43. Cairo
FORTY-THREE
cairo
A muscle in my jaw keeps ticking as I stand down the hallway from Ozzy’s room, listening to the two of them talk.
He’s speaking, that’s the thing that fucking shocks me the most.
Apparently, he’s also not rocking back and forth on the floor, curled up in his bed to shove away the memories of Vivian and everything that transpired when I wasn’t paying enough attention.
Everything that just happened is because of me.
I didn’t watch my so-called woman enough while she continued to go behind my fucking back and mess with Ozzy. Not only could we not save him from prison, but she visited him there, too, promising him shit that she was never going to follow through on and forever keeping him as her puppy.
But she’s never had to go up against Bay Astor.
A girl who’s currently in his room, not screaming in fear or frustration, but yanking him out of his freaked-out state and throwing him into another.
I need to leave soon. I told Vivian I’d pick her up, but I needed to get things sorted first. If I don’t keep the bitch happy, she will go to Muncy and have Bay arrested.
It’s as simple as that.
Could she still after I take her out on a weekend getaway? Sure. Will she, though? No.
All Vivian is concerned with is digging her nails deeper into my skin and trying to keep me locked down.
That’s it.
She’s not hard to figure out.
“I want her out.” I slowly turn my head to Reeve, his body slouched along the wall as he looks at me with red eyes and one hell of a coming down from his high. “She can’t be here.”
“She’s taking care of Oz.” His face twists slightly, as if it doesn’t matter. As if he doesn’t need it. However, case in point, he does, and he will receive it. “Go to bed, Reeve. I’m not dealing with any more bullshit today.”
“She’s going to rip him apart,” he vouches, but his words hold little conviction to that statement. And he can hide behind all the white powder and liquor he wants, but Reeve will always be a sucker for Bay Astor.
“What other choice do we have?” I counter in a hushed tone. “He’s attached to her, has been way before you, brother.”
“I don’t want to see him fall apart.”
I don’t either.
But he decided on his own to marry her, and he hasn’t been too forthcoming on all the reasons why.
The whole just to protect her aspect doesn’t fully settle well with me as the only reason why we’re here. From Torin discovering the truth about Judah, to her breaking both of their hearts, now Ozzy.
How in the fuck did we get here?
“We won’t let him,” I promise. “We’ll make sure everything?—”
“I can’t with her right now,” Reeve admits. “I want to do so many things to her that’ll hurt.”
He isn’t a violent person, never has been unless provoked to save his own ass. So I can only assume he means mentally. Just where he’s hurting.
I step closer to him and lower my voice. “Why don’t you go lie down? We need to have a meeting tonight—together. Go sleep off some of that coke.”
“I don’t like to. That’s when I see her.”
Hence the late-night partying and his barely sleeping.
“Alright.” I can’t bitch at him anymore; I’ve already reached my quota for the day. And if he isn’t focused on her being here, it’s just one less person to worry about. “How about you go watch some TV, and I’ll get you when I’m ready.”
“I’m going to go call Holly and see if she’ll come over to suck me off.”
I smack his shoulder. “Sure.”
And if she runs into Bay, she’s dead.
That chick doesn’t seem to play too nice with other females. Vivian’s a cunt, but the moment she saw how much it distressed Ozzy, she went from zero to a hundred real quick. He’s already gotten under her skin, and honestly, that’s the best place for him to be right now. I don’t know what Oz would do if she rejected him.
Reeve trudges down the hall and disappears two rooms down to his bedroom. He’s always made it a point to stay close to Ozzy. Like he’s always on standby if he wakes up with nightmares or screams.
“Bay.”
I can hear the desperation in Ozzy’s voice, and it’s mixed with abandonment. I turn toward his room and see her halfway out the door, slowly backing out of it like she’s afraid he’s going to stab her in the back.
“I’m just going to get something to drink,” she replies, but she almost sounds terrified.
What the fuck did he do?
Slowly and quietly, I approach as she takes another step back.
“I’ll be right back…with snacks.” She slides down the hall, not seeing me because her head is down, and she runs right into my chest with half a yelp as my hand covers her mouth to keep my brother from knowing how closely I’m monitoring him.
With my free hand, I place an index finger over my lips and jerk my head for her to follow me.
She comes easily enough as I guide her down a bit from the hall to where we can speak more privately. We need to get on the same page with him because she really can’t fuck with his mental state.
Her chest is falling rapidly up and down, out from a black sweatshirt she wasn’t wearing before, contrasting beautifully against the slight frizziness of her hair from fighting with Vivian.
“What’s wrong, Bay? What happened?” My voice is soft, and she stares at me with tears brimming the edges of those crystal blues.
I fight the urge to wrap her in my arms and comfort her because we’re strictly and always will be just like we are now. I may have jerked my cock off to the sound of her sweet moans and sharp breaths, but I can’t do anything more.
“Bay—” Her hand crashes across my face so fucking hard that it not only jerks it to the side, but I’m shocked I just got pelted for no apparent reason.
Then her chest bumps mine in warning that she’s severely pissed.
“Why didn’t you tell me?” she grinds out, chin lifted to glower up at me. “Why was he watching me for two years?”
“Bay—”
“You’re all shady as fuck,” she clips out. “And I’m?—”
“Lower your voice ,” I demand sharply. “I don’t want him hearing you?—”
“ Fuck you . I’m done with this let’s-be-friends bullshit. There’s nothing I want from you, Sinatra. Do you hear me? I’m out.”
“Stop it?—”
“No, you stop it. You could’ve warned me.”
“ How ?” I challenge back. “When the hell was I supposed to bring up the amount of time my brother has been protecting you, Little T?”
“ Protecting me?” Her blue eyes tighten. “You could’ve figured it out. You’re creative, right?” She points down at the room. “You had me walk in there?—”
“You married him, Bay. He’s not gonna hurt you.”
“I don’t know that.” She takes a well-needed step back. “You can’t expect me to be so fuckin’ naive as to think he won’t hurt me, too.”
“Too…” I repeat, laser-focused on that one singular word. “Who else?”
The anger on her face softens a bit, but she doesn’t stop looking at me like I’m the biggest fucktard of her life. “Nice change of subject. I’m leaving.”
“You’re not,” I retort evenly. “Because you just told that asshole you’re grabbing snacks. You dip out of here, he won’t trust you.”
“I don’t need him to trust me. I don’t trust him.”
“You want him on your side, Little T.”
Bay begins to move around me, clearly not buying into it. “Bye, Sinatra.”
“You won’t be able to fix this one,” I announce, causing her to stop in her tracks. “You do this to Oz, he’ll shut down. You’re making progress. It’s slow but steady. It’s more than anyone else has gotten besides my brothers and me. You’re the only other outsider, in a long time, who has ever been able to get him to talk.”
“Levi does.”
I nod. “He does, so let me rephrase. No other female has been able to get this close to him. And before, he was hidden away. You made him come out.”
She stares down the hall, pending a few beats before asking, “Why did he marry me? What’s the motive?”
“There is no motive. Somehow…Ozzy stuck with you. Which is, by itself, something.”
I watch as she shifts her weight. “Vivian,” she utters out quietly. “What’s up with her and him?”
My stomach knots a bit. “That’s his story. I’m not telling you that.”
“You’re not telling me anything. ”
“And that’s too fuckin’ bad,” I retort, glimpsing over at her. “You aren’t entitled to everything.”
“I am when he’s around my family.”
“Then kick him out, ban him from the house, do whatever it is you need to do to feel safe inside your own home. But you telling him something and turning around on it, that’s Vivian bullshit, Bay. You follow through, period. When it comes to Ozzy, it’s simple. You do what you say, and that’s it. He’s the simplest one out of all of us.”
“You sure about that?”
I lift my shoulders and exhale exasperatedly. “Maybe not. But I will tell you that I know how he operates. And it’s my best advice, Little T. Especially since Reeve and Torin are?—”
“I don’t want to talk about them.” She crosses her arms along her chest as if protecting herself from them, but she’s in their house. And no harm will come to her while I’m present. I’ve already made both of them fuck off.
“But you’re going to know the whole spectrum,” I reply evenly. “Gain another one of us on your side. I promise I won’t let you down.”
Her head slowly cranes over to me, and I see a hint of uncertainty in her blues before she blinks, and it’s gone. “Why do you keep trying?—”
“Because I know what you are. They know what you are, and look at what you’ve done to them. No one has ever had the power to break us apart. Not the war, Emilio, Ramsey, or any upcoming gang that tried to take what was ours. You’re powerful, Bay. You’re as stubborn as you are beautiful. You’re empathic and hardheaded. There’s nothing you can’t do. And Ozzy…I would’ve ripped him from you if I believed for one second what I didn’t see before.”
“Which was?”
“Vivian.”
Bay turns her body so that she’s fully facing me. “She hurt him?”
“I can’t?—”
“Did she hurt him?” she grinds out, brows pinched in fury.
And regardless of how she feels or thinks, Bay Astor doesn’t even know herself.
Ozzy may have freaked her out with what he said—which was the truth—but she’s already accepted him. He’s already in her circle.
She just doesn’t know what to do with allowing herself to trust.
“I’m only going to say this one time, Little T…” I lift her chin higher by the crook of my index finger. “It’s not my place to say. However…she did. And how she did it, why she did it, those are all things you’ll get from Ozzy himself. Not me. Not until he’s ready.”
“But he’s never going to be ready?—”
“Give him time,” I retort softly. “Be patient.”
She averts her eyes and narrows them, clearly not liking that answer. But she has no other choice. “Fine.”
“That’s a good girl.” My thumb shoots out to brush along the softness of her cheek, and that’s when she looks back at me. “I have to go pack and shit. So, I’ll grab your snack for him, and then I’ll walk you out when you’re ready.”
“Where are you going?” I shake my head, and she pulls from my touch, suddenly remembering what I said before. “You can’t be serious? You’re still going to take Vivian on some dumb-ass romantic?—”
“I told her?—”
“That bitch isn’t going to rat me out to her dad if I break her jaw.”
I force down the smirk that begins to form. Bay doesn’t need to know that her little temper tantrum sparks something anywhere inside me.
“I’ll deal with it.” She opens her mouth and then promptly closes it. “Go on. Say what you’ve got to say.”
“This is bullshit,” she grinds out. “You shouldn’t have to cater to that bitch.”
“Well, I wouldn’t need to if you didn’t steal her car.” Bay huffs and lifts her shoulders. “I bought it for her, so technically, you stole from me.”
“I don’t know if you’re a moron or just a bitch.”
A chuckle rumbles from my chest because I’m not the latter.
However, it would seem like that from the outside.
All I’ve ever given Vivian was to shut her up, keep her happy, and permit me time to gain my Titan seat so I could deal with the sheriff on my own.
“It’s not funny,” Bay retorts. “You, of all people?—”
“I have everything planned out,” I emit matter-of-factly. “You don’t need to be worrying about me.”
“I’m not worried about you. You’re just wasting your time.”
“I’m biding my time.”
“Whatever,” she sasses back with a wave of her hand. “You don’t need that kind of energy.”
“I’ll keep that in mind for the future. Meanwhile, stay away from Vivian.”
“I did,” she counters. “Then, she approached me.”
“Because you were stealing her car.” Her lips coil into a ghost of a smirk before she gets ahold of it. “You’re an asshole.”
“Yeah, well…” She bats her eyelashes at me. “At least, I’m a pretty one.”
I grunt my retort, but it’s bullshit. She’s fucking as beautiful as she is a pain in my whole ass.
Now I get to spend a whole weekend getting harassed by my ex who doesn’t believe she’s my ex because of her ass.
“You’re a violent one,” I finally answer. “One who would throw the first punch.”
“Not at her.”
“Vivian would never throw the first hit.”
Bay bobs her head in agreement. “You’re right.”
“Shit, let me write that down.” I reach for my phone out of my back pocket. “Hold on, say it again so I can record it.” Bay smacks at my hand, and I smile. “What? I just want to play it every time you want to go at it with me.”
“Go grab some juice boxes and something salty, then you can get onto your date, Sinatra.”
“Aw, Little T,” I coo with a smirk. “If I didn’t know any better, I’d say you sounded jealous.”
Bay lifts her chin proudly, and I can’t help but want to just push it a step further, but I refrain. “Good thing you know better, then.”
Touche.
“I’ll be right back.”
“Don’t forget a snack for me,” she says as I begin to walk away toward the kitchen.
“You had your snack, Little T. I was standing right in front of you.”
Her scoff is undeniable.
However, she doesn’t deny that fact.