Just kidding, they’re going to be pissed.
But that’s Hot Rod’s fault. I didn’t ask for my own entourage of masked men to follow me around.
“How can I help?” I solicit, as he gently takes my phone back.
“Just sit your ass down,” he mutters, looking over the zoomed-in picture of Levi’s arm again. “I need an hour…or two.” He points to the mini fridge on top of one of his tables. “Help yourself.”
Ugh.
My impatience knows I should’ve come by appointment and given this man ample time to draw up Levi’s tattoos, but I’m trying to behave here.
Cairo wanted me to calm down and relax, andthisis me “relaxing.”
Matching tattoos of Levi’s permanently inked on my arm.
It’s a temporary fix. A way to distract my mind. A somewhat mellowed-out time to come to the adult-filled revelation that my sisters need me more than ever now.
Ellie is beside herself with grief. She hasn’t stopped crying since the news. Every time I look at her, her eyes are thick with tears. I hear her sobs in her bedroom, trying to muffle them with a pillow or her hand at night. The way she drags her feet around the house.
I wish she’d put the rightful blame on me.
If it wasn’t for who I’ve gotten involved with, none of this would be our sober reality. Matteo wouldn’t exist in our world to throw a target on my best friend to hurt me.
But the way Levi would go out of his way for me, up and beyond, it was like second nature to him. The man spoiled me to no end.
And now he’s gone.
He’s dead.
My stomach knots at the reminder as I sink into the chair. I’ll admit to only myself that I’ve called Levi’s phone over a dozen times to wake me up from this nightmare. I’m beyond desperate to hear his voice, but he never recorded a message on his voicemail.
All I hear is the annoying-as-fuck robotic woman who repeats his number and tells me to leave a message.
The realization is a hard pill to swallow. It’s one I don’twantto swallow. Not only is Dad gone but now his son.
His real one.
It cements the idea Dad should’ve never brought me into his home. I’m the death threat that lingered over everyone’s head and that bothers the absolute fuck out of me.
Judah was right.
That stupid fucking prick was right.
My brain warp speeds to that cool night. If I knew back then what I know now, I wouldn’t have fought him. I would’ve let Torin’s brother strangle me and take me out right there. Maybe it wouldn’t have saved Dad from the stroke and worrying if Emilio Wildes was going to find me one day. That could’ve helped add years to his life.
Now, I have Ellie and Mae—alone.
It’s not ideal.
With so many bad things and folks linked up to me, it’s the worst place for them to be. But I can’t ship them away. I can’tnotknow where they are. Especially since Matteo is walking around, free as a bird, and breathing the same air as me on this Earth.
Air that I want to constrict from entering his lungs with my own bare hands.
And hewillcome for them next.
I know it.
Juice and Hot Rod know it.
