“Ah, well…” I shove back from the counter and clench my teeth together from the uncomfortable bullet holes still on the mend. “You took my place, didn’t you? She’s fine.”
Cairo glowers at me. “You know damn well that’s not?—”
“Don’t bullshit me, brother. You picked the perfect time to play hero.”
“I said that’snothow it fuckin’ happened. And someone had to step up and make sure you didn’t succeed in your little plan to kill her, didn’t they? I’m not the dumbass who wouldn’t relax and calm down, was I? I told you we’d figure it out, and you went rogue.”
I did.
It still doesn’t change the fact our roles are reversed. That he’s on the inside, and I’m out.
Again.
Fuck this.
“It’s all good,” I surmise flatly as I stand firmly on my feet. “You do you. And I’m going to figure out where I fit in all this.”
“Where you’ve always been. Nothing has changed. Now we need you to help with Ramsey and?—”
“We kill him,” I say easily. “There’s no other way.”
Cairo stares back at me, devoid of any emotion, when he replies, “You could do that? Because now I’m thinking you and Bay have more in common with gunning down people who meant something to you.”
“Something you should’ve done with Viv years ago.”
His jaw tics, but he’s careful to keep his shit in check. “And have Muncy up our ass. Yeah, good idea.”
“Do you have a better one? Because Ramsey isn’t going to lie down and follow her. He’s also not going to hand her The Void. I’ve only accelerated the problem.”
“Then why the hell did you?—”
“If Wallace is dead then Emilio would’ve used her sisters as leverage to gain more control. I haven’t heard you publicly announce you’re standing next to her. Furthermore, it was one less issue. Plus, he wanted to kill me first. It was only fair that I responded.”
“We didn’ttalkabout it.”
I smile at him. “Why? So you could gotalkwith him?”
He scowls at me because he knows I’m right. I’ve casually run the Forsaken Crew, but Cairo is the heart. It’s his father’s crew, after all.
Sure, I may have recruited dozens of them, but it still doesn’t mean I was supposed to rise and take The Landings.
In fact, I never thought the day would come when Emilio was buried ten feet deep.
Yes, ten.
I don’t trust that the fucker wouldn’t crawl out of it.
Nonetheless, sometimes, violence can’t be stopped. And Cairo doesn’t understand, nor can he comprehend what it feels like to have a so-called father who thinks you’re a disappointment. Who will gladly shove you aside for something better.
Bay is his daughter.
However, I’ve never been more to him than a soldier, and a broken one at that. There is no persuading him to see any differently. He was set in his ways and nothing was going to change that. And eventually, he’d grow tired of Bay resisting him, and he’d replace her, too.
“We on a pity party now, Torin?” Cairo grinds out. “Because I don’t have time for this.”
I gesture for him to continue doing what he came in here to do. “By all means, get your coffee, and fuck off.”
“No more moves unless we speak.”
