Page 79 of Ravage

"Her name is Avery," I snap. "You better remember that for next time. As for Capello—Vivian—keep away from her. She doesn't need any pathetic attempts of fake friendship. Do you understand?"

He nods furiously, eyes tightly closed as a trickle of blood drips down his nose.

Satisfied, I turn and leave the bathroom, nearly colliding with a guard in the process.

The guard pauses when he recognizes me, the two of us entering a stare-off. I raise my eyebrows at him, daring him to try something.

When he doesn't make a move toward me, I give him a smile—warm and friendly like two old associates passing each other at the grocery store.

"There was anaccident," I tell him, nodding my head toward the doorway. "Best you assist Mr. Thatcher to Markel's office."

Without waiting for a reply, I stalk past him, heading down the hall.

It's free time, so people are wandering around, chatting among themselves. A few stumble out of my way, giving me a wide berth as I pass, while others freeze in fear.

The next item on my list is a little less fun, but still important.

Heading past the classrooms, I give a little wave to Charmaine as she finishes packing up her room. Her face flashes with disappointment when she sees me, but she returns a small wave nonetheless, obviously annoyed that I was absent from her lesson.

The corridor is quiet and emptier the further I go, heading into official out-of-bounds territory. When I reach the familiar steps,I walk down after scanning my card at the first door, coming face to face with the sole room down here.

A large metal door stands in my way, and for good measure, I try to swipe the card. As expected, the access pad flashes red instead of the usual green—confirming what I already know.

It's the one access code in the entire building that differs from the rest. In hindsight, it makes me question why Arthur doesn't just change all of them to stop us moving around freely. I suspect he can't be fucked, because he'd be changing it daily which is too much paperwork for the staff. It would be a logistical nightmare having to brief everyone on the change every single day. People would forget or get locked out—or in—and he knows we'd just find a way around it anyway.

Arthur isn't the most intelligent man, but he knows we have some of the guards wrapped around our finger, so we'd easily find out and continue as we were. It's a small sacrifice to make—he lets us walk around, and in return, they monitor us and follow our whereabouts.

But it grinds my gears that the one door we can't access is solitary confinement. Despite Byrone and Jillian's hard work, we are still yet to figure out the code. According to their logs, the system automatically updates this particular door on a daily basis, with only specialized cards programmed to unlock it. To this day, we only know of two cards that work—one that Arthur keeps on him and another that Teddy normally holds onto as a backup. It's probably up her cunt like Arthur is.

My hand knocks on the door twice, my ears straining to listen for sounds.

"What?" A muffled voice shouts, annoyed.

"It's me," I answer in a sing-song tune. "Your favorite boyfriend-in-law."

Even through the door, I hear Theo let out an exasperated groan. "Can't let me have a moment's peace, even in here?"

The pipes clang above me as I laugh. "Just checking you are alive."

"Of course I'm alive," he shoots back sarcastically. "What else would I be doing in here?"

He has a fair point, but still, taunting him is becoming my new favorite thing—after being with Avery, of course. Besides, what else can you do with your girlfriend's other boyfriend if not mock and make his existence a nightmare?

"Byrone is looking into the system to see if we can get the door open," I tell him. "But chances are it's a no-go without getting our hand on Arthur's card."

"I'm enjoying the peace and quiet away from you," he says, but there's no malice in his tone.

"I'm touched that you think of me. How's the cell service down here?"

There's a moment of silence, presumably as he digs it out. "One bar—but comes and goes."

I nod to myself. "Avery is worried about you."

At the mention of her name, I hear movement behind the door, his voice a little clearer and closer when he responds. "Keep her safe, Grey."

"I will," I promise him, meaning every fucking word. "I'll pop down each day to update you on things."

"Alright."

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