“Who are you protecting?”
He slams his hands down on the table, rattling the cuffs against the metal, losing control. “That’s none of your goddamn business.”
“Ahh, so I was right. You were protecting someone,” I say, letting him see the smugness that tears from my chest. It seems someone is a loose cannon when he doesn’t have hold of that perfectly sculptured control. “Who is she? It’s a girl, right? It’s always a girl.”
“Watch yourself,” he growls.
“Or what? You might just feel something for the first time in seven years? What’s got you so scared, Stone? Why are you so goddamn terrified of standing up and defending yourself? I know you killed those men. That much was clear from your court case, but anyone with a brain could tell there’s more to the story.”
He’s stone-cold silent, waves of tension rolling off him like aftershocks from a deadly explosion, and I watch with increasing frustration as he shuts down, not willing to give me an inch, especially when I’ve been pushing for a mile.
“So, that’s it, huh? You’re just going to watch another opportunity to save yourself pass by?”
He clenches his jaw. “You done?”
I almost laugh in his face. “No, I’ll be done when I get what I came here for,” I tell him, adjusting my chair and giving him a childish smile as I hold up both of my hands. “Now, I know words are a little tricky for some, so we’re going to play a game. Hold your hands out just like this. Look, I’ll even do it with you.”
He stares at me as though he wants to pull my insides out through my asshole, but the more I screw with him, the higher chance I have of making him break. “Okay, big guy, put a finger down if you’ve ever lied while under oath?”
I slowly put a finger down and watch as he doesn’t move a muscle. “Oh, come on. I thought we were going to do this together?”
There’s a moment of silence, and I let out a sigh. “No? Okay, hit me with your favorite food?”
Silence.
“What’s the matter now? Can’t comprehend the question? Taken a few too many hits to the head?”
“I understand the question,” he hisses at me. “Why the fuck are you asking it?”
“Well, I figured if you’re just going to sit here like a jacked beached whale, then I might as well get something out of it. I’m thinking I’ll write a fluff piece. I could title it World’s Most Notorious Killer Taken Down by Homemade Lasagna.Or would you prefer we start with your favorite color? Perhaps something a little easier. Favorite corner of your cell?”
Stone glares at me again. “You better hope like fuck you never find yourself wandering these halls without your little backup.”
I shove at the table, pushing it back toward him, not that it goes far under his impressive weight. “Who the hell are you protecting?” I demand, my chest heaving with heavy breaths.
Stone moves like lightning, pushing the table so damn hard the welds holding it to the ground break. My chair slides back with the momentum until I’m pinned against the wall.
“WHY THE FUCK DO YOU CARE SO MUCH?”
The guards race in, pulling back on his strong arms, just enough that Doug and Andy can help free me from the confines of the table. There’s no doubt that there’ll be a nice bruise plastered across the front of my chest come morning.
“Time to go,” Jensen spits, clearly not impressed with how I’ve wound up his prisoner, but I can’t find it in me to care. Maybe it’s time I move on from Stone Blackthorne. He put himself in this position, so perhaps it’s time I stop trying to help him when he clearly isn’t somebody who wants to be saved.
“Fine by me,” I say, getting back to my feet and hating how shaky my knees are as I watch the four guards try to get Stone restrained again, chains jingling as they’re wrapped around his waist, along with the ankle cuffs.
And all the while, he still stares at me.
“I will discover your secrets,” I tell him. “I’ll find out who you’re protecting, and when I do, nothing will keep me from working out what really happened that night.”
“Try all you like, Menace, but there are graves for those who dig too deep.”
I just smile, despite the fear pounding through my veins. “You don’t scare me, Stone Blackthorne,” I lie. “Good luck ending me from behind bars. I truly hope that you thoroughly enjoy your next hundred and eighty-five years here.”
And with that, the guards start dragging him out of the conference room.
5
STONE
