The Great North, Quebec, 1934. Joe Vega, the Beast, has been locked up in Linhart Prison for three years. The brutish guards harass him because of his size, but Joe remains cool. Until Christophe Dubois, the disowned son of an affluent politician, is led into Joe's cell. From the moment Joe sees him, he suspects the ginger-head is trouble. Christophe is bold, curious, and feisty, and Joe can't resist the temptation of climbing into the man's bunk for long. However, the beautiful spoiled Christophe is a furnace to which both guards and convicts want to warm their hands, and Joe must fight to keep Christophe safe. Linhart Prison may be a cruel place, but when the two men are released from its walls, they find an even tougher world out there. Is the flame burning between Joe and Chris enough to keep them together?

Linhart's Beautiful Beast

Joe sat at his usual table, next to Novak and across Levin. The three of them ate their sloppy meal in silence, glancing around the large room, hoping to get through the hour without incidence, yet secretly wishing for a release―an explosion that could allow them to unleash their repressed violence on these men and their sticks.


Across the room, at an empty table, Dubois sat alone staring down into a bowl of pea soup, but Joe looked away before Dubois caught him watching.


Levin looked over his shoulder at Dubois. “Takes a lot of bravado to sit there alone,” he said. “Heard he’s coming out to the woods with the rest of the men tomorrow. Punishment I suppose. The guards really hate him now. He’s lucky someone’s watching over him out there.”


Joe drank down the last of his water. “Guess so,” he said gruffly and shrugged. But his eyes kept straying to where Dubois sat looking into his soup.


Chapter 33