Page 1 of Explosive Union
PROLOGUE
JADE
“Girl, careful yeah?” Shona warns me as she gets up from her bunk, her sweatpants loose around her waist and her t-shirt tucked inside them. She’s missing three teeth thanks to her crack addiction. Usually, she’s as high as a kite. Today, though, she's jittery and scatter-brained. Coming off her high is never a good thing to witness. I like Shona; I just hate that she’s a drug addict who can’t say no to the dealers in here.
She stretches, her back bowed, before she rights herself. “Those fuckers aren’t happy with you being here, and they’re bastards, Jade. Fucking assholes.”
That’s something I already know and don’t have to be told about. I’ve felt the wrath of the correctional officers already. The moment I stepped inside these prison walls I had a target on my back. Being the daughter of the Head of the Clann in Illinois, people view me differently than they do other women. I’m the enemy.
The female COs treat me as though I’m beneath them. That, I can deal with.
The male COs, however, are on a whole other level. They don’t care that my father and brothers are part of the Mafia; they want to show me they're the boss and will do anything in their power to do just that.
The thing is, I’ll never show them the respect they crave. The respect I have because of who I am. The moment I walked into this hellhole, the women flocked to me, wanting me to offer them protection from the gang bangers and drug dealers. I’ve had fights to assert my authority. I’ll never back down and let someone dictate to me what I should and shouldn’t do. I don’t deal with authority figures well. I never have; never will. But these bastard guards abuse their power.
“You listening?” Shona asks, her brows furrowed as she paces the floor.
“I heard you. I know exactly what they are like.” My words are clipped and filled with anger.
Her pacing stops and she stares. “Oh no,” she whispers. “Jade, have they–” She shakes her head, unable to continue.
“Have they what?” I ask, wondering what the hell she’s alluding to.
She bites her lip and glances away. “There are five COs in particular who are the worst.”
“Barker, Rice, Jones, Andrews, and Greaves,” I tell her, and her face pales. “Just what have they done to you, Shona?”
She shrugs. “It’s not just me. They've done it to so many women here. They think they can get away with it.” She runs a shaky hand through her blonde, greasy hair. “The other COs don’t care what gets done to us. As long as they pick up their paychecks, that’s all that matters to them.”
I slide off my bunk, my sock-covered feet hitting the floor before I slide them into my shoes. “Talk to me, Shona. I can’t help you unless you tell me.”
She shakes her head. “You can’t help me, Jade. No one can. The COs here run this place. Just be careful,” she instructs me.
My hand clamps around her wrist, and I stop her from pacing yet again. “I’m not letting you brush me off. What the hell happened to you?”
She wrenches her arm from me, spins around, and throws her arms in the air. Her eyes wild, her lips pulled into a snarl. “They like to rape us, okay? Whenever they need to get their fucking rocks off, they come to us. We can’t do anything except take it.” She slides to her knees and shoves her hand under her flimsy mattress. Within seconds, she’s got pills in her hands.
Great. Just what I need—her high again.
“All of them?” I ask her, and she nods while popping the pills. “At the same time?” Just the thought makes me want to vomit.
“No,” she tells me, as she fiddles with her keychain, the one that houses the pictures of her children. “Just take turns each night.”
Goddammit. Why am I not surprised? This place is fucking awful. The COs and the inmates run it how they see fit.
It’s going to be a long fucking five years.
Coming to this hellhole was to save my brother—my best friend—from losing everything he had worked hard for. Hayden and I are, and have always been, thick as thieves. Growing up, we did everything together. I watched him move up the ranks in the family. He was passed over for positions time and time again, but Granda made it clear. He was expanding and wanted Hayden to be a part of that expansion. The moment the Masters found out about the Gallagher’s plans, they set out to take us down.
Hayden and I went to a bar and ran into trouble. The Masters somehow knew where we were, and they were packing. They shot at us, and Hayden returned fire, killing the youngest of the Masters boys. Within minutes, the police were on us, and I did the only thing I could do to save my best friend. I told him to run, and I took the blame.
* * *
I let the water cascade down my hair and onto my back. I let it hit the knots on my back and wash away the grime I feel on my skin.
A door creaks, and it’s followed by heavy footsteps. It’s then I notice I’m all alone in the shower room. Fuck. Why the hell didn’t I notice everyone leaving?
“You stuck up bitch,” I hear Rice growl. “You think you’re better than us?”