Page 129 of With Us

“Tell Rosa—”

“I did. She made a fart noise. You know she only does what she wants. And she loves Dahlia almost as much as you do.”

I made my own noise. Since my love was well into the obsessed area, I seriously doubted anyone else could come close.

“I said ‘almost’, didn’t I?” I could almost hear the smile in his voice. “Dahlia’s good. Just talking to me, she still watches what she says. Wouldn’t whisper it. She protects you, and I don’t think she even knows it.”

Fuck. How did I get so fucking lucky?

“Any other updates?” I asked, trying to get back on track.

“No. Nothing. And it’s fucking pissing me off.”

“It means the plan worked, though.” My name hadn’t even been whispered in connection with Larson. Whoever the mole was, he had nothing to do but sit on his thumbs and plot.

I was getting impatient. My list of grievances against the rat was growing, and I was looking forward to discussing them. Face-to-face.

“I’m beginning to think it’s time for a new plan,” he said.

“I think so too. I’ll be in touch.”

Clicking off, I loaded up my email.

Gattina,

Tomorrow can’t come soon enough. I need you more than I need my next breath.

I hope you know, there’s nothing I wouldn’t give or do for you.

Just give me the chance.

Addicted and in love,

Theo

As much as I wanted to scroll through the pictures again, I logged out, triple checking everything was erased.

Money could buy a lot of perks.

Namely, helping to clear the warden of his immense gambling debt. Since that debt was owed to me, not that he knew that, it was an easy one to accomplish. There were also guards with new offshore accounts in their names.

An early fight with a much bigger man was enough to convince everyone to leave me alone. It’d been worth the busted lip and black eye to earn my spot in solitary. Only my solitary included a large bed, cable TV, and food delivery.

Not that I was totally safe, of course. I couldn’t stay separated from everyone else for every minute of the day. And though I had access to a computer and phone, I couldn’t risk being seen on them. I could have visitors whenever, but I wasn’t pushing that either.

Thinking about the next day made me happy, hard, and fucking pissed off.

It’d burned at me when Dahlia was working so hard and living in the shitty apartment because she deserved the best. The thought of her stepping foot inside a pisshole like this filled my veins with molten fire.

I’d only relented when Luc had made it clear how much she was struggling.

I’d fucked up.

But I was damn sure going to make it right.

Dahlia

Prison wasn’t what I’d expected.

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