Page 116 of Dirty Saint

“How’s she doing?” He didn’t look at me when he spoke.

Instead, his frigid eyes were glued to Tori.

“Same. I keep thinking I see her eyelids move, but it’s nothing. Just me seeing shit.”

He nodded, entered the room, and sat in an empty chair across from me. Tori’s body lay between us, and we stared back at each other over her unmoving form.

I hadn’t taken the time to think about the after-effects of my actions. I had killed a man. Things were okay since no police had shown up at the hospital to arrest me. My boys would make sure everything ran smoothly. They could cover anything, and anyone who saw knew better than to open their fucking mouths.

“Everything taken care of?” I asked, referring to Donny B’s body and everyone who saw me kill him.

I would go to prison for murder if I had to, but I preferred being free to care for Tori and Gracie over life behind bars.

“Yeah. Cops think it was usual gang bullshit at The Strip. Everyone agreed Donny B. shot first, and no one saw the other shooters. There was a riot, and everything was a clusterfuck as far as the pigs know. Everyone knows what’ll happen to them if they suddenly decide they know who the shooters were.”

“Shooters? They think it was more than one?”

He grinned. “Those dumb fucks will believe anything they hear. Especially when an entire crew of people tells them the same story.”

I nodded and looked away, not giving a shit about any of that, but needing something to talk about to kill the awkwardness between me and Joke. He had different plans.

“You could have told me about her,” he said, going for the kill.

I looked over to find Joker grinning back at me. It was his usual expression, so I wasn’t sure what to make of it.

“I wanted to. She told me not to tell you.”

He lifted a brow, curious. “Why?”

“She thought it was hot to sneak around.” I chuckled, remembering our conversation about it.

She was so cute about the entire thing.

He shrugged. “Sounds hot. I’ve never had to sneak around, but I bet it’s a good nut.”

I snorted. Go figure that Joker would understand where she was coming from.

“I know you don’t want her around,” I said, finally clearing the air.

I didn’t want to lose my best friend, but I wouldn’t have to worry about that since I concluded that I would stay away from her. I would ensure things were funded, get them out of the dump they were living in, and make sure they had groceries, but that was the extent of my relationship with Tori once she woke … if she woke.

“I don’t like what she represents.”

I knew that already. Tori reminded us of our sordid pasts—everything we wanted to forget. I had gotten over it, and I knew Joker could do the same, but it wasn’t something I would push.

“Does she know the truth?” he asked, pulling out a pocket knife and cleaning his nails.

Without asking, I knew it was her blood he was trying to clear from his cuticles. I had to look away from him.

“She knows every detail.”

And she did. We had talked about it. She knew more details than anyone besides me and Joker.

He paused at that and cocked a brow. “She doesn’t care that we lied and put her dad in prison?”

“I won’t say she doesn’t care, but she understands. It’s fucked up, but she gets it.”

He stared back at me with his usual creepy smirk, and I waited to hear where our friendship was headed. We were either done, or he would get over the past bullshit, and we could move forward. If Tori and I could move past it, he should be able to, too.

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