Page 16 of The Care of Broken Things
No, he wanted to say. I can’t do more. “What is it?”
“Eli says you’re respected here. That the others think of you as untouchable. If you...if you were to take Eli as your prison husband, or whatever they call it—then—”
“No.”
“But—”
He forced intrusive thoughts out of his mind. “You don’t want that. Once a bitch, always a bitch. Much better if he forces them to respect him on his own.”
“And what would that entail?”
“Nothing too crazy. Put a few people in the clinic. He doesn’t need to cause any permanent harm. Just some minor fractures. A concussion or two.”
He paused when Nathaniel’s mouth fell open. “Don’t worry. Your husband can handle it.”
“No, he can’t.”
“He can. You were right about his strength. I think only Big Tom, and maybe Bee could rival him in terms of—”
“No, Samuel. He can’t. He’s a doctor. And stupidly gentle, besides. He could never hurt anyone. Not unless it was to protect Hailey. And me, I guess. But not for himself.”
The idea baffled him. Self-preservation was a basic drive of the human condition. “Even if you asked him to?”
“I already did. So did Marie, and she’s a lot better at threatening than I am.”
“His sister?”
“His ex-wife—that is, Hailey’s mother.”
Oh.
Oh.
It was a lot to absorb, but he wasn’t given the time to do it. Nathaniel was already on his ass again. “I wouldn’t ask if I didn’t have to. And I know it’s not my place to make assumptions, but you love my husband, right?”
He just stared at him. Was the man unhinged?Love? In aprison?
“I ask because I feel like it could fix the problem. You said once a bitch, always a bitch, but what if it wasn’t just a prison sex-ownership thing? What if he really was your husband? Like a real partner. If they knew you loved Eli, they wouldn’t touch him, right?”
He was pulled back, and for one terrifying instant he thought it was Eli, come to kick his ass for daring to listen to such blasphemous words. But it wasn’t Eli. It was Jenny.
“When Sammy first got here, he had to put sixteen men in the clinic. I don’t care if your husband’s had a few sleepless nights, I’m not letting you—"
“What’s going on here?”
This time itwasEli, finally back, and balancing four cups on a tray. “Than, you’re white.”
Eli set the tray down and was at his husband’s side in a moment. “Take a drink. No, let me, your hands are shaking. My heart, it’s not as bad as you think.”
“It’s worse.” Nathaniel refused the water his husband was trying to press on him. “I told you not to lie to me.”
Eli turned his head and pinned Samuel with sudden anger. “What have you been telling him?”
Jenny stepped in front of him, her jasmine perfume like a protective force field. “Nothing he hadn’t already suspected, and now he’s trying to pressure Samuel, besides. Well, you’re on yourown from now on. I won’t have you putting him in danger just because you’re too much of a gentleman to do what’s necessary to reassure your family.”
And in so saying, she took hold of Samuel’s wrist and pulled him away. He didn’t stop her. Why would he? She was rescuing him after all. But though the relief swept over him like a swaddling blanket, he found himself looking over his shoulder. Eli had his head bent close to his husband, and the two were conversing with a focus that forced out the rest of the world. There was no room for anyone else between them.
He faced forward and vowed not to look again. Only trouble would come of meddling with those two, and he was done with trouble.
