The Token 7: Thorn (A Token Novel) Read Online Free

know, you should get a tetanus shot, Mr. Simon.”
    I glare at the doctor. “Sure, I'll get right on that.”
    With all my spare time. Undercover cop, east coast clubs to shore up, and a wayward lap dancer who put the beat down on now-fired Grady.
    Really going through the staff like a revolving door.
    No fucking way is Thorn gonna deal with a chunk out of his ego the size of the Grand Canyon.
    “You say a dog did this?” Ludwig quizzes. His eyebrows pull together.
    Fuck.
    “Yeah, did I goddamned stutter?”
    His face goes blank, and I realize I jumped his shit because I'm embarrassed. Stay classy, Thorn.
    “Sorry, Doc. I just—I didn't need this trumped up bullshit when I'm in the middle of housecleaning.”
    Ludwig's eyebrow rises.
    “I have some clubs Mr. McKenna needs me to streamline.”
    “Ah,” Ludwig replies, letting his surgical tools fall into a kidney-shaped container. They bathe in some strange-looking water. “That explains your foul mood.”
    Not always.
    Ludwig strips off his latex gloves with a snap, rubber-banding them straight into a hole in the countertop labeled Bio-hazard.
    “Thanks, Doc.” I clap him on the back, and he lurches forward.
    He straightens the lapels of his white lab coat and pushes his wildly colored glasses back up the bridge of his nose. “I can't force you to get a shot, but that's a nasty wound on your lip.”
    I nod. It's all good. I'll slap on some of that ointment he handed me and find the person responsible.
    Simone Balland —French name.
    I'm fluent. My grandmother was Haitian.
    Simone Balland puts the E in exotic.
    As I walk away, Ludwig calls out, “Mr. Simon?”
    I turn around. “Some dogs aren't meant to be domesticated.”
    He knows.
    Ludwig turns away from me, giving me his back. “You might want to keep that in mind.”
    I stalk out.
    I've got something in mind all right.
     
    *
     
    Kiki crosses her arms underneath her tits. “Listen, Thorn, I asked you to help out with Simone, not try to beat her up.”
    I throw up my hands and pace in an angry march. “No—”
    I point at her, and she gets that look. The Kiki Look. Damn. She's so fucking stubborn.
    “I did not try to ‘ beat her up .’ Man, you'd know it if I had.”
    She looks as if she swallowed a lemon. Whole. “Well then, how do you explain that?” Her palm flies toward my mouth. I unconsciously touch it. Stings like hell. “Things got out of hand.”
    Kiki's hoops swing as she nods. “How do things escalate from Grady meeting her for you because you were late to Grady getting his ass kicked by Simone before she munches on your mouth, huh?”
    It sounds pretty bad when she says it like that. “I wasn't going to hurt her, Kik.”
    She rolls her eyes. “Duh. But don't you know when to go easy, Thorn? Grady, the dickless wonder, worked her over, the very thing I wanted to avoid by having you there instead. Then you think you'll what? Put your hands on her to calm her down?”
    “I—no.” I exhale in an angry rush. “I just didn't want her to leave.” I scrub my head in an angry swipe, wincing at the knot I put there.
    So worth it to clock Grady. “Simone bit me and pulled her freak out...”
    Kiki gets in close and I stand there, waiting for a lecture. “I can't give you her number.”
    I grip her shoulders, looking deeply into her eyes. “Listen—Kik, I know I fucked up.”
    “You got that...”
    I give a rough exhale. “I wanna make it right.”
    She shakes her head. “I don't know Thorn, you're a hard man.”
    Hard man . I digest her words.
    I don't know what she sees on my face, but she's quick to add, “A good guy. You're one of the good guys. You saved Faren. You save girls like me... and Faren. But this girl? She needs...” Kiki looks down, hiding her face from me.
    I tip her chin up with a finger. “What? What's so goddamned special about Simone Balland?”
    Kiki's eyebrow pops. “What—how did you say her last name?”
    I say it again.
    “God... it sounds exotic when