"She couldn't take her eyes off me." Tig said with a audible smile. I had read the same sentence of the letter from Ma four times.
"If you don't shut up, the next thing coming out of your mouth will be your teeth." I growled as I finally moved on to another line. He'd been running his mouth for the last twenty minutes. I almost wanted to bunk with Juice, but not quite.
Ma's letter was pretty much a two paged lecture about staying safe so she could kill me when I got out. It made me smile to know she still had her fighting spirit, even if she was sick. I folded the letter back up and stuck it under my pillow. She knew I probably wouldn't write back, but that didn't stop her from sending me a letter at least twice a week.
"Goodnight, Hap." Tig said with a knock to the underside of my bunk. I shook my head and stared up at the ceiling.
"Shut up." I snapped at him. I knew Tig was trying to get under my skin for his own entertainment, but I wasn't in the mood. I heard every movement outside our cell throughout the night. The doors were locked, but that didn't make me feel any safer. Until this deal was settled, I wasn't going to get much sleep, especially at night.
For some damn reason, that new guard kept popping up in my head. She'd seen me staring at her and stared right the fuck back. I didn't feel like arguing with Tig, but I knew she was staring at me. I didn't know if that made her tough or stupid, but seeing as she was a chick, it seemed pretty stupid. I thought Clay was finally going to have that heart attack when she offered to shake his hand.
When she'd walked back to the desk, Tig and Bobby argued about whether or not her boobs were real. Juice piped in that she looked pretty natural to him. I sat there the whole time, just staring at her. Something about the way her dark blue eyes looked back at me irked me.
"Inspection in fifteen minutes." A female voice called from outside the door. Tig shot up so fast he smacked his head on the bottom of my bunk. I couldn't help but laugh as he yelped.
"Shut up, Happy. Think she'd kiss it and make it better?" Tig asked as he pulled his jeans on. I looked over at him and shook my head before hopping down and starting to straighten the blankets that had gotten wrinkled overnight. I glanced down at Tig's bunk and gritted my teeth.
"Is there a reason your damn bunk always looks like you fucked in the sheets?" I growled as I pulled on my wife beater and started brushing my teeth. Tig laughed as he started making his bed.
"No blood on them so no sex." Tig said, still laughing. I spat out the toothpaste and cut my eyes at him.
"Not going to ask which way you meant that." I decided out loud as a knock rang out on the door. Tig and I looked at each other dumbfounded. A couple seconds later, the door swung open to reveal Recker, standing there with a smile.
"What?" She asked, her smile faltering a little as we just kept staring at her. I smirked and shook my head.
"It's prison, darlin'." Tig said with a laugh as he and I finally moved to the empty wall for inspection. Recker looked around, nodding now and then before turning back to Tig.
"Yeah, so?" She asked, obviously offended by his laughing. Her nose creased a little with her scowl. I don't know why the fuck I noticed that.
"Who the fuck knocks on doors in prison?" I finally asked since Tig was still trying to stop laughing. Recker turned her eyes on me and folded her arms across her chest. I couldn't help notice how it made her boobs easier to see.
"I can be a bitch if you want. I'm just trying to show some mutual respect." She snapped. I scowled back at her. Her attitude made me want to push her up against a wall and let her know just who she was smarting off to.
"Sorry, Recker. Just not used to respect from CO's" Tig said, finally sobering up from his laughter. Her face relaxed as she nodded and headed out of the cell, closing the door slowly behind her.
"She's no CO. Too nice." I said as I stepped off the wall. Tig nodded and hitched a shoulder.
"Won't last long if you ask me. Those assholes will walk all over her. You see that ass on her though? I might get some contraband and hide it down low just to watch her bend over." Tig said with a glimmer in his eye. I smirked and nodded in complete agreement.
"Should know something about the deal with Alvarez today." I said with a nod, changing the subject so I didn't have an even worse case of blue balls. Tig nodded seriously.
That afternoon, Clay gave us what details he had on the deal at recreation. I had a feeling there was more to it, but agreed on it as a means to an end. We'd deal with the repercussions outside, meaning we'd live to get out. That's all I cared about.
We were set up with brown backing us, so I was able to relax just enough to eat dinner in the chow hall. The hamburger was the closest thing to real food they served, so I was glad my stomach unknotted a little.
I was actively listening to Tig and Juice arguing about the Jelly Bean strippers in the middle of the dayroom when a loud bang made me jump to my feet. I looked around quickly, trying to find the threat. Recker was facing off with some big, black guy who stayed in the cell below Tig and I. He'd apparently shoved her computer off the desk and she was pissed.
For some reason, I felt like I needed to go over there. I wasn't the type of person that helped old ladies cross the street or rescue cats out of trees, but I also didn't stand for beating women. I'd make sure they knew their place, but I knew I was too big to hit one.
Recker moved quick, but not quick enough. The guy's palm connected with the side of her face, causing her to stumble a little from the weight he put behind it. She got in a nearly perfect boxing stance and kicked out, connected the top of her boot to the side of his calf. I knew he would barely feel it. He was thrown off just long enough for her to stomp her heel down on his shin and move behind him quickly. She had cuffs around one wrist and was trying to get the other when he threw his elbow back and connected hard with her face.
She shook her head but didn't stop fighting. Instead, she dug her knuckle into the pressure point on the side of his neck and forced him down to the ground. Recker slammed her knee into the middle of his back and slapped on the other cuff just as her back up showed up. Tig, Bobby, Clay, Juice and I headed upstairs to stand by our cells, knowing better than to stay downstairs with the response team in the unit.
"Damn, she took a hit but she's not dead. I think I'm scared. It's sexy." Tig said with a laugh as he ogled Recker. She was arguing with Wright, who I hated, but seemed to be okay.
"Yeah." Is the only response Tig got out of me as I watched Recker's hair fall down her back.
"What do you mean, it's nothing, Kat?" Declan pulled the bag of frozen peas down from my face and winced. I shook my hand free and put the bag back on my eye carefully.
"I mean it's nothing, Declan. Risk is just part of the job. The guy was huge and I got a black eye. I can fend for myself." I said for what felt like the thousandth time during our relationship.
"You shouldn't even be working there. As soon as we get married, your last name will give away who you are and then you'll be a target." He said as he stroked my hand softly. I resisted the urge to roll my eyes.
Declan's parents owned a lot of land in Oakland, so he thought he was some type of higher power ever since they turned it over to him. I loved Declan, but sometimes it was obvious we were from two different solar systems.
My parents had worked their asses off for everything thing they had. I still hate to think about how hard it must have been on my mother to send me to California when I turned eighteen. I'd dreamed of being an actress ever since I was a toddler, and they supported me 110%. In a way, I'm glad that they passed away before realizing that I should have just stayed in Australia after all.
"I'm not going to sit around and be a housewife, Declan. I told you I'm just doing this until I find something better." I said angrily. Had Declan not fussed over me like I was required to follow his rules, I may not have been so angry. His smile only made it worse.
"I'm sorry, Kat. It's just cute that your accent comes out when you're mad. I just don't want you getting hurt." He said as he wrapped his arms around me. I didn't say anything as I tossed the peas back into the freezer and headed off to bed. Declan followed me and watched as I stripped my uniform pants and shirt off slowly.
"Still sure about not having sex until we get married?" I asked in a low voice. Declan ran his hand over his face and sighed. I already knew how the conversation would go.
"Katerina, I told you we couldn't. I promised my mother that we would stop having sex and wait until we get married. You realize if she were to find out, I'd lose my whole inheritance?" Declan said with a frown. I narrowed my eyes and pulled on basketball shorts and a t-shirt before climbing in bed.
"It's been almost a year, Declan. Does she have cameras in here or something? I still can't believe you agreed to that without talking to me. You knew I wouldn't agree to it." I said as I yanked the sheets up over me. Declan didn't bother arguing and got into bed silently, facing the opposite direction.
If he had told me he wanted to wait for religion or something, I may not have been as against it. Instead, his mother used it as a way to tighten her grip around him. So, I was unhappily celibate so my fiancé could keep his inheritance. I had to remember to get new batteries for my vibrator, because we still had a long seven months to go.
I woke up and showered quickly, making every effort not to wake Declan up as I tended to my needs in the shower. I was able to reach an orgasm, but it wasn't the same as sex. I drank down a kale smoothie quickly before grabbing the lunch he'd packed me last night and heading to work physically unsatisfied. I should be used to it by now, but something was making it harder to tolerate recently.
"How's the eye?" A raspy voice asked. I looked up from my new computer and took a minute before answering. Lowman was standing in front of me with his arms folded across his chest. I could see what Brown was talking about, he definitely wasn't someone you want to run into in a dark alley.
"I've had worse." I said with a shrug. Lowman smirked and nodded silently. I expected him to leave and go back to the rest of the Sons, but he stayed still.