6. Torin
SIX
torin
I’m really beginning to think she forgot about me.
All my dark promises whispered in her ear. The way my hard cock felt in her palm when she stroked me that one time and drove me wild.
I’ve always had a hard-on for Bay Astor.
However, it didn’t always start out like that. The chick was—at the time—timid, quiet, and a bit annoying, but still hot as hell.
Back in those days, Bay Astor was a prize.
A weapon.
Something I could use against the bothersome and irritating wannabe gangbanger, Matteo De Leon, because it bothered the ever-loving shit out of him when I was near her. When I was eye-fucking her from across the way and there wasn’t shit he could do about it but run his mouth and spit out empty threats.
Matteo wasn’t built like me in the sense that his little Pistol Posse was some brand-new group wanting to make waves in our world. I outnumbered him by triple the numbers and even more now that so many years have gone by.
Then shit changed.
They broke up and she went back to South Shore. A place that I couldn’t openly go to find her. However, when I did see her again about a year later, she was no longer a blonde but this gorgeous dark-haired beauty who still had the same effect on me.
The problem was, and is, that she’s Levi Wallace’s sidekick. She never leaves his fucking immediate vicinity.
And that actually pisses me off more than when she dated De Leon.
There’s no reason why she would be runnin’ with him unless she was with him. To where he got to run his unworthy hands up her body and experience what she feels like from the inside.
I always wondered why Levi Wallace allowed her to date that prick. Matteo was an up-and-coming, had shit for brains and was a little too ambitious. Being in this business is risky, reckless even, and you need some wit and rationality with you to stay alive.
And trust me, I’ve had my share of assassination attempts. One by her ex’s hands, which caused me to burn half of his drug houses down in retaliation.
Bay Astor was always supposed to be mine.
I made those promises to her a dozen times, and I’m pissed that she never came to me after she kicked De Leon to the curb. She just ran off to my mortal enemy and became his .
However, Bay isn’t the same girl who was untainted by the world we were raised in. She’s harder and more reality-checked from what’s been taking place between our two towns.
We’re sworn enemies by circumstance and not choice.
Any other way would’ve been easier for me to make Bay what she was always supposed to be. My so-called crush, if you will, definitely hasn’t withered away.
I’m actually more interested and enamored and that’s probably because my pride doesn’t want to fuck off and take a loss.
And I’m always searching for ways to fuck Wallace over every chance I get.
She may run with more prominent muscles and a man with a bit more brains than her ex. However, I can’t say it was a good move. Levi Wallace isn’t shit, will never be worth shit, and I’m tired of the fucking prick always traipsing around and causing shit.
For example, tonight.
Those guns he stole were ones that I was going to rip off my own brother. Ramsey’s stupid ass decided to make a choice by having his cargo go through rival territory and now I have to put in double the work to gain what I set out to do in the first place.
All because Wallace is touching things that doesn’t belong to him.
Yet, standing on top of this shipping container with guns going off around us, I’m staring at an ass that doesn’t belong to the young teenage girl who I chased every chance I got.
But one that I need to own for my damn self.
Though, the moment my words promptly leave my lips, I’m presented with a shiny gun aimed at me and Bay on her back.
Gone is that innocence I enjoyed.
She was this beacon in the world of darkness and havoc. Someone who didn’t really belong but was around anyway. A girl that would make me forget the constant bullshit I was pulled into left and right.
“Get the fuck down,” she orders, steel laced in that slightly deep voice of hers and, I don’t know who the hell she thinks she’s talking to, but it sure as fuck isn’t me. “Or you’re going to get blown off this thing.”
“That’s no way to greet a friend, Astor,” I reply calmly because she wouldn’t.
There’s no way she’s so deep in this game that she’d shoot my ass.
No fucking way.
“You’re not a friend,” she leers, not moving an inch, which means she’s allegedly getting ready to press on that trigger if I make one sudden move forward. “Now, get out.”
I’m a little disappointed that my reputation hasn’t reached her yet.
I mean, I’m not Al Capone by any means. However, I am trepidation walking around in these streets.
I just waltzed my ass into Levi Wallace’s sinkhole for fuck’s sake to be the second person to steal my brother’s guns tonight. Though, I can’t say that Wallace probably talks about me on a daily. There’s definitely no love there.
“I don’t follow orders from girls with guns,” I retort simply. “Plus, baby, you better not miss if you do decide to yank on that trigger.”
“You don’t make the fuckin’ rules when you’re in my town, Pretty Boy. You let me go the other night. Now, I’m extending the same offer without blowing your dick off in the process.”
My lips curl into a shitty smirk. “You know, as well as I do, that if you harm a hair on my head, Wildfire, that you cause a war.”
“Then you’re a stupid ass because there are many things I can do with you that’ll gain me some movement against The Landings.”
“Such as?”
There’s plenty of shit South Shore could do to me that might make them believe they’ll gain an upper hand, but I don’t have faith that my father is going to go out of his way to save me.
He does have another son, after all.
“Why don’t you fuck around and find out?” she shoots back but, little does she know, I already am.
Because rising up behind her is my boy, Cairo, and he’s hella pissed for the other night when she cold-clocked him in the side of the head.
“Baby, you don’t want to be a casualty of the shit that your boyfriend is doing. I can guarantee you won’t like the end result.”
“You sure do like to talk, don’t you?”
Not particularly, but I’m buying Cairo some time as he edges closer, careful not to make too much movement against the metal ceiling of this shipping container for her to notice.
“Drop the gun, Bay.”
“Fuck you, Torin.”
She’s seriously starting to piss me off that she still has that 9mm directed at me. I was trying to give her some leeway and that she got smarter over the years. I’m the fucking mayhem that keeps South Shore on its toes at all times.
And I like that.
“Last chance,” I warn. “Because when the tables are turned, you’re not getting away from me again.”
She scoffs haughtily, and that’s when Cairo lunges for the gun, pulling it off me first before it actually fires in the air.
She was going to fucking shoot me.
With a few movements, my best friend gets the weapon out of her hand, and that’s when I think she’s going to get up, and start double-backing in talks of getting out of this.
Instead, she spins on her ass, directing her heels toward Cairo, and thrusts one into his nuts.
Immediately, he almost goes down to his knees, cowering a bit, but he’s quick to right himself. The barrel of her weapon quickly aimed at her chest and, if she wasn’t a person of my interest right now, he may have already yanked on it.
She was going to fucking shoot me.
Fuck, she’s going to be trouble.
Travis remains faithfully at her side, white as a sheet under the moonlight casting the perfect lighting for this shitshow. His loyalty is unparalleled when he has nothing to offer.
I should let Travis go.
The last thing I need is to catch heat from Sheriff Muncy for having to off his ass. The fat fuck may work for my father, but we’ve never seen eye to eye. I’ve always thought he was a waste on the payroll, while the old man sees differently.
“That wasn’t very nice, Wildfire,” I scold, striding toward her back. “I may have to have you lick it better for poppin’ my boy in his junk.”
“Torin, let her go,” Travis emits finally, as if his opinion is going to have any sway around here. “Levi is going to be back any minute.”
I cock my head to the side because, for as long as I remember, Levi and I have been going at it nonstop. It’s like second fucking nature at this point. Everyone and their mom knows that.
“And why would that bother me?” I steer my focus back to Cairo, who’s simply waiting for my next move. “Lie down, Trav.”
“No—” My Glock is already in my palm. because I knew he’d never put his guard down or not fight me on the matter.
Bay glances over at him, giving him a nod and I’m not sure if she says anything because I can’t hear it.
My so-called disability plays a huge factor in my straining to hear anything when it comes to being in the dark and not being able to fully see lips well. The moon may be helping me, Bay’s loud mouth is being used to my advantage, but it could be a downfall for me if not played right.
Travis lies down, and I use the moment to sign at Cairo while Bay isn’t looking, “ We need to get her out of here. ”
Cairo uses his free hand at his side to respond back with, “ You think Wallace is protecting her? ”
“I think he’s doing more than that.”
And that sends a whole other wave of pissed coursing through my body and yet another reason why I can’t stand Levi Wallace.
My best friend doesn’t need anything else from me when he orders to Bay, “Get up. We’re going for a ride.”
“No.” That response from her doesn’t stop Cairo from reaching down and hauling her up by the fabric of her white tee. “Get off me, prick.”
“Shut the fuck up,” he snaps before she can start wrestling around with him, turning her around to face me. “Let’s move.”
“My dad works with yours.” Travis props himself up by his elbow, having this moronic need to remind me of that fact. “Don’t make trouble when there aren’t grounds or a cause.”
There’s always peril when it comes to the two of us—Levi and myself—this is just another day in the life.
“They’re not going to listen to us,” Bay tells Trav. “They just want blood and a reason so save your breath.”
“I’d say there is when you stole what’s not yours, baby.” Bay slides her focus to me, pulled flush against Cairo’s chest. “So I guess I should take it out on you then.”
“Touch me and I’ll kill you.”
My lips heave again, I can’t help it. “Will you?” She doesn’t respond, which only prompts the thought that Bay isn’t as hard as she claims to be. “Ah, that’s right…you’re South Shore. With a whole lot of hate in your veins. Almost as much as me.”
My motions are quick, and I don’t give them a second thought to show her how serious I am about what I said.
Never been one to repeat myself anyway.
My gun goes off, followed by Travis’s howl of pain and maybe surprise. Then I do it again for good measure because she’s done with fucking with me tonight.
If she’s under South Shore’s care—under Levi’s especially—then I have a whole other slew of problems that I might not want to dabble in.
However, taking Levi’s girl might get me what I want back.
Bay jerks toward her friend to help, but Cairo’s long fingers wrap around her jaw to keep her steady with my gaze. Always the perfect sidekick and person to bring around when I need someone to have my back. I trust that motherfucker with my life, all day, every day.
Yet, we’re running out of time, since I decided to get louder with my gun going off and fuck knows where Wallace is right now.
“I told you to move, but you wanted to keep that pretty ass standing here, didn’t you?” Bay attempts to pry her face from Cairo’s hold, to no avail. “You’re gonna come nice and quiet. Or I’m going to take something else out on you, Wildfire.”
She doesn’t respond, and that only causes Cairo to press the barrel of his gun into her temple.
“I wanna hear a yes come from those fuckable lips,” my best friend retorts with cold, dark eyes.
“Might want to answer him, Wildfire,” I press, stealing a glance at Travis, who’s rolling back and forth in sheer pain. “Your friend is bleeding out pretty bad.”
“ Yes ,” she blurts so quickly that I actually have to repeat it once in my head.
“Let’s go.” Cairo shoves her, but she only stumbles a step forward before stopping and stealing a glance at Travis. “ Now. ”
Bay steers her attention to me and it’s murderous. “You’re going to be the first one I watch die.”
Reaching her within a second, I wrap my hand around her bicep to follow suit. “And who do you think is going to die if those guns aren’t delivered back to me?”
“ You wanna cause a war now?”
“Wallace knows that fighting over a woman isn’t worth it.”
“I’m more than that,” she leers, and the temperature in my blood spikes to boiling.
“Oh, I bet you are,” I grind out, yanking her forward, toward the edge of the shipping container.
And I didn’t need the friendly reminder either.
Her elbow suddenly rams into my gut before Bay is sprinting toward the other end of the shipping container. Cairo fires off a shot, but not in her direction; however, it doesn’t stop Bay from falling to her ass.
And then she’s gone, disappearing over the edge.
Like I said, too much fucking trouble.
My best friend and I immediately follow, and we’re on the ground within seconds.
“Split up,” I order, starting North for any sign of her. The sound of gunshots is a distant memory, but some are still going off. Wallace’s men are holding their own against the dozen I brought with me tonight.
Lucky bastard .
Sprinting forward, I glance down each aisle of shipping containers, knowing she can’t be that far. The little escape artist is getting on my last fucking nerve right now, and I’m not sure what I’m going to do with her when I catch her, but I’m definitely going to make a point.
Except she does first.
When a fucking two-by-four swings out and slams right into my chest, knocking the next breath out of my lungs and I instantly know who’s behind it.
Bay wields it again from my peripheral, this time trying to take my head off with the damn thing when I block it with my forearm. It’ll earn me a bruise there tomorrow and an instant pain shoots up said limb. Then I’m on her, thrusting her spine into the side of the metal wall of a container and listening to her head do the same.
I really don’t care.
This is the second time we’ve been within arm’s length and she’s not getting herself out of this one.
“Wildfire,” I ground out through a tight jaw. “I’m going to fuck you into the ground if you hit me one more fucking time.”
Bay doesn’t take my free advice, connecting a fist with my ribcage and causing a grunt to leave my throat.
I’ve had enough.
With some effort, it takes me a minute to gather up both of her wrists and hover them over her head before she propels her head forward.
Nope.
Been there, fucking did that already, and I’ve quickly learned that she’ll use any avenue to inflict pain.
When I’m able to get a handle on her appropriate nickname that fits her attitude, I say, “Now, let’s talk.”
“Let’s not,” she spits out sharply. “How many times do I need to tell you to leave me alone.”
“A few more, apparently.” My free palm glides up her thigh and clasps onto her curvy hip. She smells like fresh air and mustard, but it doesn’t throw me off any. “I like you better with your real hair color.”
“You don’t know my real hair color,” she clips back.
“You’re a brunette, baby. I know you better than you think.”
“Then I’ll be sure to become a blonde in the next twenty-four hours. Thanks for that.”
I roll my eyes because there isn’t anything this woman could to do turn me off. “Still won’t make you any less fuckable, Astor.” I drop my gaze down her front, getting my first real good look at her tonight. “Though, I am proud…you left that fucking De Leon finally. Except you didn’t come looking for me.”
“And why the hell would I do that?”
She has a point. I wasn’t much better. I desired power and my thug ass was running around without parents who gave a shit.
Except, De Leon treated her like shit, and I would’ve worshipped her until I had my fun.
“Because I know you wanted me to fuck you as badly as I wanted to do it,” I profess honestly. “It’s been a long time, baby. But I’m still undeniably attracted to you.”
Bay averts her gaze from me. “I knew you were an asshole, Wildes. But I didn’t think you were delusional as fuck.”
Apparently so.
And maybe I’m beating a dead horse at this point. But I’ve never run across a woman like Bay who’s kept my damn attention for this long.
“Alright, Wildfire,” I emit through a growl. “Where are my fucking guns?”
“Up your ass and around—” I peel her spine off the cold metal and slam her right back into it.
“Shut up and tell me.”
“Will Daddy get mad if you don’t come home with them?”
I could literally roll my eyes right now because Daddy Wildes won’t know any better. In fact, I’m still going to allow Wallace to take the fall on that.
“Don’t worry your little head about it,” I drawl back. “I’m just coming back for what’s mine.”
“Should’ve thought about that before you had them coming through our ports.”
“Not my decision, I can assure you.”
She leans forward, getting dangerously close to my face. “I’m not telling you anything. So, beat it, Wildes.”
“Is that supposed to turn me off?”
“Are you saying I still turn you on?”
“Unfortunately, a little bit. Let’s just say…I can’t say I’m mad that I found you again.”
“Mhmm,” she hums, sounding as though she’s trying to categorize how to feel about it. “I wish I could say the same.”
Then her knee connects with my balls, proving to me how much of a fucking idiot I am for not thinking of what she had just done moments ago to Cairo.
This is the last time I underestimate this girl.
The very last time.
Because she disappears into the night, and I don’t see her again.