As if on cue, a voice booms through C-block. “Stone is finished with the bitch in the guards’ quarters. He said first come, first serve, but after that, he’s putting a bullet in her head, and then ain’t nobody get to have her.”
My eyes widen in fear, sucking in a horrified breath as we listen to the havoc brewing outside the door. Men rush through the halls, pushing past the disabled gates to get through to the guards’ quarters.
They yell and shove. It’s fucking mayhem, and yet we just stand here, my heart racing like never before.
“Stone?”
“Wait,” he utters, the single word spoken with the kind of authority that can’t be questioned.
I find myself holding my breath as I listen to the menace consuming C-block, but there’s no denying how the noise shifts as the majority of the men go in search of me, and then just like that, a loud metal BANG sounds through the prison.
“GO!”
Stone yanks the door open in the same second that he grabs my hand and hauls ass out of the utilities closet. “What the fuck just happened?” I rush out, my feet pounding against the linoleum as I struggle to keep up with Stone’s massive strides.
He doesn’t respond, just races through the prison like his life depends on it, and maybe it does.
My feet drag, and Stone doesn’t skip a step as he reaches back and scoops me off the ground until I’m dangling under his arm. It’s not exactly how a woman wants to be swept off her feet, and this position isn’t comfortable in the least, but I’ve got to give credit where credit is due. The way he just hauled me off the ground without even a second to pause was impressive.
I’m adjusted in his hold, and as he continues running like a bull through the streets of Spain, I peer over his massive shoulder to the men behind us, trapped behind a set of heavysteel gates, jammed with the piece of rebar Stone used earlier to break into the crawl space. A man strides through the halls, clearly the one who locked them all in there, thumbing through a wad of cash, as though somebody just paid him to do it.
“What the fuck?” I breathe, pieces of Stone’s complicated puzzle coming together.
The trapped men disappear as Stone lunges into the canteen, drops me to my feet, and gets busy with a pair of cuffs and a chain that have been left on the ground. He winds it around the steel bars, chaining us in before yanking on it to check his work.
“It’ll hold, but not for long.”
“What . . . What the hell is going on?” I ask. “Did you just pay that guy to lock the other prisoners up?”
Stone offers a curt nod as he grabs my upper arm and gives me a shove to keep moving. “Had to get rid of them somehow,” he says, leading me toward the kitchen. “Keep your eyes open. Just because the majority of them took off to find you, doesn’t mean that’s all of them. The threat hasn’t passed.”
I swallow over the lump in my throat, the adrenaline keeping me going. “You understand how fucked up this is, right?”
“For you, maybe,” he says. “For me, this is everyday life.Youmade sure of that.”
“Really? You’re going to bring that shit up right now? Right as you’re trying to pull off some ridiculous attempt to break out?” I grunt, trying to keep up with him again. “You know, you’re going to feel really fucking stupid when we eventually get out of here and you realize you’ve had the wrong girl this whole time. I swear, delusional doesn’t even begin to cover it.”
“Shut your fucking mouth and get in the kitchen.”
I put my hand to my chest and roll my eyes. “Oh my, exactly what every woman wants to hear from a man. You’re the whole package, aren’t you?”
He clenches his jaw, and for just a moment, I have to remind myself who the hell I’m dealing with. Stone isn’t just some random asshole in a bar who needs to be knocked back a few pegs. He’s a convicted murderer serving four life sentences. Perhaps baiting him like this isn’t exactly in my best interest.
Deciding to do myself a favor, I shut my mouth as requested and follow Stone into the kitchen—then skid to a sudden halt as I find an inmate sitting on an old milk crate, simply staring at the two of us. He’s clearly trying to work out what the hell is going on here.
His gaze takes me in from head to toe, but he doesn’t look at me the same way the other prisoners did. He seems gentle, like a kind soul, and it puts me off. What’s a man like that doing in a place like this?
The man lets out a disappointed sigh before fixing his stare on Stone. “Ahhhhh man, are you trying to escape?”
“Yeah, Doc.”
I gape at Stone as he surveys the kitchen, looking over all the piping and shit I don’t understand. What is he doing admitting that he’s trying to break out? Is he trying to screw this whole plan?
“Don’t suppose you want to take me with you.”
“Today ain’t your day, Doc,” Stone says, distracted by the room as he continues casing it. “You’re only going to slow me down, and then I’d have to kill you. I don’t want to do that.”
“Damn,” Doc says, slowly nodding in understanding before shifting his gaze back to me with a strange curiosity. “You’re taking the pretty lady? You’re not going to hurt her, are you? Not like how the others want to.”
