Page 28 of Pen Me

I opened my mouth to remind her she was supposed to cuff me from outside but decided to flash a smile and turn around instead.

“Guess I did it now.” I cleared my throat, trying to act like her familiarity meant nothing.

It meant everything if another inmate saw it, or her superiors. If I was in prison, I might have analyzed it further. Did she trust me? Have some romantic interest? Was she just being flighty for the sake of a drama rush?

I stopped worrying about her when Ridgeway finished searching me and I finally saw Zig’s face for myself through the door before it buzzed open. I could feel the restrained rage rolling off of him, twenty-foot distance, and industrial grade, correctional-style windowpane be damned.

So could everyone else. It was written in his every feature. From the pinched, dark brows to the hate-filled hazel hues that were narrowed on me. His upper lip curled like he hadn’t quite decided on a low enough curse to bless me with, and it stayed that way for more than fifteen minutes.

The tension in the room became so thick it could smother. I didn’t push past that lump of discomfort in my throat either. I knew if I did, I’d come across that table and I’d never struck another club brother. I didn’t want to start with our president. I really did respect him, even if those intimidation tactics he was employing made that primal side of me tickle with a visceral need to answer it.

“Ten minutes, y'all. Visiting hours end at six,” Larissa reminded the room.

She and Ridgeway had remained with the two guards assigned to the visiting room. A woman I didn’t know was working behind the desk, her partner was an older man who was still lingering to Zig’s right just as Larissa described.

“You felt like an afternoon eye-fuckin’ and decided to swing through, or you got something to say to me, Ziggy?” I abruptly sat forward and broke the silence.

He swallowed, the veins in his temple brushing to the surface as that temper of his popped. “I knew you were getting reckless, and Ioved you still. I kept you in position and patch, even when I knew better. That’s why I didn’t call for your permanent out when that decision bit me in the ass. I had no one to blame for your unchecked recklessness.”

He shrugged, his eyes glistening wildly with restrained emotion.

“But– brother, if you think I’m going to idly sit by and watch you tangle my Babygirl up in whatever mess you’re hellbent on making of yourself, you’re fuckin’ crazy.”

If any son of a bitch in the street asked me what sitting across from Ziggy Nash would look like, the day Zig found out that bastard had interest in his daughter, this is exactly what I’d have predicted. Any of us would have. We all knew him. Zig was a predictable mother fucker. He really was. He was dependable. Durable.

And he was a member of my club telling me I wasn’t good enough for his daughter. The fact that I hadn’t asked after her didn’t make a fuck of a difference. That little fuse inside of me sparked under the pressure and audacity.

For Sammy’s sake it would have been better if I’d leaped over the table. I could have gone back from that.

I wasn’t a man of many principals, but he’d just lit a fire under the short supply I had left.

A smile split my stubbled features as I saluted him with my chin and balanced my weight on the stool without an ounce of concern in my posture, “I ain’t called Menace for nothing, brother. You know that. So, where do we sit? You and me? Are you gonna be a snake and use a club vote to put me down now that you’ve put me out bad over your– Babygirl?”

I injected a bit of condescension into the last word, and laughed, before taunting him further, under my breath “You gonna put me down in here, Zig?”

Zig snorted and his mouth twitched into a smile, “No, Menace.”

He calmly shrugged, knocking the humor out of me at once, “I’m a savage, not a fuckin’ snake. I’ll wait until your out date and then I’ll put you down myself, son.”

“That’s time,” the guard at the desk announced.

“Bet.” I tapped the table and stood up, not breaking eye contact with him.

Zig nodded and started toward the door.

Fuck.

It wasn’t like I could call him to sit back down and talk it out like brothers. It wasn’t like I could beg his forgiveness, even if I wanted to placate.

Man, I hated being locked up.

The door swung shut behind Ziggy and the visitors as they were led back to the front of the county jail.

Fuck it. If there was one thing every inmate excelled at, it was locking things down through pen and paper. I hadn’t meant to sell her dreams or set out to tangle her up in a situationship, but Zig wasn’t leaving me a lot of options.

Principle demanded I use her as a personal fuck you at this point.

Chapter Fifteen

---