Page 41 of A Sinner's Saint

I wipe the screen down the fabric of my dress, attempting to clean off some of the blood—although it doesn’t do much—and quickly push past it. At this point, both Vin and I are covered from head to toe. And right now, I need to help him. He’s not going to let me touch him. I can tell. I scroll through his contacts until I find Santo’s name and hit thecallbutton.

“Hey,” Santo answers.

“Hey, it’s Cammi. I need help. Vin needs help,” I say, my words rushed.

“Where are you?” Santo asks.

“We’re in the alley behind Hall’s restaurant,” I tell him.

“I’ll be right there. Where’s Vin?”

“He’s here. He just… He needs help right now.”

“Okay.” The line cuts out. I return Vin’s phone and he tucks it into his pocket without looking at me. “Your brother’s coming. It’s going to be okay, Vin. We are going to be okay.” I take a step closer to him, and he steps back again.

“Don’t come near me, Cammi. I did this to you.” He’s staring at my dress. It’s covered in blood.

“Vin, I’m fine. You didn’t do anything to me. I’m right here,” I tell him. My words have no impact. He’s staring at me with so much remorse now.

“You can’t be here, Cammi. This wasn’t supposed to touch you. I don’t want the monsters to touch you,” he whispers as he takes another step away from me.

I sit down, right in the middle of the alleyway, in the dark, next to the body of the man my boyfriend just killed. “I’m not going anywhere,” I say more firmly. If he wants me to leave, then he’ll have to move me himself. Something we both know he won’t do. Not unless I ask him to.

We stay staring at each other in silence until two of Vin’s brothers come running towards us.

“Vin?” The one I recognise to be Marcel is the first to speak. “What happened?” he asks, looking around. His glare lands on the dead guy before flicking back in my direction.

Santo squats down so he’s eye level with me. “Are you okay?”

“I’m fine. I called you here to help Vin. Not me.” I push to my feet and Santo follows me up.

“Take her home,” Vin says. “I don’t want her here.” His voice has gone cold. Hard. I’ve never heard him sound like this before.

“I’m not going…” I start to argue, only to slam my mouth shut when Vin looks at me.

“I don’t fucking want you here, Cammi. You need to leave,” he growls.

“Too bloody bad.” My hands land on my hips. I’m stubborn at the best of times. But when it comes to Vin, I might just be finding new heights of obstinance I’m willing to go.

“What happened here?” Marcel asks again.

“I heard his voice. In the restaurant. He was… He…” Vin can’t get the words out, but he doesn’t need to. We all know what he’s trying to say. I want to go over and wrap my arms around him. He needs to know that I’m still one hundred percent in this. I don’t care about what happened. I care about him. That’s all.

“Okay. We need to get this cleaned up. I have to make a call.” Marcel reaches into his pocket. “I might need your help,” Marcel says into his phone seconds after he dials.

“Why?” Vin’s oldest brother’s voice shouts through the speaker.

“I just killed a Russian…” Marcel sighs, and my brows draw down.Why is he taking the blame?

“I’ll be right there. Drop me a pin,” the voice replies, and Marcel cuts the call.

“Get out of here. Both of you. You were never here, got me?” he stresses, and I nod my head.

“Marcel, you can’t take the fall for this. It’s on me, not you,” Vin argues.

“Yeah? Well, either I tell Gio it was me, or you explain to him why his kid brother killed a Russian made man?” Marcel grunts. “And I promise you don’t want to do that, Vin. Now, get out of here. I’ll sort it.”

A Russian made man? Vin killed a Russian mafia member. Is this going to come back on him?There were a lot of people in the restaurant, a lot of people who saw them walk out here together. “Witnesses.” The word slips out of my mouth before I realise I’m speaking.

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