Darren couldn’t help the smirk, didn’t really want to. He crossed his legs, leaning back into the couch, and draped an arm over the backrest again. “I didn’t think about that. What do you want?”
Aiden stood up, his brows bunched up in concentrated thinking as he paced over to the window. For a few heartbeats, neither of them said anything, Aiden staring out into the darkness of space and Darren observing him with anticipation fluttering in his stomach.
“You’ll be my secretary, part-time. Help me out with reports. Run errands for me,” Aiden said when he turned around. He circled his desk and perched his ass on the edge, his gaze pinned on the wall above Darren’s head.
Was Aiden serious about that? Surely not. “And if I win in arm—”
“Who said you are getting anything?” Aiden cut in with a little scoff. Dismissive or mocking perhaps, but totally okay either way when an impish smile was challenging Darren to back out now. “And the secretary work is my requirement if you want me to consider your arm-wrestling request.”
“If I win, you’ll let me off the upcoming exam,” Darren said the first thing that came to mind.
It didn’t really matter what he won; he was in so he could get away from his cell and enjoy the challenge of conquering the first man in a while who could resist his killer smile. This kind of cat and mouse was exactly what he needed right now. It was the buildup before the dirtyfucking, and then he would move on like he always did and wait for the next distraction to come along after Aiden Kesley’s term at Horizons finished. It was how life had always worked for Darren, even before his ass had landed in prison, and he liked it this way because he knew the rules of the game and how to play it.
“I don’t give my students preferential treatment just because they don’t know when they are overstepping. Besides, I haven’t agreed to your childish challenge,” Aiden argued as if he’d not even noticed Darren spacing out.
“You haven’t?”
“No.”
Darren squinted, wondering where Aiden was going with this. Because, clearly, hewasgoing somewhere or else he wouldn’t have humored Darren so far. Did it matter what motive was behind it though? If Darren could get close to the warden, he and his smuggling gig could only benefit from it. Granted, this wasn’t some kind of long-winded trap.
“How can I convince you then?”
Aiden donned an amused expression, as if Darren saying that had been his goal all along. Perhaps Darren had underestimated the man and single-handedly driven himself right into the viper-tongued fox’s trap. “Like I said, do some secretary work for me. If you survive long enough, I might consider your silly request.”
“You were serious about the secretary work?” Darren asked, replaying their conversation in his mind.
There really was no downside to agreeing. He got to spend time outside his cell and the opportunity to make an ally or accomplice out of the warden. It was almost too good to be true and part of him was waiting for the other shoe to drop. Could Management be behind it? Becauseof the inspection? Were they trying to fish out the kingpins and shut down any potential issues before they became a problem?
But they hadn’t bothered in the two years he’d been here, so surely they weren’t suddenly going to turn smart. He was probably just overthinking it.
“I wouldn’t have asked if I wasn’t,” Aiden all but scoffed. “Think about it and let me know if you want the job.”
Like he needed to even think about it.
“I’ll take it,” Darren rushed to say, shooting up to his feet. He needed this, trick or not. The distraction, the opportunity to be closer to the warden. The chance toseducehim. “Where do I sign?”
Aiden’s lips curled upward in a stifled smirk. “I’ll get the paperwork sorted out by the end of next week.”
Darren nodded, grinning like an idiot as Aiden shooed him out of the office so he could go home. This was an unexpected development. GN Special Forces Intelligence background or not, Darren had fallen right for the bait. Played like a fly to a honey trap.Except,he smirked to himself as he left the warden’s office behind, this turn of events was even better than what he could’ve hoped for.
Chapter 10
Aiden’s second week wasjust as busy as his first one. The repairs of the field and court were progressing well, though he had a lot of admin to go through due to a fight breaking out between a few of the inmates. Despite his efforts, some men simply didn’t seem interested in cooperating.
Thanks to the quick response of the guards, the fight hadn’t gone out of hand, but Management was still unhappy about it. The incident left little time to pursue further interactions with Darren Howe. It didn’t, however, prevent him from thinking about the man and revisiting their last conversation or the way he’d dragged Aiden into it.
Darren had a way with people. A natural ease with which he seemed able to make them drop their guards. Aiden included, if partially. He shouldn’t have entertained Darren’s silly back-and-forth, but at least it had resulted inthe opportunity to have Darren close under the pretense of a secretary job.
Had that been a good idea though? To put himself in a position where he’d be even closer to the man?
A pang of irritation stirred in Aiden’s chest.He had no choice.It was part of his plan, a means to an end, even if his skin felt as if charged with static whenever they spoke…Even if his body felt like it was about to run a fever. And no matter what he’d tried, he couldn’t stop either of those reactions. They just happened.
Stuffing the annoyance down as he sat at his desk at Horizons and opened his to-do list, Aiden tried to focus on the positive. On the progress he’d made. Not just with Darren, but also with Claudia’s murder. He was a step closer, even if he didn’t even know what to make of the whole thing anymore. The case had been strange since before his findings about Cleveland, which was why he’d begun digging in the first place, but now things were even more confusing. He was still missing the links and the bigger picture, the motives… but he had a clue. A starting point for him and PI Deverson.
Aiden paused with his fingers on the digital keyboard and stared at the reply he’d been typing to Management. PI Deverson was already following up on Cleveland, looking at his retirement, the forged signature, his visit to the DuLaurent’s HQ, so Aiden could focus on this here. The PI would contact him as soon as he had something, so there was no point getting tangled up in those thoughts when he had his own objective.
With some effort, Aiden switched gears and finished his admin work just in time to join the staff for lunch in the break room. The two guards at the gate greeted him with genuine smiles and they engaged in small talk for thebetter part of ten minutes. The pay rises he’d managed to fit into the budget certainly had to do with his staff warming up to him so quickly, but he’d also made the effort to open a line of communication. So far, both were paying off, if the numerous invites he’d received to grab a drink at one of Sinhle’s bars after work were anything to go by.
