41. Cairo
FORTY-ONE
cairo
“So, you’re a coffee snob.”
I steer my focus to the girl who won’t stop talking, blue eyes—that are more like soul suckers—aimed at me.
She’s been constantly worrying about her sister and friend since we got here. The demand to go back after I stole my keys from her so she couldn’t go back made her big-mad.
Whatever.
I mean, fuck that we were shot at, her loyalty runs deep for family and friends, so there’s that, yet you can still fucking die. There’s a difference between being stupid as fuck and having a plan.
“How did you know Matteo had AKs?” she asks me. “It was as though you were peeking from the window.”
“Word on the street,” I deadpan over my recycled coffee cup. The Grind makes the best coffee and drinks around for a little pick-me-up, and I need something to get my head on straight that’s not a fifth of tequila.
“Right, gang stuff.” She says it as though she’s not part of it or that it’s below her in every sense of the word.
“Right, shit you’re into, too,” I volleyball back.
Her face twists. “No, I’m not.”
“Do you run with Wallace?”
“Describe run .”
I hit her with an exasperated glower before taking a sip of my hot latte and ignoring the comment.
She’s like a fucking frisbie, spinning round and round, but she keeps coming back. So, I guess, that makes her a boomerang.
“Can we go?” she presses for the millionth time, fidgeting in the chair across from me. “I need to get back?—”
“No.” Yeah, one-word answers aren’t really her favorite because the moment I see her fingers clasp under the table, I know she’s about to flip it. “I have your sister coming up here.”
Her eyes bulge a bit. “Wha—really? Are you serious?”
“Do I look like I’m kidding?”
Bay gapes at me for a beat before her spine hits the back of her chair. “Huh.”
And that’s all that she says, observing me like it’s something she needs to pass a final exam for. She takes me in and gives shit away, the tip of her tongue pushing her cheek out a tad.
“ What ?” I finally snap, because she’s fucking past annoying me.
“Why are you being nice to me? I had you jumped.”
I scoff. “That wasn’t being jumped, Astor. That was being half-ass cornered.”
“I could’ve had you shot.”
“But you didn’t.” I lift a brow. “Why was that again?”
She shrugs dismissively. “I already shot one of you this month. If you want me to tack you on for the next one, just let me know.” I roll my eyes. “Who has my sister?”
“Reeve.”
Her shoulders seem to relax at the mention of his name, and it also shuts her up, too.
The clattering and sounds of coffee machines hum in the background as Bay looks out the window to her right and it doesn’t take a brain scientist to know that she has a lot on her mind. That she ran into her piece of shit ex who just shot her best friend.
And I don’t even know if she’s dead yet. I didn’t ask.
All I was worried about was getting the fuck out of there and into a safer spot while I’m aware she has two younger sisters she takes care of.
“Well, what’s this?” My focus slides to my side, finding Vivian in a pink dress with a scowl so heated it only means that I’m going to get more of a woman’s bitching than I had hoped for tonight. “Are you on a fucking date ?”
“Dates speak to each other,” I reply tersely. “And get the hell out of here, Vivian.”
But that’s a waste of breath, because she never does what I ask her to do.
“What is she doing here?” She points at Bay, who’s quick to slap her finger away.
“Don’t do that,” she clips out. “Shit’s rude.”
“Bitch, I will have your ass beat. The fuck are you doing with my—” Bay’s chair flies back, hitting the one behind her and catching on its back so it doesn’t crash to the floor.
Meanwhile, Emilio Wildes’s daughter rounds the table and aligns with Vivian, who only stands an inch taller because she’s in heels.
“I’m really not in the mood right now,” Bay grounds out with her hands balled tightly at her sides. “No one wants your man but you. Trust me when I say it’ll stay that way.”
“Get out of my face ,” Vivian carps back.
“Keep runnin’ your fucking mouth or I’m going to shut it. Do you understand?—”
“Bay,” I chime in, her name my one and final warning to not start shit. She’s not the only one not in the mood.
She hesitates before following my instruction, taking a small step back to give my ex some space.
I’m only able to appreciate her listening to me for a mere moment because that’s when Vivian does what Vivian always does.
And that’s taking it a step further when there’s really no need to.
She reaches out for Bay and latches on to her long black hair, yanking down on it so hard that Bay actually bends forward.
Quickly rising, I’m between them in seconds, my back to Bay and my hand wrapped around Vivian’s throat.
“Let fucking go,” I growl out, meeting determined and angry forest-green eyes. “I already told you that I’m not on a fuckin’ date, and even if I was, that’s none of your damn business.”
“It is my business,” Vivian leers, unafraid of my grip around her neck. “We’re together. And I’ll be damned if some South Shore slut spreads her legs for you.”
“I’ll fuck her if I want to and this obsessive little bitch fit you’re having isn’t attractive. Drop her.”
“You better get her to do it, Cairo,” Bay warns through what sounds to be clenched teeth. “Or she’s going to have a broken nose.”
Vivian chuckles. “I’d love to see her try.”
Fine.
Fuck it.
I slide out from between them, giving Bay her opportune moment to do whatever the hell she wants.
I warned Vivian and now she has to pay the consequences for her actions. No longer am I her savior nor do I give a shit what happens to her.
Vivian and my love affair has been dead for years.
Bay’s clenched fist is already wailing in the direction of my ex when I hear the scream of my name in its wake.
It’s a desperate plea, almost frantic, as Bay connects with her target.
Using the limited time allotted, while Vivian is stumbling back a few paces, Bay’s trying to pull it together. Her chest pulls upward in quickly paced breaths, like a wild animal about to wreak havoc at any given time.
Matteo’s little visit fucked her up more than I thought it did, I think.
Vivian immediately rushes her, slamming into her body but Bay’s quick to get the upper hand.
Whipping around her body, Bay clenches the back of Vivian’s gold necklace wrapped around her neck and jerks on it.
My ex’s eyes bulge as she reaches for the piece of jewelry, already experiencing the cut-off oxygen to her lungs and the satisfying sound of her choking.
“What was that about beating my ass?” Bay leers, and my cock—that fuckin’ thing —actually twitches in my jeans. Her blue eyes are mad with fury and absolutely stunning to look at.
Like they always are.
“Bay.”
Looping my focus around, Reeve is standing there with a teenage girl who looks slightly like the woman who’s about to kill my ex, but she currently has her view obstructed by my brother’s hand.
Bay’s wild blues bolt onto Reeve, and she promptly lets go of Vivian, stepping around her body to get to her sister.
“Ellie.”
Reeve removes his hand and her sister is quick to find her older sibling and rushes her.
Bay already has her arms open for her, pulling her to her chest and rocking her from side to side. Reeve’s focus is glued to the two of them while I step forward to keep Vivian the fuck out of the conversation.
“How did you get separated?” Bay asks her sister, already seeming to forget what she’s just done.
“It all happened so fast,” her sister replies. “The explosion was so loud, and then everyone seemed to start fighting. Levi got hit and he tried to stay close to me, but we got cut off from each other. Some girl tried to pull my hair and?—”
“What was she wearing?” Bay moves away from her so she can look down at Ellie, and I can tell she ramping up to do some more damage control.
Meanwhile, I sign silently to Reeve, “ Get Vivian the fuck out of here. ”
My brother doesn’t need any more explanation and my ex doesn’t put up a fight over it either. Still trying to catch her breath from her near-death experience because it may have been one if I didn’t stop it.
“I don’t know,” Ellie replies. “A purple top, I think, and a silver skirt.” Bay stiffs, glancing over the door to the coffee shop to probably go fuck said girl up right now.
“She’s okay,” I mutter to her. “No need to get involved with what’s going on out there but in here. It was Matteo De Leon and his boys looking to show out. We’ll stay here until you hear from Levi.”
“Nessa had my phone,” she reminds me before I’m pulling mine out.
Handing it over, Bay quickly hits the keys and brings it up to Ellie’s ear. “Go outside and let him know where we are and to come pick us up.”
Ellie does exactly what she asks, and that’s when Bay pivots around and faces me. The smell of motor oil and something sweet fills my nostrils and I hold my breath.
This girl…
“Where’s your girlfriend?”
“You’re not about to go for round two, Little Terror. Chill out.”
“I just wanted to say goodbye…with my foot.”
My lips heave. “You’re an asshole, you know that? I’ll handle her.”
“You’re doing a good job.” My brows clench. “Why don’t you just ship her off to the middle of nowhere.”
Because she’s Sheriff Muncy’s daughter.
“You drivin’?” I inquire instead.
“Your car was nice,” she vouches as though she’s seriously thinking about it.
“Don’t think about stealing that one,” I light warn. “I don’t do second chances.”
Bay cocks her head to the side. “I’m not so sure about that.”
“Wildfire.”
Torin is now currently present, quickly studying Bay as he closes the distance between them. “What the fuck happened?”
“Nothing.” Bay waves a hand in the air as if to make it go away. “Everything’s fine.”
“ She ran into De Leon ,” I sign at her back, which Torin sees.
My brother’s face turns murderous. “Did he touch her? Where the fuck is he?”
“Needed to get out of there,” I advise, trying to keep him calm, but the two of them together are like a firework explosion. Though, thankfully, Bay has seemingly started to calm down. “We were outnumbered and gunned.”
“I’ll fix that.” He begins to pivot around toward the exit door when Bay’s hand shoots out to grab him.
“What are you doing?” she chides. “Are you crazy? Don’t start shit with Matteo.”
Torin whips around and gets right into her face. “Why? You don’t want me to hurt your ex-boyfriend now? How many other things can’t I fuckin’ do, Bay?”
“Stop,” I order, stepping closer to them so that Bay doesn’t wrap her hands around Torin’s neck next and finish the job that she just tried to do with Vivian. “It’s been a shit night. And you’re both making my coffee cold.”
I steal a glance at Torin, and he’s pissed. I know he has some rooted feelings for Bay, but we’re not about to go peppering off shells at Matteo because of things past.
“ Leave it. ”
Torin glowers at me before taking off, and I’m not worried about him doing something stupid because I’ll kill him. And, he knows damn well, that we’re not in any position to add any more to our plates.
“He’s not going to do anything, is he?” I glance over at Bay and shake my head before Ellie comes striding back into the coffee shop.
“Levi is on his way.”
Bay nods. “Good. Have you heard back from Peter yet?”
“Yeah,” she replies quietly, probably because I’m standing right here. “He wants to go to a movie.”
“You say yes?” Bay tries to sound excited. I’m assuming Peter is a crush of her sister’s or something.
“I was going to ask you first if it was okay.”
“Of course, it is. Just…” Bay scratches the edge of her hairline before continuing with, “We’ll talk more about it when we get home. We can go through my closet, and you can pick something to wear.”
“Can I wear your leather jacket?”
Bay immediately groans out loud. “Ugh, my prized possession, though? Can’t you pick anything else?”
“You never wear it,” Ellie retorts. “And I’ll take good care of it.”
“Girl, you’ll get buttery popcorn on it, and I’ll have to kill you.”
“I’m not going to get butter on it. I’m not a kid.” They stare at each other, waiting for a few seconds for the other to back down. “C’mon, Bay. I promise to take good care of it.”
“Yeah, c’mon, Bay,” I urge, clearly not in this conversation, but her sister sounds like a good kid. “Share.”
“Why don’t you be quiet?” she mutters under her breath.
“Oh, you mean like you?” I hold out my hand for Bay’s sister. “I’m Cairo, Bay’s sister. What’s your name?”
I obviously know it, but I don’t want to give away how I’ve looked Bay up, and her family. Plus, it’s only polite to allow her to introduce herself.
“Her name is you’re never going to see her again,” Bay replies instead for her with a foreboding warning.
“Ellie.” She returns my hand gesture gently, overlooking her sister's comment.
“It’s nice to meet you.” I flick my victorious gleam at Bay before landing back to Ellie. “Your sister and I go way back so I apologize for the back-and-forth.”
“You do?” Ellie inquires with a lifted brow.
“Oh, yeah. We met in jail.”
Her blue eyes bulge then. “ Jail ?”
“Are you serious?” Bay complains through a whine, lightly hitting my bicep with her fist.
“How?” Ellie solicits, sounding intrigued and excited as she steps closer. Then she steals a glance at her older sister. “You went to jail , Bay?”
“God…yeah”—she brings her fingers up to one temple— “but it was…it’s a long story. I didn’t get in trouble.”
“But…what did Mom do?”
Bay isn’t so quick to answer that question, alluding that she’s suddenly reluctant to talk about it.
My mom hates me.
I remember her saying that clear as day. How her face fell, and disappointment filled her eyes. No child should ever endure that, and it made me wonder why she’d feel that way.
“She was happy to see me home,” Bay replies, but there’s no truth behind those words, forging me to believe it was the exact opposite.
Levi doesn’t take long to show up, and when he sees Reeve and I, he doesn’t utter a word or form a glare. He only pulls the two girls into his chest and squeezes them tightly to him.
His weakness .