"You guys are like the breakfast club of organized crime," I commented, rolling my eyes and tugging at my restraints.
There was a flash of anger and irritation on Liam's face. I knew he was probably deciding in his head which way to kill me. "What t...
The man that opened the door looked confused as he took in my appearance. "Seriously?" he asked, an apparent accent, now looking back at Malik. Also British, I noted.
Malik placed his hand on the small of my back, ushering me into the door. The heads of the other men, three others, turned to stare at me as well as we walked in. I was surprised to feel Malik's thumb rubbing on my back. I couldn't decide if he was reassuring me, or reminding me to keep myself in check. I felt myself growing self-conscious, worried if he could feel my bony spine through my clothes. I hated everything about my body, but now was really not the time.
"She was a correctional officer at the prison," Malik answered, and a chill traveled through my bones at his use of the word was.
"I fucking know that," the same man answered. I hadn't taken my eyes off of him yet except to briefly count the other bodies in the room, his apparent annoyance kept my attention on him. "She doesn't exactly look fit for the job though. I thought you were bringing back someone... I don't know... Stronger."
This time it was my annoyance that could be felt in the room. I thought back to everything Malik had said to me outside, but here was yet another man assuming that I wasn't good enough. Normally I might have been smart enough to keep my mouth shut in a situation like this. And you know what? I had had a really shitty day. "Okay first of all-"
"Monroe." Malik's voice was an undeniable warning. The tone of his voice was enough to snap me back into reality and remember the gravity of his words he'd spoken before we came in. I closed my mouth and glared at man in front of me, who now looked like he was ready to bitch slap me. He stepped towards me right as Malik moved from out behind me until he was standing in between us. "No, Liam," he said sternly.
I watched as they stared each other down intensely, almost as if expecting the other to back down. While they were doing this, I became increasingly aware of the other eyes in the room watching the three of us. Two of them had their eyes on Malik and who I now know to be Liam, but the other, a tall curly-haired man, was standing there with his hands behind his back, smirking at me as if he were holding back laughter.
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My jaw clenched, angered by the fact that this was amusing to him. I had to rake my eyes off of his infuriating face to focus on the other two standing nearby and-
"Wait a minute," the words came out of my mouth before I could think when I saw a face I recognized. "Tomlinson?" The fucking trainee that quit today.
All eyes were on me now. "That's my name, love, don't wear it out," he grinned and actually winked at me.
"Yeah uh," I turned when when I heard Malik's voice addressing me. Him and Liam both looked a lot less tense from their completely silent conversation they just shared. "He was kind of my secret weapon for the riot."
"Your secret weapon? As in... You were behind the riot?" I asked, squinting my eyes.
"Well is that so hard to believe, now?" Tomlinson spoke, bringing my attention back to him. "Come on love, he may be quiet but he's not stupid."
