Free Stepbrother Romance: Stepbrother Accused (Bad Boy Romance) (New Adult Suspense Taboo Romance) by C.C. DeMille

Johnny sat at his desk, reading the paper. His time as a warden was nearly up. Retirement was fast approaching and in his opinion it couldn’t come soon enough. He hated this place. It wasn’t the prisoners. On his first day as a warden he thought he’d be surrounded by a bunch of lowlifes; the bottom feeders of society, worst of the worst. Little did he know that some of these prisoners would come to see him as a friend.
     
    It wasn’t the pay either. He’d stuck to it and knuckled down, managing to get a sweet pension and an increase in pay, year on year. No, none of this was the reason that Johnny couldn’t wait to walk out of those prison doors for the last time. The real reason, the thing that kept him up at night, was the bureaucracy. In all his time as a warden he’d got to know the inmates. Well enough to know that they’d been forgotten by the system. Medical problems, mental breakdowns, they were all ignored by the big guns upstairs. And by the time they did take notice, it was quite often too late. Suicide was not uncommon, not in this prison.
     
    Despite this Johnny was in a cheerful mood. He had some good news for a particular prisoner of his, and it was time to deliver it. He got off is stool and fumbled through his set of keys as he walked past a row of cells. Sunny heard him coming. He was sitting on his bed, tapping his feet anxiously.
     
    “Hey Sunny, how you doing today?” asked Johnny.
     
    “Oh you know can’t complain.”
     
    “Alright you know the drill,” said Johnny as he unlocked his cell.
     
    Sunny got up, walked over to the far wall and put his arms up onto it. Johnny walked over to him and patted him down. He looked around the room for a few seconds and then walked back out. Sunny turned around.
     
    “You’re free to go.”
     
    They both smiled. He grabbed his duffle bag and they both walked out.
     
    “So any thoughts on what you’re gonna do when you’re on the other side?” asked Johnny.
     
    “You know.”
     
    “Yeah,” replied Johnny. “Suppose there’s no way I can dissuade you?”
     
    “Nope,” replied Sunny.
     
    They made there way to the front of the prison and Sunny felt his heart start to beat a little faster. He could almost taste the freedom that was just a few feet in front of him. After signing a few papers he was all done. He walked out of the prison and stopped. He closed his eyes and took a deep, slow breath. He’d been dreaming about this day for a long time, of this exact moment. Unlike most of his fellow inmates though, he didn’t just stop at the euphoric feeling of finally being free—he’d been planning. His sentence was five years for manslaughter, and he knew he was innocent. There wasn’t a soul that believed him, as he soon learned pretty much every guy that get’s locked up protests his innocence. So he kept it to himself, kept mulling it over in his mind. Today was the day he was going to do something about it.
     
    “Hey Sunny,” said Johnny as he came and stood next to him. “Cigarette?”
     
    Sunny shook his head, and after considering lighting one for himself, Johnny put the pack back in his pocket.
     
    “I know what you’re thinking,” he continued. “I’ve been here long enough to know what that look means, what you’re feeling right now? It’ll pass. Trust me.”
     
    Sunny thought for a moment then looked at him.
     
    “I gotta do it Johnny.”
     
    “Yeah…I know,” replied Johnny with a hint of resignation in his voice. “Just remember, sometimes when you dig up the past, you often end up regretting it.”
     
    And with that Johnny went back inside. Sunny let his words roll around in his mind for a while then took a deep breath. He unzipped his duffle bag and took out a letter. He stared at the handwriting, the hearts for dots and silly faces drawn on it made him smile. He looked at the envelope and began typing the address into his phone.
     
    “Sarah honey can you set the table?”
     
    “Sure