“Medium-security,” I reminded him. “These aren’tkillers.”
He looked down at his hands. “Yeah, maybe.”
Meaning they were definitely killers that just wasn’tthe reason they were in prison.
“Sayer…”
His head lifted, pain and fury bright in his gaze.“I’m going to be okay, Six. I can handle these people. I’m more worried aboutyou. Is Gus taking care of you?”
I nodded quickly. “Yeah. He’s been good.” Only thatwasn’t exactly true. Nobody had been good. Sayer’s arrest had really shaken upthe organization. Not that people weren’t arrested all the time, but Sayer wasthe first of the higher ups. And he was taking the fall for everybody.
The rest of the guys were waiting for it to be theirturn. Gus wasn’t exactly one of them, but he had been acting strange lately andsuper secretive. The bosses had started his training. He was always with hisdad now. And Atticus. He didn’t really seem to have time for me anymore.
I hadn’t even seen him in two weeks.
“Good,” Sayer grunted. “He knows I’ll kill him ifanything happens to you. You’re my one regret about this whole thing, Caro.”
My chin wobbled, my voice dropping to a squeakywhisper. “So leave. Take the deal.”
His eyes flared, incredulous. “You can’t be serious.”
My hands landed protectively on my stomach. “Sayer, Ineed you. I can’t do this without you.”
He shook his head, not catching my meaning. “You’rethe toughest chick I know, Six. You’ll probably be running everything by thetime I get out and I’ll be out of a job.”
He was joking, but I couldn’t find it in me to laugh.Or even smile. “Didn’t Mason explain the deal? He said he was going to—”
He cut me off with a smiling, “Hey, hey, hey.” He discreetlyglanced around before leaning in and dropping his voice even lower. “Don’tbring that up here. Don’t mention that name here.” He let out a frustratedsigh, his jaw ticking once. “I’m not trying to be an asshole. I just have to becareful, yeah?”
I nodded once. “Yeah.”
His smile was small, but there. “It’s not happeninganyway. You know why.”
Because he was loyal to thepakhan. Because he would neverbetray his brothers. Because this was part of the life, of living in thebratva. Thisgot him more street cred. This built his reputation with the bosses. There werea million reasons for him to do this.
But not one of them included me.
“Sayer, for God’s sake, this isn’t about them.” Hemotioned for me to lower my voice by pumping his hands in the air which onlyinfuriated me more. “There are other things happening outside of the… the…family.” But that wasn’t true. They were happening exactly inside the family.His family.I just didn’t know how to tell him while he wasin here.
“Six, nothing.” He held my gaze, clearly pissed andfrustrated with me for continuing to argue with him. “Nothing could change mymind. Drop it.”
I sucked in my bottom lip and tamped down a scream. Ifolded my arms over my chest and looked across the room. There were two men ata table staring at me. I immediately averted my gaze to another table.Again two men, one visitor, one prisoner, staring at me.
My glare moved back to Sayer. “I should go.”
He grabbed my hand, squeezing it between his. “Don’tbe mad, Caro. I know this sucks, but… you have to know that the alternative isnot a viable option. I mean, what kind of life would that be? Always lookingover your shoulder? Waiting on black hoods and the blind drive to the nearestempty warehouse. You know this is the best possible scenario. We’re going totough it out. We’re going to be fine.”
I wrapped my free hand around my stomach, huggingmyself. “I’m scared, Sayer. There’s so much I want to talk to you about. Somuch I need to tell you.”
He pressed a kiss to my temple, even though he gotyelled at by the closest guard. “And you will. Write me a letter, yeah? That’sprobably the best way. Nothing too specific. But I can basically read your mind.I’ll figure it out.”
You’re going to be a dad! Was that too specific?
Had he read my mind just now?
“Just wait for me,” he said with a nervous smile.“Don’t leave me while I’m in here.”
No, he hadn’t.
