Page 133 of Dirty Like Jude
I frowned, taking a step back. “Try what? Taze wouldn’t hurtme.”
He went silentagain.
I spun around, so fucking frustrated, I could’ve… “Where’s the bathroom in this place? You know, somewhere a girl can lock herself in andscream…?”
“There was an incident,” Judesaid.
It wasn’t so much the words but his low, sober tone that made me turn back to him andlisten.
“Between Taze and me. I don’t want that blowing back on you. Until I’m sure that’s not gonna happen, I want a guy onyou.”
What?
“You should’ve told me. You could’ve told me that,Jude.”
“I didn’t want to involveyou.”
“In what?” I fired back, exasperated. “My ownlife?”
“In anything that could be dangerous. I don’t want you hurt,Roni.”
“You have to tell me this shit, though. If it’s about me, I want toknow.”
“It’s not about you. It’s about Taze and me. I just want to make sure you’re safe, that’sall.”
“For howlong?”
“Not long. Maybe a few more weeks. A have a guy watching Taze, too. Just making sure he’s not gonna stir upshit.”
That actually made me pause and take a breath. “You think hewill?”
“No. It’s not fuckin’likely.”
I stared at him, letting the implications of those words sinkin…
“Jude. What did you do? Did you hurthim?”
“No. No, I didn’t hurthim.”
Then it very slowly dawned onme…
“Oh my God. That horrendous bruise on your back?” I took a step toward him, so I could see his face better in the dimly-lit hall. “Your face? That wasTaze?”
“It’s nothin’ you need to worry about,darlin’.”
“He hurt you? Because ofme?”
“Nothing’s because of you,” he said firmly. “It’s just guy shit. It’s got nothing to do withyou.”
Holyshit.
The thought that Taze had done anything at all to Jude because of me… Itwasbecause of me. I wasn’t born yesterday. For sure, the Sinners and the Kings had some bad blood between them. That wasn’t exactly a secret. But Taze and Jude never would’ve looked at one another twice, probably, if not forme.
If Taze even said a nasty word to Jude because of me, I’d bechoked.
The fact that he’d put his hands on him… or a weapon? Whatever had left that horrible bruising on hisback…
“Jude…”
