Page 4 of Strictly Forbidden

“Now, get out and I do not want us bothered,” she told them, nodding toward the door.

“It’s your funeral, lady,” Mark said.

“That’s Doctor Daniels to you. It’s about time you boys learn some respect.”

I had to give her more credit than I had at this point. She was damn good at putting them in their places. When they were gone, slamming the door behind them, she rubbed her hands down the jacket of her conservative suit.

While she was older, not quite enough to be my mother, her age wouldn’t matter to the thugs inside here. Most hadn’t seen a woman in years. Any piece of meat was good enough for them.

“Sit down, Mr. Bronson.”

I eyed her warily and she shook her head.

“Please?”

Grinning, I did as she asked, thumping into the chair then rubbing my wrists. The fuckers had purposely ensured that the steel was digging into my skin.

She pulled a bottle of Coke from under the table. It was an odd and very touching move. It was also cold. Ice was considered a possible weapon, the substance not allowed but the bottle was dripping from being nestled in it. Interesting. During the times she’d tried to get me to let my guard down, telling her personal things, I’d spouted off I liked a cold Coke now and again. The fact she’d remembered surprised me.

After studying me briefly, she sat down, yanking a folder from an unseen briefcase and placing it on the table. It was her usual behavior, flipping through the thick pages to discover my latest infraction.

She was normally stressed, which I couldn’t blame her for. Why she’d signed up to deal with savage criminals for her profession had always been a curious thought in my mind. I hadn’t bothered to ask. It wasn’t my place and we weren’t buddies.

“There was an incident in the shower yesterday?” she finally asked.

I twisted the cap from the Coke, chugging down half before I wiped my mouth with the sleeve of my jumpsuit. It was my way of reminding her I was the animal I’d been portrayed as. “There’s always an incident in the shower, Doctor Daniels. You should know that by now.”

“It would seem a couple men suffered serious injuries. It’s funny to me that no one is talking.”

“Yeah? It would seem no one wants to have a target on their backs for snitching. From what I understand, the Russian pricks were treated like the rodents they are. Like I said, no one talks in this place if they want to live.”

She dramatically slammed the file shut. “Mr. Bronson. Do you want to get out of here while you’re still vertical?”

I sneered at her and picked at the bottle’s label. “Unlikely to happen.”

“If your behavior continues this way, you’re damn right.” She leaned over the table far too close to me, something she’d been warned against doing. I could easily smash her face into the table just because I wanted to.

Only I wasn’t that kind of man.

Sure, I’d done some unspeakable things in my day, but I’d never hurt a woman. My mama had done something right.

“So what? I ain’t got nothing.”

She laughed, a knowing sound that was entirely different than normal. “Please don’t treat me like some fucking fool, Kage. You use language as if you’re uneducated, thinking it makes you tough. Right? Well, in my eyes, you’re a shithead who threw away your future and all because of what?”

“I ain’t nothing and you know it.” I looked away, unused to being shoved into a corner this way.

“Oh, please. Your woe is me routine is starting to piss me off. Let me remind you of who and what you were. You’re from a damn decent family who loves you very much, with a sister who worships the ground you walk on. You were the football captain, voted the most likely to succeed in high school and had a full fucking Rhodes Scholarship. You served your country, even earning a Purple Heart for bravery. You had everything going for you. Instead, you chucked that and enlisted in the Marines, where you advanced quickly, earning yourself a Silver Star for your heroic deeds. When you returned, you resumed college life, earning a dual degree in psychology and criminology from Duke, which you promptly wasted four years later.”

I rolled my eyes. “If you know so much about me, why are we chatting?”

“Because this game we’ve been playing for years is getting old. I know why you turned to working for the most brutal crime lord in the country, and why you threw your life away. But for fuck’s sake, is this all you want to aspire to?”

I glared at the woman, daring her to go down a bad path I’d almost strangled her over during our first meeting. She knew the subject that was completely off limits.

“What do you want from me, Doc? A promise I’ll be a good boy inside this fucking hellhole? Let me remind you that the worst of humanity is inside these concrete walls, men most people in the outside world can’t think about without having vicious nightmares. In order to survive in here, you have to become one of them. I ain’t the guy you think I am.”

“You’re also not a brutal killer like they made you out to be. You and I both know you’re covering for someone.”

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