Page 65 of Married to My Master

She smiled as she realized who it really was, and, even though they were separated by guards, fences, cell walls, and many miles, Dane smiled right along with her.

Benton was finally out after all this time, finished with his treatments, with his hard-fought freedom finally granted. The two broke apart and took their seats across from Charlene, who seemed to have grown only more respectable in the intervening year.

The money from the lawsuit against BioSphere, for knowingly releasing a harmful product and willfully misleading customers and doctors, had fueled the legal defense they'd set for Benton. With the news breaking, they'd won an appeal for brand new evidence and been able to have his sentence changed, due to the temporary insanity. Now, after his time in a treatment facility, he was free to walk the world again with his own two feet.

Dane couldn't be happier, even as he sat in the TV room amongst the other inmates, watching the exchange on the screen.

“Honestly, it's been painful,” Benton replied to Charlene's question about what life was like with Dane being on the inside. “I feel as if my brother switched places with me, getting me out while he got himself in. But, even though I feel he's not truly guilty of any crime other than wanting to help his brother set things right, I understand that there have to be consequences.”

“It's a surprisingly light sentence for what he did, wouldn't you agree, Emily?” Charlene asked.

Emily made a face, weighing how she should respond. “Light compared to what?” she replied, by way of a rhetorical question. “He never injured anyone, even the man who masterminded the entire deception around Hymalete, or the men and women on the board of BioSphere. They're the ones who willingly hurt first responders and military veterans, an untold number who have been forced to take what's left of the corporation to court. Is it justice for a man who made a series of rash decisions to protect men and women all over the country should have to spend even a single day behind bars? Even the police who took him into custody told me right afterward that they appreciated what he had done for them, and that they would have let him go, if they had the choice.”

“Simply put,” Benton added where she left off, “my brother is a hero. Emily had tried to pull the drug off the market, but as soon as they forced her out, they were going to put it back on and try to reap more profits. Dane Bishop stopped that.”

Dane frowned. They talked about him like he was Robin Hood, or the second coming. He hadn't thought about any of the stuff they were talking about. He'd just wanted Benton out of prison for a crime he wasn't guilty of. Sure, maybe he had committed it, but that wasn't what guilt meant. Guilt meant responsibility.

And, as much as they talked on the screen, Dane knew he was guilty of everything they'd charged him with. He'd created a fake incident and soaked up valuable police resources. He'd taken Edward Barker hostage at gunpoint. He'd done that, and more.

Dane had no problem admitting to it, either. He was guilty of his crimes, and he had decided long ago to take responsibility for it, and leave the legal fund to Benton's defense. His brother had needed it more.

Besides, his time was almost up. His year behind these walls had been a small price to pay for his brother being alive and well outside in the world.

“What plans do you have going forward?” Charlene asked the two of them.

“Healing,” Benton said flatly. “A lot of personal healing. Ever since I came back, my life has just been dismantled, completely taken apart. I want to rebuild and try to move forward, despite my own losses. I feel like it's the only thing I can do to honor my family's memory.”

“What about you, Emily?”

Emily smiled and shyly raised her left hand. A giant of a diamond, probably costing far more than Dane could ever have afforded, stood out from her ring finger. “Well,” she said, “I actually met someone at my new company, and he and I recently became engaged.”

Dane's mouth dropped open.

She was . . . no. It couldn't be.

But, there was the evidence right in front of him, as plain as the day was long.

He closed his mouth and gritted his teeth shut. It was okay. He'd deal with this, just like he'd dealt with every setback. It wasn't going to kill him. It was just going to make him stronger. That's what life was—a series of things that made you grow as a human being. He'd taken down BioSphere with Emily's help. He could withstand the blow of her moving on and finding someone else.

Besides, she looked happy there, showing her ring off for the home audience. She looked much happier than when he'd first seen her as BioSphere's CEO. And, to Dane, that was what mattered most. Her happiness.

His? His was secondary. He was happy she was with someone who deserved her.

He swallowed hard and sighed, repeating his words back to himself again and again.

“I'm happy she's with someone who deserves her,” he said aloud, reminding himself one last time, even as he hung his head in defeat.

Chapter Thirty-One

Dane

The corrections officer working the property desk at prison outtake looked over the card and glanced up at him. He was an older man, with big, puffy, white eyebrows like ancient graying caterpillars crawling over the tops of his eyes. “Dane Bishop?”

Dane nodded, taking a deep breath. It had been too long since he was referred to as a name and not a number. “That's me.”

The CO took the voucher, tapped it on the metal window counter, then turned back around and went deep into the room to find the plastic tub that contained Dane's worldly possessions. He came back with it all sealed in a plastic bag.

“Wallet containing one-hundred-fifteen-dollars, silver Bulova dress watch, ID, public library card . . .” the man droned on and on, listing every little bit of every item right off the catalog card as he slid it back to Dane through the slot beneath the plexiglass window.

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