26. Reeve
TWENTY-SIX
reeve
I’d be labeled a complete weirdo if I stood here behind Bay’s door and watched her undress.
But no one is here.
And when she rips her t-shirt over her head and displays a black laced bra that only exposes her exemplary tits and those hips that fill out her tight jeans, I’m immediately out of interrogation mode and into my dick wants inside.
However, my boy is somewhere within this girl’s grasp and it’s business as usual.
“I hate to break up the show, McQueen, but I gotta know where my boy is.”
Bay spins around so fast that she almost trips over her own feet. Then she lunges for her dresser.
Dressers equal drawers. And drawers equal good hiding spots. And good hiding spots mean weapons.
Guns.
Knives.
Tasers.
Shit, I’m not going to go home bleeding from.
My arm wraps around her middle when she’s quick to spin and delivers a weighty punch to my face, cocking it to the side from the blow. But I’ve been hit so many times for many reasons that my body already knows what to do.
I literally beach whale her with all my weight, falling to the bed with her underneath me and taking the lesser of the two evils from any pinching, squeezing, or causing any marks.
My fingers mindlessly locate both wrists, placing them over her head as she thrashes around like a petrified bunny.
“I wasn’t going to hurt you,” I offer up, as if it matters, fully conscious that she’s not going to listen to me. I’m fraternizing with the enemy of my best friend, my brother, and I’m already a hostile being to her existence.
“How in the fuck did you get in?—”
“Gonna need to know where Wildes is,” I cut in. “And quick.”
“That’s not how this works,” she replies matter-of-factly, tugging once on her wrists. “You have Levi. And I’m not handing you over shit until I get him back.”
“Alright.” I shrug my shoulders, because I don’t fucking want him. Wallace is a dick.
Plus, I’ve had to listen to his threats for most of the day, thanks to Torin’s brilliant idea to teach her a lesson.
Now he’s learning his.
“Name a time and place and I’ll bring him.”
Her blue eyes suspiciously narrow, searching my features for a bullshitted lie. “What—really? You’ll?—”
“I’ll bring him.” She opens her mouth before I ask, “Is he really your boyfriend?” She freezes underneath me, and I’m not sure if it’s because it’ll look like he’s more valuable that way or because she’s scared of what I may do. “Just wanna know what I’m up against.”
“You’re up against him either way.”
“Boyfriends will kill, baby McQueen,” I convey, easing up on my grip. “Friends will throw a few punches.”
“Would it matter?”
“No.” A wave of silence ping-pongs between us, and I’m seriously memorized by how beautiful this chick is. “How are you so damn gorgeous?”
She scoffs at my compliment and tries to lift her body from underneath me. “Would you get off me?”
“No.” She bristles, and I can’t hide my smile. “I’m not like Torin. You might be South Shore, good for you, but I’m not threatened by you.”
“No, you’re worse,” she claims haughtily. “I can’t breathe with your massive weight on me, and you just want to sit here and ask me questions.”
“You’re no damsel in distress,” I counter because I’ve heard the stories.
She’s already nailed Torin a few times and now has his stupid ass kidnapped. Also, funnily enough, she attempted to lay out Cairo. Seeing him pissed—I don’t get to experience that often—has been the highlight of my week.
“I’m still waiting on a few things from you.”
“You’re a fucking creep,” Bay states through a glare, but it’s half-assed. “I’m half naked.”
I make a little groan in my throat. “Please, don’t remind me, McQueen.”
“Levi is my boyfriend, happy?” She says it too fast, so it’s hard to depict that as a myth or that she just longs for her freedom.
“Not until he’s not. However, a deal is a deal.” I roll off her and lie on my side, two steps ahead when I mom-arm her feeble attempt to launch off the bed. “No need to wake the house, McQueen. We’re still talking.”
She shoves at my forearm, but gets nowhere. “We don’t have to do it in my bed.”
“Would you rather I be on top of you again?” A defeated sigh escapes her chest as she stops and lies there, dead as a doornail. “Where do you want to meet?”
“There’s an old industrial street in East Riverside,” she grounds out through her teeth. “It’s mutual ground.”
“What time?”
“Now.”
“You’re not going alone to pick up Wallace.” Slowly, she cranes her head to look at me. “Get it together, baby. You’re mad at Torin. Don’t go making stupid decisions.”
“ You started this.”
I quirk a brow, because I wasn’t even there. This was all Torin, and I cover for his ass all the time, but not with this. He misjudged this girl and better digest that she isn’t going to take his shit nor is she coming crawling back to him to beg for a damn thing either.
I like that shit a lot.
“Ten o’clock,” I reply instead, because I’ve already been tried and judged by this girl. Makes no difference in the grand scheme of things, she’s still going to be mine. “Your sisters can go to school. You can get together with your boys. I’ll have him ready.”
“You want me to wait another day?” She clutches her fingers into tight little balls, and I’m sure she’s wanting to use them on me right now.
“You want to do it in broad daylight? People work on that street. Plus, it’ll keep the peace.”
Bay peers back up at the ceiling. “Fine.”
“Alright.”
We lie next to each other in silence as I get caught up in the pretty edges that line her face. This is a negotiation, and I didn’t even need to do it with my Glock holstered at my back.
No, the way to Bay Astor is the honeyed method. You clap back at her and she’s just going to follow suit.
“Was there anything else?” she presses impatiently. “Or are you finally leaving?”
I don’t want to, but nothing is holding me here. Torin laid claim, but I’m beginning to realize that it’s a bunch of bullshit. She doesn’t want to be his and surely proved she’s not going down without a fight.
“I’ll leave you my number.”
“Just be there at ten,” she retorts, slowly rising to sit. “And I ever find you in my house again”—she steers her focus to me— “I’m going to shoot your dick off.”
“Will you at least hold it first?” She lurches for me, pretending to rain down some sort of pain, but stops short as a chuckle reverberates through my chest. “You’re a feisty little thing, aren’t you?”
“I don’t appreciate strange men striding around in my bedroom.”
“I apologize for that, McQueen,” I surmise. “However, I failed to get your phone number the last time we met.”
Bay keeps her gaze on her ceiling. “You suck at this.”
Ouch.
“Give it time. Soon, you won’t be able to resist me.”
“I’m doing a good job now.” She cranes her head to look over at me. “I mean, I could jump you right now because no one is around.”
“Don’t tease.”
She rises from the bed and points to the window. “ Out .”
I prop myself up with my elbow. “We’re talking.”
“We’re done talking.”
“I’ve told you that I’m not so bad, McQueen. How about I take you out for some ice cream or some shit?”
Her face scrunches. “You want to take me out for ice cream?”
“Yeah.” She stares at me as though I’m either simple, stupid, or both. “Don’t like ice cream? How about pizza?”
“How about you follow directions?”
I rise from her mattress and immediately close the distance between us. She’s barely made another move to lay a smackdown on me and, honestly, I think she likes me. “How about giving me an answer?”
Blue eyes bore into me. “No.”
“I’m a spoiled brat, baby…I always get what I want.”
“Well, I’m not on the market to purchase.”
I nod. “Alright…have it your way. For now. We’ll try again for next time.”
“There won’t be one.”
“There will be.” I stride for the window, but stop at her side, gently brushing her bicep. “Because you won’t stop until you’ve gotten Emilio off your back.”
“How do you know I’m not going to use him to my advantage?”
I perk a brow. “I haven’t seen you over there yet.”
“I’ll be there Friday.”
“And you couldn’t hide a glower if you wanted to. Your facial expressions speak for themselves.” My gaze drops to her chest that’s, unfortunately, covered by her black bra. “And your breathing.”
“What are you, the woman whisperer?”
I smirk. “Has a nice ring to it. However, little McQueen, Emilio won’t be an easy one to appease. And Torin…well, he’s worse. He believes you to be his demise. That you’re going to take down?—”
“I don’t want whatever he has.”
“Then make him believe it. You won’t be able to ignore Emilio, but you’re going to have to get it through his head that you don’t want his throne.”
“He’s not so stupid as to give it to me.”
“Then why did he find you?”
“To make himself feel better? I don’t know.”
“You’re smarter than that, McQueen. You have to be much more than that…question is, why?”
She studies me, looking for a lie. But I’m not about that.
I don’t need to.
Because something doesn’t add up and my boy has yet to see it.
“Good night, McQueen. I’ll be seein’ you.”
“That was it? You just wanted to get Wildes back?”
“That’s it. You’ll learn soon enough…if I want something, you’ll know.”
“Just keep him away from me, Reevie,” she mutters. “I don’t want any trouble. I mean it.”
“I believe you. Especially when you have sisters.” She takes in a sharp, inaudible breath. “However, it’s here. And you need to find out how to get it out of the way. Just keep me and my boys out of it, McQueen. I can’t save you if you’re planning our ruin.”
She rocks her head back and forth. “How do I do that when you’re lookin’ to take South Shore?”
“Who said anything about taking? We’re the new generation.” I give her a smile. “But I’m giving away too much. No one is coming for South Shore. Not from the Forsaken Crew…not yet. Not if there’s no threat.”
“Are you part of that? The Forsaken Crew?”
“I’m one-third of that, yes.” I turn my body to face hers. “Why do you think Emilio is building The Void?”
“Would Torin…turn against his father?”
Yes.
And as beautiful as she is, I’m not that fucking stupid to let her in on that secret.
“Goodnight.”
And then I’m climbing through the window to let her stew on what I said. I can only advise her on what not to do on her side.
Not ours.
Until she gives me a reason to, I’m not going to sign her death warrant yet.