Page 14 of Rook

“Some parole officers are on a power trip.” I was trying to savor the first decent meal I’d had in ages, but I couldn’t seem to stop shoveling food in my mouth. In just a few bites, it was gone, and I was left wanting more.

Setting the plate on the nightstand, I reached for my coffee instead.

“Yeah, this one more than most. Her husband was put into a coma once by someone on parole. So she made her whole life about punishing the rest of us for that guy’s crimes.”

“Real great coping skills she’s got there.”

“Yeah, that’s actually why I’m here. I got a call from my mom’s facility today. She’s… struggling.”

“I’m sorry.” I might not have had much love lost with my own mom, but I’d always admired people who had close relationships with theirs. How different life might have been if I’d had that.

“It got me thinking. And considering.”

“Considering,” I repeated. “You mean the marriage arrangement thing?”

“Yes. I really need eyes inside that place. I need someone to give my mom specific messages to see if that helps. And one of my brothers reminded me last night that I literally can’t use anyone I know.”

“Because everyone you know would link back to this club. And that Nancy lady might find out and send you back.”

“You’re quick.”

“I grew up around a lot of people in and out of prison. So, you want us to get married after all?”

“I want to… discuss it. I think there’s a lot to talk about with this.”

“Okay. Like what?”

“Like we don’t know each other. But we will need to if we want to sell this to my PO.”

“True. But that’s easy enough. We can have a getting-to-know-each-other bootcamp. You already know how I like my coffee. That’s a start.”

“And we would need a story. How we met, why we are getting married ‘so fast.’ It all has to stand up to scrutiny. Because, believe me, Nancy will scrutinize.”

“I have a memory like a steel trap.” Unfortunately. Some things were better forgotten. But I didn’t think there was a single moment of my life that was lost to space and time.

“We’d have to live together.”

“Yeah, that was kind of my whole reason for putting my name in the hat in the first place,” I reminded him.

I mean, even if this was just something for a few months, having a place to rest that cost me nothing and allowed me to work and save money for a more permanent solution than living in my car would be invaluable. Plus, of course, the protection that being married to someone as connected as Rook would offer me.

“My biggest concern is you are new in town. You have no work history here.”

“Hmm. Well, you obviously have someone to fake employment for you. Couldn’t they do the same for me? Does Nancy keep track of everyone you work with?”

“I dunno. But I don’t think she’d be able to argue with Nyx if Nyx says that, of course, you’ve been working for her for months.”

“Maybe I work remote and only come to the office once in a while for meetings. We met. Sparks flew. Hearts… what do hearts do?”

“Skip a beat? Flutter? Swoop? Your guess is as good as mine.”

“Not a romantic then, I take it.”

“More of a fun-for-the-night kind of guy. You?”

“I’m not really sure I believe in love,” I told him.

I hadn’t always been a cynic. I’d been the definition of a hopeless romantic in the past. With an emphasis on ‘hopeless.’ Until my shitty choice in men turned me into someone new entirely.

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