Page 116 of Love Takes Home

“I’d like to stay with Ginny,” I tell her.

“I know you would, and you can stay with her when you’re done with that and I’m done having a talk with her.”

“I’m not leaving my sister,” Davis states.

“I wasn’t giving you an option,” she replies.

See, told ya.

“You can’t make me leave.”

“If you stay, I’m going to ask you questions about your relationship with your father.”

“She doesn’t fuck around, does she?” Sammy leans in to ask me.

“No, I don’t,” Claire answers, turning her woo-woo ability to probe the brain on Sammy. “So, if you can’t get them out, I’llmove on to why you keep saying you’re going to leave home but never do and why you’re afraid.”

“Welp,” Sammy claps his hands, “you heard the Doc, let’s get out of here for a while and listen to the rest of that video and see what we can figure out.”

“Pussy,” Davis mutters under his breath.

“Do you ever want to see a pussy again?” Trish smiles at him. Her grin is super sweet, and scary as hell.

“Let’s go guys. Love you, Sugar.” He pecks Trish on the lips and beelines it to the door.

“I’ll be back soon, okay? If you need me, send one of them to get me.” I lean in to Ginny.

“Hey, Joker?” she asks. “Will you kiss me before you go?”

“Gently,” I tell her, leaning over and kissing the side of her lip that isn’t split.

“Thank you. Come back soon?”

“Of course.”

I turn and walk out of the room, not ready for any of them to see me have a breakdown. Last time I cried? When we lost a man in the desert. Davis must realize I’m about to break, because he puts his arm around my shoulder and gives me a one arm hug.

“She’s going to be okay,” he assures me.

“Of fucking course she is,” I reply. “That girl is the strongest person I’ve ever fucking met in my life.”

“Do you want to take a break? Go get some food?”

“No. We need to get through this. I need to see and hear all of it.”

“I don’t think there’s much to see after the initial video of the room. She put the phone in her bag without turning the video off,” Sammy tells us, watching the video on mute.

“It’s fine. Hearing it will be more than enough to make me wish I’d have emptied the entire fucking magazine in his fucking ass.”

Chapter 33

Ginny

I watch Joker go,wanting to call him back, but needing him to figure out why all this happened and who the man I almost married was.

“Is it okay if Trish stays?” Claire asks, pulling a chair up to the bedside.

“Yeah, as long as she promises not to be mad at me?” I know I look guilty, and I know I can ask, but she’s going to be mad at me.