Page 21 of Judas (The Lito Duet #2)

Her tone is lower now, but still I listen quietly.

It’s a creative form of punishment, I’ll give them that, but they’re going to need to do more if they want to scare me.

Domination always resorts to sexual harassment and exploitstuon in jail.

They have nothing. better to threaten new inmates with, other than killing them. Saving that for last, I guess

“My favorite one so far? I’m glad you asked. Cragle, that masculine one over there, to your seven o’clock? Has it bad for you; wants to sit on your pretty face and piss in your mouth until you drown on it. I’d be careful.”

At this point, I'm unimpressed. The creativity I just mentioned, I gave them far too much credit too soon. With a slow and calming breath, I turn back to minding my business. This imp saddled up just to unnerve me and there’s a limit to my patience.

If I let anyone, or anything, rattle me this early on it will set a dangerous precedent for my stay.

We may all be mentally fucked in here but what we arent, is pushovers.

“That not good enough for you, Officer? Perhaps the Sisterhood wanting to cut that baby right out of your womb and pass it around to psych where the bitches who killed their children are at will be. Said you are an abomination to your boy-toy’s bloodline for not also being blonde with blue eyes.”

That’s enough. I’m not dealing with round two of white supremacists.

Turning, I reach and snag the bitch. Curling my hand quickly around the front of her throat, then shove her back until she leaves my immediate space and force her against the metal bunk frame neighboring mine.

Fluidly I step with her, bringing us so close together that one wrong move will have me tasting her smug-ass mouth.

“You, or anyone in this place, talk about, hint at, think of, or daydream about doing a mother fucking thing to my child before she is born? Your brains will decorate the fucking cinderblock. Ya follow?”

Her deep green eyes flex at the same time a smirk stretches the corners of her lush lips, straining the soft flesh there, appearing a little too delighted with my threat.

Just like Darkwater, the need to establish dominance surfaces and I find myself returning her grin.

Either she’s going to be one massive pain in my ass, or we’re going to get along.

Let’s get the pissing contest over right quick. I have seventeen years of nothing left to do and have no time to waste.

Squeezing the sides of her neck, my tongue snakes out and I lick right across her full pout.

I hold her glare, not allowing mine to evade her own icy stare—no blinking, no surrender, full of unapologetic challenge.

Saliva transfers from my tongue to her lips as I drag it across the flesh, tasting her, breathing our shared air in at the same time.

A faint hint of something watermelon-strawberry flavored ignites my tastebuds explosively—gum, or maybe toothpaste.

I almost see the appeal in dominating a woman.

She’s smooth against me, fits perfectly in my hand when it tightens around her skinny throat.

Warmth radiates from her smaller body, while mine has felt cold since the day I was forced to leave my old life behind.

If it wasn’t for the curve of my pregnancy, I would consider feeling more of her against me.

Silly, stupid thing may have initiated this little interaction—commendable yet ignorant —but it’s mine to control.

I might have just been delivered to this penitentiary but there’s no fucking chance I’ll let anyone punk me or make me their bitch.

Concentrating, I recognize a bit of myself in her. Freshly damaged, ready to destroy, angry.

Misery loves company.

Losing Kace has been one of the worst things to happen to me. Safe to say, my conviction doesn’t compare to the severity of shit that’s taken place in my life. Now I have this… imp.

The cell block grows quiet once they catch on to the power exchange between us.

The atmosphere feels foreboding, dicey, and it causes the hairs on the nape of my neck to stand at end.

I pick up every new shift in the air like the pectines of a scorpion.

They’ve heard of me, they think I killed a man in cold blood after assaulting him, all in the middle of a maximum security prison.

So, I’m going to live up to it as long as I am in here—might just be the thing that keeps me alive.

“Use your words or I’ll lay you the fuck out right here and show everyone what good of a bottom you’ll make,” I croon.

“Name’s Fury, and I follow. You’ve got gumption, I like that,” she replies.

Cute little street name, I guess.

“You’re either on the hunt to be initiated, or the ringleader herself. If you think I’m a dumb bitch and don’t know how this shit works, you’re a brainless shitbag. Go ahead and tell me what the fuck you’re after.”

Bracing myself when I sense her move, she then puts up both hands in surrender. Takes me a bit, but I back off, giving her another shove and allow my arms to fold over my chest. They fucking hurt and feel like they’re about to rupture, if not leak through every piece of clothing I’m wearing.

“Friend of yours reached out to a friend of mine few months back. Requesting your protection. Lucky me…“ she purrs with a sly glint in her eye “…I was already here.”

Interesting.

Since, you know, I don’t actually have friends.

They all hightailed it, as I assumed they would.

And even though he was Kace’s friend, I haven’t seen Matias since I left Darkwater.

Was it him? He was the only one around at the time that knew I was likely going to get convicted and tossed into here.

Guy has connections, being linked with the Cartel and all, so it wouldn’t be too surprising if he pulled a few strings for me.

Out of guilt, I suppose. His best friend did go missing and his woman was arrested.

Criminals protect criminals they trust, yeah?

“Go on,” prompting her.

As she speaks, something nags me at the back of my skull.

One of those almost spidey-senses, but not quite as dangerous.

As if there’s something I’m just not remembering and should.

I’m closing in on the end of eight months, don’t ask me the week count—it doesn’t matter—so a few months ago would have been around five or six, right?

Unless her interpretation of the word ‘few’ is skewed. But that nagging feeling won’t go away.

“Hold on, how long ago was a ‘few’? Fury, is it?” I ask while she's still in the middle of flapping her gums.

“Don’t take too kindly to being interrupted. I’ll give you this once to make that mistake. Don’t let it happen again. If you’re talking about the call, right after you were taken into custody.”

I stare at her for a second or two, waiting so I don’t interrupt her and ruffle her delicate feathers.

“That was more than a few months ago. It was only around three months when they took me in and I’m about to go into my ninth,” Replying, weighing the information Fury offered and what I feel like I know.

“Time melds in jail, you ought to know that. But, like I was saying, Xavier gave me strict instructions to keep you whole and alive. That said, yes, I’m a so-called ringleader but not the typical kind you find here. You’ve got the sisterhood, offshoot of the AB—your biggest fans.”

Don’t lash out just yet, Nadia, she’s going to fuck with you every day until she leaves or you do.

Unimpressed with her comedy and childishness, I wait for her to go on.

“Eighteen and Sur 13 are our Hispanic groups, then you have the Bloodlettes. None of which have an issue with you since your man was white, and the one that connected you with Xavier is Cartel.”

Darting my eyes across her features, then out into the open space of the cell block, I pull at the thoughts on the edge of my memories.

Cartel, Cartel, Cartel… the only one that had that connection was definitely Matias.

Friends or not, he wouldn’t stick his neck out for an officer, which can only mean one thing.

“I just want you to know that you will be taken care of… wherever you go, you will be taken care of… your man… he loved you, you know.”

Kace—he did it. Matias connected Kace to whoever the hell this Xavier is, and now he’s arranged for me to have protection.

Jesus Christ . I can’t help but wonder if Kace knew Lucien was going to get to him, or that something terrible was on the horizon.

Why didn’t he tell me about it? There was that instance where he choked me out, after I refused to take time off, but… fuck, was that IT!?

My thoughts are pouring from every damn angle now, shifting puzzle pieces, things coming to light that I wasn’t fucking aware of. Chunks of information I should have been privy to now linger around like shadows.

Fuck… FUCK FUCKING FUCK!

Fading out for a second, my heart races in the cavity of my chest the longer I over analyze everything. He did it all for me, even in a fucking hole somewhere he had enough power to make sure we’ll be okay… without him.

Get out of your head, Nadia, you have plenty of time. We have plenty of time.

Those words, they sound like him; a mixture of our voices echo in my ears as I think them. Almost as if we are saying them in unison. I will myself back to the moment, back to fostering whatever this relationship needs to be with Fury, allowing it to happen—because Kace set it in motion.

“You’re white. How are you managing here, then?

” I ask, shifting to the side, the edema in my ankles and feet causing my legs to hurt and the sciatic nerve in my back to stun.

I lower myself down onto the bunk I dressed not minutes before.

Definitely not my comfortable bed I had in my apartment, but I’m glad it’s not the floor.

Looking back up to Fury, she stands close by and unloads all the details I thought I knew.

Goes by Fury because that’s what put her here.

Extreme aggression and anger that bubbled over into a work-setting.

According to her—and I take everything inmates say with a grain of salt—she was being harassed by the CEO of the company, and in an act of anger, she wiped out his entire intelligence infrastructure and relocated the funds from every account to charitable organizations across the globe so the money couldn’t be given back.

Best part? She burned the whole fucking building down—could change her name to Fuere Frei.

Should take some arson lessons from her while I’m here.

Burned Dad’s house down, but it was sloppy and had me on Whitlock’s radar outside of the cocaine suspicions.

Clean up my methods, make it bigger, make it hotter—you know, firebug type shit.