Aiden Kesley.
He’d kept his first name, seeing no reason to bother with a name that was so common, but his surname was made up just like the background on his fake ID.
Done typing, he faced the class of convicted criminals in orange jumpsuits and announced calmly in his most authoritative tone, “Welcome to Business and Entrepreneurship.”
A thrill rushed down his back as he studied the class’ reaction to him. It was lacking, to say the least, just like he had hoped.
“Yeah, man. The way Sam smacked Bary? I can still hear the nasty thwack!” one prisoner was saying, his attention no longer on the board.
“He still in ISO, isn’t he?” another one replied.
“—the new guy. What was his name—”
“Blondie?”
“—wicked mouth that can get you hard in no time—”
Aiden allowed the conversation for a while, half-listening, half-studying each and every face. It never hurt to exercise caution, just in case.
Once satisfied that no one was suspicious, he cleared his throat. “It would be beneficial to you if you paid attention. You being here means that you’vechosento be here. So, let’s not waste each other’s time and instead do something productive.”
The talking stopped again and a few of the men snorted.
A heavily tattooed inmate with a shaved head and broad shoulders arched his eyebrow at Aiden. “How about we do whatever the fuck we want and you shut your trap before Imakeyou shut it?”
The comment unleashed snickering, whistling and murmuring as well as more than a few suggestions of how exactlyEddiecould do the shutting up part.
It was an unexpected display of aggression and disrespect, completely in contrast to the reaction Aiden had expected. Was this man less intelligent than Aiden had thought the average inmate to be? After all, manipulation was the game here in prison according to the training he’d undergone, even for those with life sentences. Buttering up the staff was far more beneficial than trying to instigate conflict. Or was Eddie doing it just because? Out of boredom? Did it matter?
Aiden paid the comments no mind, perching his ass on the desk. “By all means, Mr. Daniels, I’d love to see you make an attempt.However”—he crossed his arms over his chest, feeling his muscles fill up the sleeves of his tight shirt he’d not yet bothered to take in for adjustments—“I believe learning how to use your wit to avoid ending up back in one of the isolation chambers would be a better way to utilize the two hours we have.”
When the man opened his mouth to speak, Aiden held up his hand. “If you are so disinterested in my class, you are free to go back to your cell so you can spend the afternoon locked up in there. Who knows, perhaps you’ll be lucky and get toilet cleaning duty for a chance of a change in scenery.”
Eddie’s expression tightened as he seemed to weigh his options amidst a chorus of sniggering. Aiden knew he’d won. Since the debris fallout, the library and mess hall were the only two places the inmates could go, besides their cells. So, as much as these men looked scary and ready to jump at him if they saw an opportunity, they were all talk. Caged animals thirsty for some semblance of freedomand variety in their day. They wouldn’t risk their only chance at it for something as stupid as smashing in the face of the one person who could grant it. Although… judging by their behavior so far, Aiden wasn’t sure they even knew he was the substitute warden yet.
“Well, then. Unless anyone fancies an early dismissal from my class, Isuggestwe leave the fighting out of the classroom.” He took out the data chip he had brought with him and waved it in front of the inmates. “I might even let you watchJade Ogden’s latest VE movie at the end of next week’s class if you maintain good behavior until then.”
The shared gasp and the cheerful expressions told Aiden he hadn’t been wrong to bet on the lascivious actress’s latest virtual experience. After all, if there was anything that could get the attention of a group of locked up bored men, it was sex. He was being a bit overly nice to them, Aiden recognized that, but he needed to play this entire prison ‘infiltration’ thing smart if he wanted to keep the higher-ups happy and unsuspecting while he set everything in motion for the tragic incident that would befall Horizons so very soon.
Inmates under control, Aiden turned to the board again. His phone pinged with a message notification he could never mistake. This ringtone belonged to the PI he had hired to investigate Claudia’s case. It got his heart hammering wildly in his chest, and he had to take a moment and calm down before he faced the class.
If PI Deverson was messaging, then that meant he’d finally uncovered something.
Chapter 3
The person who walkedinto the classroom was the opposite of what Darren Howe expected a teacher of Business and Entrepreneurship to look like. He was no sixty-year-old wrinkled man with slouched posture and a balding hairline, but an impeccably dressed fake blond who couldn’t be older than thirty. He’d put a great deal of effort into making himself look natural, but Darren had an eye for these things and saw right through it even if he couldn’t pinpoint the original color. At about 5’9, the man was rather well-put together not just when it came to his choice of clothing. His physique hinted at someone who took care of himself… though wasn’t as focused on it as Darren. It made sense, considering Darren’s depressing prison life offered little else to do.
Indeed, if anything, this man did not look like a teacher at a prison. He was too young and didn’t have that dead look in his eyes.
Had those in charge bumped up the compensation to attract fresh blood?Or did this have something to do with the behavioral problems in Horizons since the last batch of prisoners?
Did it even matter?
The answer was no, but it didn’t stop him from wondering. Most of the men he had encountered in such positions were the power-hungry type who loved to think they were at the top of the world, but this teacher didn’t strike him as one for some reason.
Sowhywas he here then?
Darren felt his mouth curl up as he observed the man’s journey from the door to the wooden desk. He was alert and confident, his hazel-brown eyes evaluating the room as if he’d come here to conquer and not teach. Darren’s smile grew; one thing was clear as day—whatever his reason for being here, this man was trouble. And the worst kind of trouble to boot, the kind that Darren wanted to shove against a wall and fuck until filthy moans were the only things coming out of those tempting full lips.
