Page 130 of With Us

I hadn’t imagined Theo was in with the death row crowd, but I still hadn’t pictured it to be as clean as it was.

Nice was a weird word to use, but it almost was. I waited in a well-furnished waiting room. When the guard came to get Luc and I, we were brought to a nearly empty room. I’d been expecting the phones with the thick window dividing us. Or the cafeteria-esque place, with other inmates and visitors. Instead, it had two office chairs, separated by a wide table. I sat on one side while Luc and the guard stood near the door, chatting and laughing.

I fidgeted with the buttons on my long cardigan as I waited. Then I bounced my foot. Then I picked at my nails.

“Sorry, Miss Kincaid,” the guard said after speaking into his phone. “Fight in the yard.” Likely seeing my eyes go wide and the color drain from my face, he rushed to add, “Not him. But it held him up. He should be here in a few minutes.”

It was closer to ten minutes before a pissed off Theo stormed in, followed by another guard who didn’t stick around.

I stood up, my eyes glued to Theo. He looked bigger. It was noticeable enough to safely assume he’d been making use of any gym equipment around. Instead of the orange jumpsuit, he was in a white tee and dark gray pants that almost looked like pajamas. He wasn’t shackled or wearing cuffs.

Real prison is nothing like on TV or movies.

Or maybe just not for Theo.

“Hi,” I whispered when he didn’t say anything.

Before I could blink, he was leaning almost entirely across the table to get to me. His mouth took mine in a kiss so hard, I knew my lips would be sore. Fisting my hair, he held me to him like he was about to climb across the table to me.

Maybe he was.

Unfortunately, the guard at the door cleared his throat. “Enough.”

Theo groaned as he pulled away, but he cupped my cheeks. “Cazzo, I’ve fucking missed you. I just want to look at you.” He reluctantly dropped his hands and gestured to my chair. “Sit, gattina.”

I had to since my legs were shaking so badly. Working hard to steady my voice, I asked, “How are you?” I scrunched my face and shook my head. “Sorry, that was stupid.”

“No, no, it’s fine. I’m good. It’s not bad. How’re you?”

“Lonely.” I tilted my head toward Luc. “But everyone is helping to take care of me.”

“Good.”

We sat in silence for a few moments, just looking at each other. Theo rubbed his thumb across his bottom lip, the motion and the veins in his hand making my heart hammer in my chest. I was aroused, angry, heartbroken, and thrilled, plus about a million other things.

“Fuck, I miss you,” he growled.

“I miss you, too.”

“You’ve only got five minutes,” the guard said. When Theo shot him a glare, he shrugged. “The fight.”

“Quick, catch me up on everything going on.”

“There’s not much. Wendy closed Java Brew and is opening a new health and wellness center.”

His brows pushed together in confusion, but he smiled, reminding me how much I missed his dimples. “So you’re not working?”

“Not as of Friday afternoon. She offered me a job running the smoothie counter at the new center, but I’d have to touch kale, so I passed.”

“What’re you doing?”

I shrugged. “I’ll figure it out.”

“Promise me you’ll take some time off.”

“Maybe,” I said instead. Truthfully, I didn’t have much of a choice. With no job to go to the next morning, the time off was pretty much forced on me.

Guilt crossed his face, his lips pressing into a thin line. “What else is happening?”

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