More yelling.
More glaring.
More chaos because Iheardwhat she said. Even with my bad ear and the distance I stood away from her, I heard what my woman did.
She claimedmeas the King of South Shore.
A position that she holds near and dear. A place she clutches to her even closer. The seat Wallace sat in and reigned.
It’s not lost on me that it was a trust move. As much shit as Bay and I have been through, this was it. This was the move that showed me everything.
The problem now is The Nameless. Half of these men—maybe more or less—I have no fucking idea, have tried to kill me. I’ve fought with them. I’ve stolen from them. The only thing I can say is I haven’t fucked their women because the only woman in South Shore I’ve ever been with is Bay Astor.
And this…I don’t know if I should be relieved or terrified.
I’m leaning more toward the latter because I’m only taking this role as a proxy. I’ll take The Landings and give Bay back her hometown, but I must kill Ramsey first.
And that’s the issue.
Ramsey might be a crazy fuck, but he’s never done anything reallybadto me. He’s the only blood I have left. In reality, I should’ve shot him too after I murdered Emilio, but the idea of dying and dragging Ozzy along wasn’t something I could live with in the afterlife.
Deep down, I knew Ramsey would never step down from anything. I just hoped he would. With Emilio out of the way, it meant he was free, too. I just didn’t want him to use that freedom against me or Bay.
But he did.
And he is.
And while that might be the way of shit, that Titan fight isn’t going down.
“Step over the line, Wildes,” Hot Rod calls out, removing my focus from Bay and bringing it to him. “We have a few things to hash out.”
Of course, we do.
I wouldn’t consider this man my right hand if he paid me. If I can tell you how hard Hot Rod hits and we don’t spend any time together, that means he and I aren’t homies, nor are we ever on the same damn page.
I’m not entirely sure we’re going to get there.
Stepping closer, Ozzy falls in line with me, a silent shred of support against a group I’ve never been on good terms with.
“When Bay takes The Landings,” Juice claims, sliding a comforting arm around said female, “you’ll switch seats.”
I bow my head in acknowledgment, waiting for the other ball to drop.
Maybe this is how they kill you. It’d be clever as fuck.
“This is temporary,” Hot Rod tacks on. “But you know that already, don’t you?”
No shit.
“I got it,” I deadpan. “However?—”
“There arenohowevers, ands, or buts, Wildes. We’ll protect you butonlywhen you’re the so-called King of South Shore. Bay will get most of it.”
“Chill out, Hot Shit,” I emit back evenly. “I know what this is. I understand it’s bullshit and if you’d shut the fuck up for a second, you’d know what I wanted to say.”
Hot Rod stares at me, waiting for me to speak, and I know I don’t have long to keep going back and forth with him.
“The Titan fight isn’t going to happen.”
