“I’m not doing this with you.”
“I know.”
“Yet you’re still here?”
“Yes.”
She sighed but didn’t order me to leave, and that was enough for me.
For now.
CHAPTER
EIGHT
JULIUS
Nine days.
Nine fucking days since I set foot in this filthy jail cell. Each hour carved into me, slice after slice, draining my blood. The hardest part of these past nine days was that I hadn’t seen or spoken to Isla.
The cops didn’t say it outright, but they didn’t have to. Every time I asked to make a call, I was given a delay. Anytime I asked a question, I was given more excuses.
I was well aware of what they were trying to do, thinking I’d sing like a canary, knowing I was just a small fish in a huge pond. I was flagged in an active investigation, and I refused to snitch on Marco, which was why they were pushing me to snap and give up a name. I wouldn’t do that to him, not after everything he’d done for me. Besides, the repercussions of being a snitch in the drug world would only get Isla killed.
I dragged my tongue over my teeth, tasting metal that wasn’t there, pacing the length of the cell again.
Three steps, turn, three steps back.
Over and over. If I stopped moving, something inside me would crack wide open and spill out where I couldn’t shove it all back in. The walls felt closer tonight, or maybe I was running out of room to contain it.
The only call I’d made was to Mark, but luck had never been on my side, and he was out of town on business until the end of the month. Until then, I was shit out of luck. They told me I could get a court-appointed lawyer, but I knew better.
I was waiting on my indictment, unaware of when the hell that would be. They hadn’t told me a damn thing. All I kept hearing was that it was coming and they were working on it. I wasn’t foolish enough to believe they weren’t dragging this out on purpose to get me to snitch.
Kraven…
Even thinking his name felt like swallowing shards of glass.
My brother.
I scoffed out a laugh. “Brother,” I muttered to myself, shaking my head.
That word didn’t belong to him anymore. Brothers didn’t do this. They didn’t hand you over to the cop to get you out of the way to purposely pursue what was already yours. My core seized, and pain shot up my body. I welcomed it, craving it.
It kept me present.
Focused.
It kept me from drifting too far into the thoughts waiting to drag me under. If I let those in, there was no stopping them, but it didn’t matter. They came anyway.
Isla.
Her name hit me differently every time. It wasn’t sharp like his, and it wasn’t violent. It was worse. It was peace and love, and that made it hurt much more.
I stopped pacing, bracing my hands against the cold concrete wall as my head dipped forward.
Nine days.
