the truth. That the conversation between us isn’t flowing as naturally as it does each time we meet.

“If something feels good but is inherently wrong, then it can’t possibly be right.”

“Right and wrong. It’s all just semantics at the end of the day.”

“Semantics? Why do you say that?”

“Let’s keep using this case. It’s only wrong because your procedure is to record every conversation to help you study and help your patients.”

She smiles slightly with amusement.

“Not exactly, but keep going.”

“I’m not going to be in here long, Nova girl. Soon enough, I’ll just be another person out in the real world. Out and about, where you are too. Why waste our time together like that?”

Her breath hitches as she gazes at me. The way her blouse strains against her breasts as she tries to steady her breathing is utterly distracting.

I find Nova beyond attractive, but it’s not just about that. I know there’s potential for more between us.

No longer labored, she sets the notepad on the table and leans forward.

“Our time together is meant to be about me helping you. Nothing to do with me.”

I laugh darkly.

“That’s where you’re wrong, dollface. Ever since I laid eyes on you, I knew what was happening. There is no longer a me without you.”

Nova’s eyes widen, and her mouth parts in astonishment. A perfect pair of lips that I want to devour.

I watch on as she debates what to say back. A few moments of silence go by. The tension is thick, and I know she’s weighing her options.

“You can’t say things like that, Wolfe. You just can’t .”

“I can and I will. There may be a lot of colorful words to describe me, some even warranted. None of those mean anything when it comes to you. I’ll make you this promise.”

Her eyes stay on mine as she listens.

“I will never lie to you, Nova.”

She shuts her eyes for a second before focusing back on me.

“Wolfe…”

I’m not going to have her continue lying to herself, not where I’m concerned.

“Tell me. Why are you so closed off?”

“ You’re my patient .”

“Let’s move past that.”

“No.”

“Can you do me a favor, angel?” Her eyes dilate from the term of endearment.

“What’s that?” she whispers.

“Do me the same courtesy. Please don’t lie.”

Nova sits upright and takes a few steadying breaths, something I’m catching onto about the way she processes information and thinks before she speaks.

“Wolfe. Fine, I will give you that in return.”

“That’s my girl.”

“I feel this spark. This connection. This pull that we seem to have to each other. I won’t deny that.”

“It’s unmatched.”

She twitches her mouth.

“But,” she starts.

“I don’t like where this is heading,” I say.