The Prison Project

Chapter 14 – Signed & Sealed

Margot’s POV

Coban Santorelli.

The name hung in the air like smoke, thick and impossible to ignore.

It settled deep in my chest, as though Coban himself had just entered the damn room with us…

The guard flipped through the pages again, slower this time, like even he needed to make sure what he was about to say was real.

“I’ll be honest here,” he sighed heavily, his voice dropping a little, “I never thought someone like him would come close to being approved for this program. Not with his hefty record.”

I swallowed hard, the dryness in my throat almost unbearable. “So what… what did he do?”

The guard exhaled through his nose, as if deciding how much to actually tell me, before finally turning one of the papers around so I could see it for myself.

It wasn’t a mugshot – it was a still frame from a security camera. A blurry figure, tall and broad, who was standing over someone on the floor.

The image was grainy, meaning that I could barely make out any of the people, but the body on the ground looked crumpled. Limp.

“Serious assault. Multiple counts of battery. Gang affiliation. Drug trafficking. Was also suspected of mass murder, though he was never charged for it because it couldn’t be proved.” The guard tapped the file like he was ticking off a shopping list. “His Daddy is a big shot gangster, and he’s the next in line for his throne, to put it lightly…”

I blinked.

A big shot gangster?!

He leaned forward, elbows on the table. “And now he’s suddenly your responsibility to rehabilitate.” He whispered across at me, followed by a breathless laugh.

A scream built up in my throat, but never made its way out.

I couldn’t move, couldn’t speak.

I was frozen – caught somewhere between fight and flight, except both options felt like suicide being this far in.

How the hell could I flee from a moving fucking tin can bobbing its way towards hell anyhow? It was too late!

“But hey,” the guard added with a shrug, gaining my attention again, “word is that he volunteered himself for this program. Said he wants to change. Make peace. Start fresh. So maybe he actually means it? Or maybe he’s desperate. But regardless, he needs to keep you alive and safe in order to earn his freedom… so you’ll be important to him.”

He gave me a long, unreadable look, like he was trying to see how much of that I actually believed.

I didn’t answer, though. I couldn’t. It all felt like too much information bouncing between the walls of my mind…

‘Listen to me, Margot,” he said, finally using my name. “You’re going to be paired with him starting from tonight – like it or not – and there can’t be any swaps either. You’ll get to learn his schedule and you’ll follow it, along with having access to a red-alert panic switch in your cell, and a security camera in the room for only your first twenty-four hours to see how you settle. After that… it’s just you and him in that cell every night.”

My stomach turned violently. “Just me and him… in a cell? What if he tries to kill me?!”

“Then he loses his only ticket to freedom. So he won’t. He may be a grade A asshole, Margot, but he’s a clever man, I’ll give him that much. The guards will patrol at night time too, so just yell if you need them.” The guard nods, checking his watch and becoming suddenly conscious of the time.

I let out a shaky breath, nausea swirling as I imagined the door closing behind me… locking me inside with a dark and unhinged criminal.

“I only have five minutes left with you here, so let’s quickly run through Coban’s own list of expectations that he wrote for us.” He clears his throat and straightens up, turning the page as my brows furrow.

He has his own damn expectations for me now?!

‘Quiet, obedient, not a whore… excuse my language, this is written in his own words, not ours… respectful, calm, hot… you get the idea, he just doesn’t want you to annoy him.” He sighs, flipping the page back again.

Hot?!

He may have just skipped right over that word, but I heard it!

But besides that, it sounded like Coban expected me to just sit in the corner in silence the whole time, which I guess I could make work if it would help keep the peace for both of us?

“So uh… what actually happens each day? How will I know what my task is? Will I get to see my friend often too?” I push the words out, feeling a cold sweat break free from my forehead as the words left my lips, quieter than intended.

The guard checked his watch again, causing me to become suddenly stressed that this would be the only advice I would get before being thrown in the deep end by nightfall with Coban…

“You’ll get to see your friend around the compound during the prisoners’ free time, as long as Coban wants to be there. He tends to want to visit the gym a lot so you’ll probably be in there quite a bit, so you best hope that your friend gets matched with a fellow gym-goer. But if not, then you’ll be able to see her in the dinner hall where everyone eats three times a day.” The guard rants, his words seeming to get faster as he tucks papers back into the folder and prepares to wrap up.

“Ok… that’s good…” I nod, knowing that there would hopefully be plenty of opportunities to debrief with my friend throughout the project, knowing that without her, I wouldn’t be able to make it through this alone.

“On a Saturday, visitors come in to see the prisoners, and so you’ll have half of the day to yourself. You’ll bring us a full report on Coban for that week, giving us the pros and cons of his behaviour and how he’s treated you so far, along with passing over any important information we might need to determine whether he’s eligible for release or not. After that you’ll get to relax with the other females for a while.” He concludes, as I rub my sweaty palms down my trousers.

Ok, well that didn’t sound too bad. If I couldn’t catch up with Cara during the week, then I’d be guaranteed to see her on a Saturday for a real chat.

If I can manage to survive each week to make it to Saturday, that is…

I swallowed, blinking back the nervous tears that threatened to spill.

“That will be us, I just need you to sign this last contract to confirm that you’ve been given a full brief of the prisoner and know what to expect from this project…” he turns a detailed sheet over to face me, landing a pen on top of it.

At first I just stared down at it, debating whether or not I could pull out from all of this, but despite my frantic mind, my hand involuntarily reached up for the pen.

In a trance-like state, I shakily signed my name on the bottom line, cursing myself for not taking a second to even attempt to read the document entirely, before I sighed, knowing that it would be no use anyhow…

I was in too deep, and Cara was in this with me, and I wouldn’t dare leave her to face this mess alone, and above all else –

We needed that damn money in the end.

So let the project begin…