Page 56 of The Sinner and the Priest: Part 1

He sits up, spreads his hands. “Darlin,’ I’ve been grilled by people a helluva lot meaner than you. You seem kinda nice.”

Raven narrows her eyes. “You don’t care at all that half your teammates are locked up, and the other half might be plotting your demise?”

“Who’s plotting my demise?” he jokes. “Cisco?” His face suddenly grows serious, and he sits up, looking at me. “Is this because of the all-you-can-eat buffet thing? Dude needs to get over it.” Then, under his breath, “Needs to get laid more.”

I glare. “Seriously? You have nothing on your priest? The saint? Any dirt at all?”

He finally seems to consider and rubs his jaw scruff. “Cisco’s a closed book.” He scoffs. “Honestly, now that I think about it, I’m starting to wonder if there’s another reason he’s avoiding the free pass to the buffet.” He gestures at me. “I mean, just look at you. Should be a no-brainer.”

“Um. Thanks?”

“As for Dom?” He frowns. “He’s nice. Quiet. Strong as shit.” He pauses. “He likes playing Sudoku. That’s weird, right?”

“So you admit it.” Raven paces alongside the bed, hands behind her back. “He’s a traitor.”

“I never said that.”

“If you had to bet who was the traitor, then who would you pick?”

He grins, leaning back again. “I don’t bet, doll. I shoot. But if you’re asking for my money…” He hesitates. “I’d say look at the people who kill first, ask questions later. Anyway, what’s all this about a traitor? I thought we were answering questions about Spain.”

“We are,” I reply.

“So … the traitor is who?”

“You know what we mean,” Raven growls.

“Wait…” Zeke squints at us like a pirate and gestures between us. “Is this the scary, chaos act tactic Leila told me about? Am I supposed to be scared?”

Tawny folds her arms and tries to loom over him. “Would it work if I threatened you?”

He bursts out laughing. “Okay. Sure.”

She puffs up, frustrated, and points. “You weren’t always on Team Saint. You were a hired gun, weren’t you?”

He shrugs. “Still am, technically. The Vatican just pays better. And for the record? I didn’t know a damn thing about any of those other Team Saints before this crazy gig. They like keeping us separate. It makes it easier to control the narrative.”

Zeke shows zero sign of nerves. He could be talking about football scores. The disheveled, exhausted vibe about him is probably all about being separated from his girl. Maybe he’s just antsy for a fuck.

Raven lowers her voice. “What about the slaughter in Spain? Any whispers about that? Anything you’ll regret not telling us on day one?”

For a heartbeat, he looks almost serious. “The only thing I regret is not being there to smoke out the assholes who hurt those girls. But as I said, nobody tells me anything worth hiding.” He pauses, raises a brow at me. “What about you, Mercy? Got any good dirt on your Sinners?”

I stare him down. “Don’t waste my time, Zeke.”

He salutes. “You got it, boss. If I hear a whisper, you’ll be first in line. But I’m not lying. I’m here for Leila. That’s it.”

Tawny stares at him. “So zero loyalty to your team?”

He has the decency to look guilty. And when he glances down at his Team Sinner shirt, a blush deepens on his cheeks. “Shit. It looks like that, doesn’t it?” Lifting his gaze, he winces. “Do they think that? They’re like brothers to me, you know. I don’t want them to think I don’t—ah, fuck.” He sits up, swings his legs over the edge of the cot, and scrubs his hands through his messy hair. Finally, he looks at me and says, “You don’t think that’s why they’re not—” He gestures between us three girls. “You know, hittin’ that.”

“I don’t know what rock you crawled out from, Zeke.” I gesture at my body. “But you don’t ‘hit’ this. You worship it.”

“Hell yeah, you do.” He winks at me and offers me a high five. “See? You get it.” He looks genuinely puzzled when I leave him hanging.

“Thanks for nothing.” I motion for my squad to leave. “You’re free to go, Zeke.”

“Okey-dokey. Just gonna finish this.” He drops back on the bed and picks up a comic as if nothing happened.