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“Between a nice smile and money, money always wins.”
“You mean…?”
“He was bought. My grandfather bribed him. Yeremy wanted to see me sentenced.”
“I almost forgot about that,” she murmurs. “I just don’t understand how you can put your own grandson behind bars. For something he was doing on your behalf.”
I shrug a shoulder. “I wasn’t good at following orders. I questioned him one too many times. I guess that was his way of showing me who was boss.”
“Still—you were so young.”
“I was a man in all the ways that mattered to a person like him.”
She eyes me sadly. “Were you scared?”
“For the first time in my life, I didn’t even have my name to carry me through. With my grandfather against me, I was working with nothing more than my wits.” I give her a melancholy smile. “So, yes—I was fucking terrified.”
Her gaze goes to the scars on my arms. “I can’t imagine going through what you went through…”
“I wasn’t alone. I had Jasper.”
“That’s the man who introduced himself at Mom’s funeral?”
She’s looking at me, so she doesn’t notice me taking an unnecessary left turn. She may not want to go to lunch with me, but that doesn’t mean I can’t drag out this car ride a little longer.
“That’s the one.” I shake my head. “He’s an idiot. And a screw-up. But for some reason, I keep giving him chance after chance.”
“I’m sure you have a reason. You always do.”
Per usual, Laila isn’t wrong.
“Jasper was my first friend,” I explain, once again amazed by how sad that statement is. “He stuck his neck out for me when he didn’t have to—when there was nothing in it for him. He smuggled cigarettes in for everyone, so he’d carved out a place for himself in the hierarchy.”
“And where were you on the totem pole?”
That draws out a bitter laugh. “I was Yeremy Adamov’s grandson. So I was immediately seen as a threat. Someone tried to shank me in my sleep the first night in.”
She claps two hands to her face in horror. “What happened to ‘honor amongst thieves’?”
“There’s no room for honor in prison. It’s kill or be killed. My roommate wanted to get on the alpha’s good side, so he jimmied the cell door and let in one of the man’s goons. It was five on one. They beat me up pretty bad. That’s how I got this one.” I point to the thin white scar on the side of my forehead.
“What about the guards?” Laila whispers. “Why didn’t they stop it?”
“The guards were more interested in placing bets on who would survive ‘til the end of the month.”
Her jaw drops. “You’re not serious?”
“They all bet against me.” I smirk. “I lost those fuckwits a ton of money. One of the proudest days of my life.”
“Jesus,” she says. “What happened afterwards?”
“I was found unconscious on the floor of my cell the next day. Spent three nights in the medical wing. When I returned to max, I was basically a pariah. If anyone was seen talking to me, offering me so much as a pudding cup, they were automatically blacklisted as well.”
“Our justice system at work. How lovely.”
I take it as a good sign that she seems so worked up on my behalf. “Jasper walked up to me two days after I re-entered max.He did it in the middle of the cafeteria, right under everyone’s nose. Handed me a cigarette and told me I looked like I needed it.”
“He blacklisted himself?”
