“For what?” Knox demanded.
North stared at him coldly, so unlike the guy he’d left in here just a few months ago. “I’m facing more time. For the riot. They’re holding me and a bunch of other guys responsible.”
“What?” His world spun and upended. No. No. No. North was supposed to get out soon. Maybe a few more months.
“How much time you looking at?” Knox asked numbly.
North shrugged. -“Couple of bulls got badly injured. Three inmates dead. There has to be consequences.” He paused, his lips twisting. “Reid’s gone.”
“Gone where? Dead?”
North shook his head. “He went to the hospital with me. No one’s talking about where he is . . . if he’s coming back.” He looked sideways and leaned forward, lowering his voice. “There’s a rumor going round that he broke out. At the hospital.”
It all clicked then. The riot had been deliberate so Reid could escape. God damn him.
They stared at one another, their suspicion settling on the air between them.
“How long are you facing?” Knox asked, dread pooling in his stomach.
North answered him quietly. “Few more years maybe.”
“No.” His hands curled into fists on top of the table. “We’ll get you a new lawyer. You’re not staying in here—-”
“Man, cool it. It is what it is. I’ll be fine.”
He didn’t look fine. He didn’t even look like his brother anymore. He looked hard. Like a man that didn’t expect to ever get out. Like a man who no longer cared. Knox needed to get North out of this place while there was anything of him still left.
North’s brown eyes flicked over him. He attempted a smile. “Tell me you’ve been getting laid a lot for me out there.”
Knox snorted.
His brother nodded. “Well, I don’t hear any denials. That’s good, man. I need to hear that you’re out there living and making up for lost time . . . nailing lots of ass. As soon as you leave here, go eat a big burger with a side of onion rings, too. Can you do that for me? And a nice cold beer.”
“I can do you the burger and beer, but I wouldn’t say I’ve been banging a lot of girls.” There hadn’t been anyone since Briar, and he doubted there would be any time soon. Just the thought of being with anyone else left him cold.
“Oh, no?” North arched an eyebrow and considered him for a moment. “Just one girl, then?”
Knox didn’t answer, but that seemed answer enough.
North nodded. “Good. Even better. Well, don’t wait on me for the wedding. Get on out of here and make me an uncle. By the time I get out, I can take the little guy to a Cowboys game.”
That idea shot an image straight to his head—-of him and Briar with a little boy. Someone sweet and pure, whose hand would feel tiny and innocent in his own. The thought made him go weak in the knees and played havoc with his heart.
“Fuck. I’m not getting married. I broke up with her.” Not that they had been official or anything.
“Why?”
“Look, I don’t want to talk about this. Let’s talk about your defense for this upcoming hearing. I can talk to—-”
“Shit, man. I’m not talking about that. I want to talk about you and this girl you broke up with. Why’d you dump her?”
“Do I look like a catch to you, North? I’m a fucking felon and this is a nice girl—-”
“All the better. Marry her. Take her to the farmhouse. Make it a home again. Uncle Mac and Aunt Alice would love it.”
He stared at his brother in shock. “You’re serious. You think I deserve—-”
“You think I don’t?” he countered, raising his voice enough for one of the guards to call out a warning. North glared at the bull and then turned his attention back to Knox. “If you don’t deserve it, then neither do I.”
An uncomfortable tightness centered in his chest. Of course his brother deserved that. He deserved everything.
North stabbed a finger in the air. “I’ve always looked up to you, but I won’t respect you for shit if you don’t grab this opportunity with both hands. Trust me, the moment I get out of here, nothing is going to stop me from living the life I want. Nothing. Now don’t be a fucking *.”
Heat crept up Knox’s face. “When did you start telling me what to do?”
“Apparently when you started needing someone to.” North’s gaze flicked up him and down. “You love this girl?”
He looked down at his hands again, seeing Briar’s face. Seeing her that first day in the HSU and every moment in between. Seeing her when she said she might be a little in love with him. Right before he walked out on here. “Yeah. Yeah, I do.”
“Then get the fuck out of here and go get her. Don’t come back again unless it’s with her. Understand? I want to meet her.”
Knox wiped at his suddenly burning eyes. He’d never spent one day of his eight years in this prison crying. Not even when the pain had been so great and he thought his body was broken forever. And now here he was, blubbering like a baby in the very place where he had never shown weakness. “Yeah. All right.”
TWENTY-SIX