I pushed to my feet.
"Your shift is over now, isn't it?" Hastings asked Cain. "I can take her down if you wanna head off?"
Cain looked inclined to protest and my heart lurched uncomfortably as I realised this was it. Goodbye. And he didn't have the faintest idea.
"Thanks. I guess I'll see you when your shift finishes then." Cain gave me a look that sent my skin prickling with goosebumps and then he shot away.
I stared out into the corridor where he'd gone with my heart thrashing and this gut-wrenching sense of loss following him out of the room.
"I heard they got a new shipment of oranges in last night," Hastings said to me conspiratorially and I tried to muster a smile for him, but it fell flat on my features. "What's up?"
I was about to brush him off when I realised that this was actually the opportunity I'd been hoping for. We were breaking out today and I had absolutely no intention of bringing a pair of psychopaths with us when we did it. We needed Plunger to stay with us until we were above ground but Gustard was dead weight. And though I'd considered hunting down the motherfucker and making sure he met with a nasty end right before it was time for us to leave, on reflection I'd decided to leave him here to rot instead. Specifically, I wanted him to rot in the hole.
"It's nothing I can't handle," I muttered, giving Hastings a sad smile as we started walking down the corridor.
I counted down the seconds in my head until he cracked and asked for more information. "Are you worried about something?"
"I just... Sometimes it's hard being at the top of the pack, you know? There's just constant drama, especially in here with the rival gangs. There's always something to deal with from gang brawls to rumours and the death threats that come my way. But I'm sure it's nothing."
"You've been getting death threats?" Hastings asked with a growl that told me he didn’t like the sound of that.
"Like I said, it's nothing I can't handle. I've already taken a shank to the gut, so what could be worse than that?"
"They could come at you harder this time," he said, catching my elbow as we made it to the top of the stairs and turning me to look at him while we were alone. "Just tell me who it is who's threatening you. Is it one of the other gang leaders?"
I chewed on my bottom lip but didn't say anything. I didn't deny it either and Hastings nodded like he'd expected that.
"I know you're close with Sixty-Nine, so who is it? Shadowbrook? Are the Brotherhood looking to start another war?"
"No, it's not Ethan," I said quickly then shook my head and hurried away from him. "I shouldn't be telling you anything at all. Just mentioning this could be enough to get me killed. Even my own pack wouldn't stand for me getting so close to a guard." I threw him a look like I was embarrassed I'd just admitted that and he grabbed my arm, tugging me around to face him once more.
"Is it Gustard?"
I said nothing but I sure looked guilty which was the closest anyone in here would get to admitting something to a guard and his eyes flashed with understanding.
"Maybe I should just skip lunch and then we don't have to worry about it." I tried to pull away but he drew me back.
"I won't let anyone hurt you, Rosalie," he growled, his blue eyes flaring with a promise that was so sweet it gave me toothache.
"I don't need anyone to protect me ragazzo del coro," I replied sadly, reaching up to brush my fingers down his cheek before pulling back like I knew I shouldn't have done that.
"Rosalie, I-" Hastings lunged at me, eyes closed, lips puckered, all in crazy gun-ho idiota. It would have been cute if it wasn't so ridiculous.
I shifted back with a gasp, placing my hands on his chest to stop him. "Hastings, we can't," I breathed like a real lady with morals and a sensitive constitution. "You could get into so much trouble and it would break me if that happened."
"I'm sorry," he spluttered, burning as red as the sun as he stepped back and let me go, swiping a hand down his face. "I don't know what came over me. Just the thought of something happening to you-"
"It's alright," I assured him, laying my hand on his