“I know someone who makes the best food in the world, bar none. And you’ll say the same thing once you meet him,” Joker says.
I blink at his odd phrasing, but before I get to answer, Claire walks up with a disapproving frown on her face.
“You two better not be getting up to anything out here,” she says, trying to scold us but I can tell her heart isn’t in it.
“Me? Trouble? Never! We’ve been perfect angels,” Joker answers, smiling wide enough to show his perfect teeth and the hint of dimples.
I contain my snort, and he shoots me a playful glare before turning back to Claire.
“It’s time for lunch. They’re serving tacos,” she says, trying to feign excitement.
Joker gives me an exasperated look as she turns her back and walks away. I pull Joker to his feet and keep hold of his hand all the way to lunch.
Later that evening, Joker and I are lounging on a couch by my favorite window, me at one end reading one of the few books we're allowed to have here, him stretched out across the other cushions, his head in my lap. He’d assumed this position a while ago, not that I’d had a choice in the matter. But it does allow me to occasionally play with his hair, which sets him to purring like a diesel engine.
Movement near us draws our attention, and my stomach drops. Drake and Cindy, along with a few other staff members, lead a small group of omegas across the lounge toward the exit of the omega wing. There aren’t many, only five this month, but they’re all washed and dressed and primped to perfection. But worst of all is the dead-eyed expression on each of their faces.
Joker sits up suddenly, moving his body in front of mine, as if he expects someone to try to grab me and drag me away with the others.
“They’re all drugged?” Joker hisses at me, low enough so his words don’t carry across the room.
I put a hand on his muscular arm, squeezing gently. “It’s better this way,” I whisper, my heart breaking again.
Joker whips around to look at me fiercely and I flinch back. The gold in his eyes has disappeared, leaving only a flat steel blue in his irises as he glares at me. But his face softens almost immediately, even if his eyes don’t return to their normal color.
“This is the last time it’s going to happen,” Joker says, a low dangerous rumble to his voice that makes me shiver.
He turns and pulls me to his chest, and I don’t fight it, my mind too confused by his behavior today. But Joker doesn’t speak another word, just holds me close and glares into the middle distance. He only lets me go when Claire comes to get us for bed, and even then, he walks me to the entrance to my ward.
“Sleep tight, beautiful,” he says softly, bringing my hand to his lips to briefly kiss my knuckles before he saunters off.
Claire sighs beside me. “That boy is trouble with a capital T,” she mutters.
I shrug, not agreeing or disagreeing. I’ve never been a thrill seeker or a troublemaker ever in my life. But, as I walk back to my room, I can’t help but wonder if I need a little trouble.
Chapter eleven
I’msharpeningkniveswhenJoker turns his comms back on, sighing dramatically through the line.
“Please tell me someone is there. I’m going mad,” he says.
I chuckle low in my throat. “More nuts than y’already are? Because yer just about as nutty as squirrel shit,” I ask, jokingly.
“Well, if it isn’t my favorite rebel bastard,” Joker throws back with mock fondness.
“Aw, I’m your favorite? I won’t tell Bones you said that,” I volley.
Joker laughs and I smile despite myself. He might be an annoying little shit, but I’ve yet to meet anyone who can match wits with me quitelike him.
“You calmed down a little since this afternoon?” he asks, tone softer.
I let out a long sigh, pausing before I answer. Our intel said we might find a trafficking hub here, but it never gets easier confirming it. And hiding it behind the guise of a mental health treatment facility is a new level of fucked up we’ve yet to experience. My reaction might have been a little more…intensethan the others, but we’re all more determined than ever to bring it down.
I run the whet stone along the edge of one of the larger knives in my collection, the rasp soothing. “A little. Did you learn anything else?”
“Well, they have to drug the omegas before they herd them to their doom,” Joker says, and I can hear the sneer in his voice.
“Probably for the best,” I sigh heavily.