“I’ll have to change now, make myself look all sexy for our date.”

Rory shook his head. “There’s no date.”

“I think you should consider my offer. Eight years is a long time, you’ll learn to love being on your knees for me, and in return, no one will lay a finger on you, you’ll be mine. Mine to finger, mine to fuck.”

“I’ve considered your offer, and my answer is still no.”

Pauly winked. “Later, sweetheart.”

He left the table, and Rory rubbed at his shoulders. They throbbed, and the bones ached like they’d been marked, too. Ollie sat down and offered Rory a weak smile.

“All right?”

“Never been better.”

He looked at Teddy shoveling food in his mouth. “Thank you.”

Teddy paused, glanced at Rory, then gave Ollie a longer, softer look.

“Yeah, I get it.” Rory snorted. “You did that for him not for me.”

“That guy’s not gonna leave you alone,” Ollie mumbled.

“He’s bluffing.”

Teddy made a short, sharp sound, then shook his head.

“I’ll stay out of his way.”

Ollie wrinkled his nose. “For the next eight years?”

“For all we know, he gets out in months.”

“He’s three years into a life sentence,” Ollie murmured.

Teddy tapped his finger on the table to get Rory’s attention, then flicked his gaze in the direction of Sebastian. Rory looked, then quickly looked away.

“He hates me.”

Teddy shrugged.

“He might be the lesser of two evils,” Ollie mumbled, “get him onside.”

“I don’t know how. He scares the shit out of me.”

Teddy snorted, then he smiled at Ollie. Ollie grinned back and lowered his gaze.

“Win him over.” Ollie suggested.

“How?”

“Spend time with him outside your cell. Go over there right now.”

Teddy slapped his palm on the table, and sternly shook his head.

“Or not.” Ollie muttered. “All I’m saying is, Sebastian is clearly in charge of the wing.”

Teddy bobbed his head, then smiled at Ollie.

“Get him onside, and you’ll have his protection. Pauly won’t touch you.”

Teddy clapped his hands and smiled brighter.

“Yeah, but how do I do that?” Rory asked.

He’d been trying for the past five days to find common ground, but he was getting nothing back from Sebastian.

“No idea.”

“Exactly.”

The bell sounded for yard time, and the inmates queued at the gate. Rory sighed, and took his unfinished lunch to the front. Ollie and Teddy stood next to each other near the front of the line, but Rory didn’t dare try to cut in, he took a space in the middle, and kept his head down. They walked in single file down the corridor, then they suddenly stopped and Rory narrowly avoided bumping into the man in front.

“Oi, newbie… Can you get the ball from the cupboard?”

Rory nodded, and pointed at the door closest to him. “This one.”