Chapter 2

Aiden connected his laptop to the holographic monitor encased in a mag-alum frame, making sure his credentials worked before locking up the warden's office. He headed over to the staff room to place his lunch in the fridge. A few of the guards were there, sipping morning coffee.

"Hey, boss," Nigel greeted, tilting his chin up. "Everything good with the office?"

"It will do for now." Aiden scanned the hard faces of the guards, meeting every pair of eyes. "How's the shift been so far?"

"Fab. We're yet to have even a single fight today."

"Shush, Nige. Don't jinx it, man," the guard with the nose scuff who was sitting on Nigel's left teased. Andrey, as per his nametag.

"Someone giving you trouble?" Aiden followed up, curious whether there was someone he needed to look out for. The last thing he needed was problems on his first day.

Andrey shrugged his massive shoulders. "Just the usual. But we heard the higher-ups want to improve the prison's stats. That true?"

Aiden crossed his arms and eyed the coffee machine. "Yes. I was told they want results by the end of the month. If I had to guess, there's probably going to be an inspection."

One of the other guards clapped his hands loudly. "You owe me fifty creds, Mike. Told you they've been whining about our discipline because some fancyass is coming!"

The men switched to gossip and friendly jibes while Aiden went through the list of students enrolled in his class. As much as he wanted to stay and pretend he was interested in bonding with his new colleagues, he had a lecture to give.

Bidding the others a pleasant shift, he made his way to the classroom past the library and the med office. Normally, a warden's duties excluded teaching, but the man Aiden was slotting in for had rolled out some kind of rehabilitation program which was currently understaffed. The extra duties came with extra credits of course, so when the interviewer had asked if Aiden was interested in teaching a Business and Entrepreneurship class once or twice a week, he'd been quick to agree. It also helped that he'd run his own architecture firm once upon a time, making it an easy decision.

Aiden nodded at the guard stationed outside the room and peeked through the glass panel. Two more were stationed inside and half of the desks were occupied, meaning all of those currently enrolled were in attendance. Squaring his shoulders, Aiden waved his palm at the scanner and the doors slid open. The chatter immediately ceased and multiple heads turned his way, following him as he strode across the room to the wooden desk by the reinforced window.

Among the fifteen pairs of eyes, one set stood out. Darren Howe's indigo irises stared him down from beneath raven lashes and a buzz cut that could use some trimming. Aiden swallowed and squeezed the tablet to his chest, his heart suddenly galloping as little zaps prickled his fingertips. A stubble covered Darren's chiseled jaw, making the golden hoop piercing on the left side of his full lips pop even more.

Claudia's murderer was a handsome man. Objectively so, and in a way that made Aiden's entire being feel on the brink of exploding. Adrenaline flooded his blood, making the world spin. Darren Howe was here, alive and well and so very close. Aiden's fingers tingled as the little shocks spread through the rest of him, leaving no part of his skin untouched. His chest tightened and tried to expand beyond his ribs at the same time. He wanted to lunge for Darren and strangle him. To hurt him, to kill him, to make him pay for what he'd done. Right here and now.

But he couldn't. Not yet. He couldn't allow himself to act impulsively before the time was right or he wouldn't get that elusive closure he so desperately needed. He had a plan, and he had to follow it no matter how tempting it felt in this moment to throw caution to the wind and end Darren Howe once and for all.

Taking a deep breath, which he somehow managed to mask behind a neutral smile, Aiden forced himself to calm down. The second he did, he flinched at the intensity in Darren's gaze, fearing that the man had seen right through his deception.

No, that was very unlikely. He hadn't really been featured on the news, both while the investigation of Claudia's murder had lasted and during the trial.

Aiden inhaled slowly again, reassuring his racing mind as he reached behind his ear and rubbed the tattooed ‘C'. He'd bleached his copper hair dirty blond and put on a few kilograms in muscle just in case. He hadn't bothered to change his eye color, but brown was not exactly impressionable or rare. Even if anyone here had been following Claudia's case, there was a very slim chance that they might realize who he really was.

Aiden forced another smile, shaking off the urge to wrap his hands around Darren's neck. Their gazes settled into each other, but instead of looking away first in a sign of respect, the other man's lips quirked to one side as he poked his tongue out and ran it over the piercing. Aiden's heart rate elevated as a rush of heat speared through him and goosebumps rose across his arms. The action was sensual, inviting even, leaving the ornament glistering and Aiden's eyes glued to it for a moment that stretched far too long.

Fighting to get the fire dancing beneath his skin under control and stave off the bolt of disgust that followed it, Aiden disallowed any further interaction between them. He traced the small bump the amber stone formed across his pocket to recenter himself and placed the tablet on its stand on the desk. Once it connected to the holographic board behind him, he picked the tablet and scribbled his partially fake name on it. His neat letters appeared in the space confined between the board's holoframes.

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've chosen to 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 I make you shut it?"

The comment unleashed snickering, whistling and murmuring as well as more than a few suggestions of how exactly Eddie could 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 freedom and 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, I suggest we 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.