Isela's Love (13 page)

Brendan tensed as he heard Guarros’s chair slide back.

“Now, Isela, let’s not be coy. You know what I want, now don’t you dear?”

“I’m afraid I don’t, sir. After all, it would be highly inappropriate for you to suggest I give you something in exchange for a request as small as sending a letter.”

“Are you threatening me, Isela?” Guarros asked icily.

“Not at all. I guess I misunderstood your statement earlier.”

“I guess you did...but if you ever do decide to threaten me, you realize the consequences would be severe.” He lowered his voice. “And no one would believe you. You’d be labeled as crazy...just like your mother.”

A small cry slipped out of Isela’s mouth, piercing Brendan’s heart. He wanted to burst through Guarros’s door and beat him senseless. The man had no soul.

“You know, it would be a shame for you to suffer the same fate as your mother.”

Isela said nothing. Brendan imagined Guarros looming over her, in her face, smiling smugly.

Fisting his hands at his sides, it took every bit of self-control Brendan had not to make good on his previous thoughts. He had to get something on this evil bastard...soon. Otherwise he might kill him.

“Can I go?” Isela asked, her voice trembling.

“Of course, my dear,” Guarros answered innocently.

Nausea swirled around Brendan’s gut. He slipped away before Isela discovered him lurking outside the door.

Back at his post, Brendan watched with an aching heart as Isela shuffled back through the parlor toward her room, her shoulders slumped, defeated. She didn’t even stop to check the duty roster.

Brendan stared after her. “Hey Pete, watch my stuff. I gotta hit the head again.”

Pete stopped sanding and glared. “Dude, you just got back.”

“I know, man. I guess breakfast didn’t agree with me.”

“Lightweight,” Pete muttered under his breath.

Brendan bounded down Isela’s hallway. Stopping outside her door, he raised his hand to knock, hesitating when he heard her muffled crying from inside. He started to walk away, but then changed his mind. He wanted to be there for her, to comfort her. He knocked softly. Silence. He knocked again. “Isela, it’s me. Please open the door.”

“Just a sec,” she sang out.

Minutes later, the door opened, Isela peering out. She smiled despite her red-rimmed eyes. She glanced down one side of the hall then the other to be sure no prying eyes were watching. Isela opened the door wide, inviting Brendan in.

He entered, taking in the stark feel of the room. Nothing hung on the walls, not even a rug on the floor. Isela must’ve noticed him looking.

“I don’t want to make it look lived in. I don’t consider this my home, so I am definitely not going to lift one finger to make it seem homey.”

Brendan nodded, understanding, but embarrassed she felt the need to explain. “I saw you come through the parlor. You seemed upset. Are you all right?

Isela sighed. She motioned for him to sit. He sat down on her bed but she remained standing, wringing her hands.

“It’s Guarros. I hate him so much, sometimes it scares me.”

“What did he do?” Brendan asked.

Isela waved her hand. “It was stupid. I shouldn’t have provoked him. The hunters who bring the food took on a few inmates as trustees to work their farm. My friend Jerric was one of them. He wrote Mae and me a letter and we wrote a response. I took it to Guarros for his approval so he’d send it with the hunters the next time they came.”

“He didn’t approve?”

“No, he did...but he wanted something in return. Wanna guess what that something was?”

A flash of rage blurred Brendan’s vision. Guarros was going to pay for the way he’d treated Isela. Brendan would make sure of it...one way or another.

She continued. “I guess I should be used to it by now—”

“No,” Brendan said, interrupting her. “You should never have to get used to someone treating you like that. He’s an animal, Isela, and he will be dealt with.”

He stood up and stepped forward, taking her in his arms. She relaxed against him, sighing. He rested his cheek on the top of her head.

“He thinks he owns me because of my mother.” She looked up into Brendan’s eyes, tears welling up in her own. “Did you know that I’d sworn off men because of him?”

Brendan wrinkled his brow. “Sworn off men?”

“Yes. I promised myself I’d never let myself care about a man, that I’d never let any man touch me, or control me. All because of my mother and the vile things I witnessed him do to her...” She sniffled and wiped her eyes. “And I stuck to it...until now...until you.”

Brendan’s heart soared. He knew it had been hard for her to admit that, but the fact that she had only made him more determined to rescue her from this hell. He pulled her to him and crushed his lips to hers.

When their lips parted he held her to him, vowing, “I swear to you, we will get out of here and live our lives. And then I’ll do everything I can to make you happy.”

She pulled away, keeping him at arm’s length, smiling warmly at him. “Brendan, you already do. Before you came along, I was an empty shell, merely going through the motions. Now I actually have something to look forward to when I get up in the morning.”

He couldn’t swallow due to the lump in his throat. He smiled back at her, pushing the stray hairs off of her beautiful face.

An urgent knock at the door caused them both to jump.

“Isela, it’s me,” Mae said in hushed tones.

Isela motioned for Brendan to get out of sight as she crept toward the door. Brendan crouched down on the other side of Isela’s bed. Satisfied he couldn’t be seen from the hallway, Isela opened the door.

“Where have you been? Why didn’t you show up for chores?” Mae asked, concern lacing her voice.

Isela guided Mae into the room, shutting the door behind her.

“I’m sorry, Mae. I had a run-in with Guarros, and I guess I just needed a minute to pull myself together.”

Mae took Isela’s hand. “Did he hit you again?”

Brendan stood up. Mae shrieked. Isela shushed her.

“Mae, it’s okay.”

“He hits you?” Brendan demanded. “I mean I know about that one day, but that’s a regular thing?”

Isela looked from Brendan to Mae then back to Brendan, chewing her lip.

“Yes, he hits her, a lot,” Mae offered.

Brendan started for the door. “I’m gonna kill that mother—”

Isela grabbed him by the arm, stopping him. “Please Brendan, don’t do anything. You’ll only make it worse...and he’ll kill you. We have to plan better. And you have to be thinking clearly.”

“Has he ever...done anything else to you?” Brendan asked, avoiding eye contact.

“No, he’s never touched me like that.” She laughed sardonically. “He has some delusion that I’ll come to him some day. He says he’s waiting for that. He’ll be waiting forever.”

Brendan gazed into Isela’s eyes. He cupped her cheek. She closed her eyes, leaning into it.

“I can’t stand the thought of him hurting you. I can’t.”

“It’s gonna be okay. We’re gonna get out of here soon enough...and then we’ll never have to worry about that again.”

“Have the two of you lost your minds?” Mae asked, agitated.

They turned their attention to her. She stood, hands on her hips, tapping her foot impatiently.

“You’re supposed to be keeping things low key, so the warden doesn’t suspect.” She waved her hand around at them. “To keep Guarros from finding out about...whatever this is between you two, but you don’t show up for work and stay holed up here with him...in your room with an inmate. You know what would happen if Guarros found out?”

“He won’t,” Isela and Brendan said in unison.

Mae shook her head. You have to act like you’re not into each other. Brendan, talk to other girls when Guarros can see you. Everyone knows better than to mess with Isela.” She rolled her eyes. “Well, almost everyone.” Mae pointed at Isela. “You, get your ass to work.”

Then she pointed at Brendan. “And you, wait for her to leave. I’ll make sure the coast is clear then you can get out of here. Jeez, think, you two, will ya?”

Isela pursed her lips to fight the smile tugging at them. Where had Mae gotten all of this new-found assertiveness? It suited her. Isela saluted her, saying, “Yes, ma’am.”

Brendan did the same.

****

Pete simply shook his head when Brendan returned to his post. Brendan gave him half a smile and got back to work. After several minutes of silence, Pete turned to him and said, “Couple of chickies came by lookin’ for you. Pretty hot. Too bad you weren’t here.”

“Why too bad?”

“Are you kidding me? Two hot babes come sniffin’ around for you, you miss it, and you don’t know why that’s too bad?”

Brendan shrugged.

“Dude, they weren’t lookin’ for you to ask you about the weather.” He leaned in closer. “I’d bet money they wanted some action. They both seemed...eager if ya know what I mean.”

Brendan shook his head. “Not interested.”

Pete stared at him. “What, are you a homo or somethin’?”

Brendan laughed. “No, definitely not. Just...not interested.”

Pete shook his head. “You must have quite a woman waitin’ for you.” He smirked. “All the more for me, then.”

“They’re all yours,” Brendan agreed with a chuckle.

He thought of Isela and smiled. No, there was no other woman he wanted other than her. He glanced up to see her gazing at him from across the room. He smiled at her, giving her a little nod. She raised a finger, wiggling it at him before returning to the kitchen.

Isela gathered an armful of napkins for the next meal. As she set them on the serving table she noticed two young women shamelessly ogling Brendan’s ass. A stab of jealousy speared through her. Balling her hands into fists, she stormed back into the kitchen.

She had to calm down. After all, nobody knew she had designs on him. Nobody could know. Mae was right. They had to play their relationship down if they were ever going to have one. Besides, he had a phenomenal ass. How could she blame a woman for noticing? She took a deep breath, grabbed a stack of plates, and marched back out to the dining area.

Chapter Fifteen

Three days went by before Isela saw Brendan again. She missed him and wondered if he missed her too. Apparently, they’d been assigned duties at opposite ends of the prison, but today he was back to repairs and she had kitchen clean-up duty. She glanced around to make sure no one was watching her then stared longingly at him as he painted over the patched holes in the walls.

Being in his arms the other day had been something she’d have sworn she’d have never let happen, but words couldn’t describe how right it had been. What she wouldn’t give to have him saunter over to her right now and hold her again. And his kiss? Remembering his lips on hers made her swoon. She had to find a way for them to be able to spend some time together alone or she’d surely go crazy.

****

Just as Brendan was painting over the last patched hole in the wall, two of the female inmates approached him. He’d seen them around, but had never spoken to either of them. One of them, a blond, had her shirt tied up, exposing her entire midriff. The other one, a brunette, had cut the front of her shirt, showing off her overly generous breasts. Jesus, her nipples were practically on display. The brunette spoke first, her hands locked behind her back, her breasts jutting out.

“Hi, I’m Amber,” she purred.

Brendan glanced over at Pete who was leering unabashedly.

Politely nodding his head, Brendan said, “I’m Brendan and this is Pete.” Pete practically leapt in front of Brendan to shake Amber’s hand.

“Lovely to meet you, Amber,” he said in a mysteriously different, deeper voice than he’d had only moments ago.

“This is my friend, Tiffany,” she said, ignoring Pete, her eyes still trained on Brendan.

Pete shook Tiffany’s hand just as eagerly. Tiffany smiled warmly at Pete then licked her lips. Brendan stifled a chuckle thinking Pete might start twitching with excitement.

Amber strutted up to Brendan, a predator’s smile on her face. She reached up and stroked his shoulder.

“We were hoping you boys might be up for a little party,” Amber said.

Brendan tried to shrug her off, but she squeezed firmly, refusing to let him go.

“Let me give you a little preview,” she said. Before Brendan could stop her, she stepped forward, wrapping her arm around his neck like a boa constrictor. She planted a kiss on him, thrusting her tongue into his mouth.

“Damn, dude,” Pete said.

Brendan pushed Amber off of him, just as he heard the clanging of metal hit the floor. He glanced to where the noise came from in time to see Isela staring, wide-eyed at him. The pot she’d been holding bounced off the floor. Luckily for her, it was nearly empty. He looked at Amber, who still had a death-grip on him, and then back to Isela, who was now on her hands and knees picking up the scraps that had fallen out.

Brendan tossed Amber aside and hurried toward Isela. He noticed Mae, standing by the door to the kitchen shaking her head. Pete narrowed his eyes.

Isela fled into the kitchen, furious with herself for letting herself care about Brendan. She’d seen it with her own eyes. He’d been kissing Amber. Pretending they weren’t together was one thing, but he kissed her. She should’ve known better. Of course he’d prefer Amber, with her giant boobs and willing personality. Isela slammed the pot onto the counter. She picked the scraps out, flinging them into the waste bucket.

Brendan’s voice caused her to stop.

“Isela, please don’t be upset. I can explain.”

She faced him. “No need,” she said curtly. “You kissed Amber. I get it.”

“No you don’t,” he argued.

“Look Brendan, our situation is impossible. Being with her isn’t forbidden. It’s fine, really...”

She turned back around, resuming her scrap flinging. Brendan closed his hand around hers.

“Isela, don’t.”

She pushed the pot aside, stifling a sniffle.

“Amber kissed me. I didn’t ask her to, and I certainly didn’t enjoy it. I have absolutely no interest in her...or any other woman that isn’t you. I can’t believe you don’t know that by now.”