The words don’t register right away, but Bay’s sob does.
I finally glance down at her, with her chin tucked tightly to her chest. Black hair hides her face, and my heart promptly sinks.
Forher.
Ozzy shifts out of my periphery, but he doesn’t move an inch, leaving me to pick up the pieces starting to fall right in front of us.
Our eyes meet, and I don’t know what to do or how to comfort her with something as monumental as this. I don’t dare touch her because she’s not that sort of bitch, but I want to.
Fuck.
This changes everything.
She just lost her dad weeks ago. Now, she just lost her so-called ride-or-die. Her best friend. The man she somehow has grown attached to.
I’m not just dealing with a grieving Bay Astor now—no, that shit won’t register right away. I’m working with a woman who’s about to go on a rampage of sheer catastrophe when this shit sinks deeper inside her head.
I’m dealing with a ticking time bomb.
She’ll want De Leon’s head on a spike. She’ll rip his town apart just to get to him. And there is no doubt in my mind Bay will be the biggest pain in my whole fucking ass with keeping her confined and safe.
And the fucked up part is, I’ll deal with it.
I will handle her shit while she drives me fucking crazy. I will stand by her side and make all her dark dreams come true.
Her pussy is magic. And you just fell into her spell.
“C’mon, Little T,” I urge softly, reaching out and barely grazing her back. “Let’s get you home.”
“I c-can’t,” she blubbers, head still tipped downward into Juice’s chest. “M-my s-sisters.”
My eyes close for the briefest of seconds.
It’s just another nail to De Leon’s coffin.
Now, she has to take care of them alone. She has to go through the motions of Wallace’s death with them and try to deal.
I steal a second glance at Ozzy, who looks beside himself to the max. This is all going to fall on me.
I don’t mind it. I’m used to it, but not this.
Nother.
“Okay.” My fingers wrap around her hip, and she doesn’t flinch or thrust her elbow into my gut when I draw her closer, so I take it as a win. “How about we go for a little ride and get some fresh air? Let’s get you out of here.”
She rocks her head back and forth, chin still tucked with another broken sob. “I can’t…”
Moving to step in front of her, I don’t bring her face up to meet mine. She needs a bit of privacy and the last thing she wants from me is to see her cry.
“This is going to be a bitch. I know that.”
A broken whimper leaves her lips, and fuck…I hate this. I grew up with sisters and still struggling with what to do.
“We’re not leaving your side. You’re not going to do this alone. What do you want to do?”
Silence ping-pongs between us, and I don’t have a lot of time to sort this all out with her. We’re still in the middle of a wide-open parking lot and there are too many eyes. We need to get the blonde chick out of here.
“I wanna die.”
