42. Bay
FORTY-TWO
bay
“Things are heating up, it seems, and I don’t want you held up in the crossfire.”
Already happened.
Matteo grazed Nessa’s shoulder and she played dead the whole time.
Smart bitch.
“And what happens after this alleged time?” I ask, watching two little boys swing on a swing set, their giant smiles contagious if I was sitting on a park bench with someone who I thought that hell would need to freeze over first before I say here speaking with him today.
“That’s up to you,” the devil himself divulges. “This isn’t some sick trick to get you to convert to a side. If you don’t want to come live with me, or even be associated, that’d be something I’d have to deal with.”
Yeah, fucking right.
I’m here on a stupid inkling that I can come up with a peaceful separation from the man who holds my parentage. He texted me, calmly and short, and asked to meet me to go over a few things at a mutual spot. I can’t say my first thought was that I wanted to come. However, he’s already bullied me with threats about Ellie and Mae, is privy to where they go to school, where we all live, and probably my damn social security number.
Yet, this whole give this a fair chance chant is really starting to drive me crazy.
“You don’t come off as a man who takes no for an answer.” I steer my gaze to Emilio, watching the people in the park enjoy time with their families. And, dare I say, he almost looks disheartened by it.
“Normally…I’m not. However, I’m not going to force my only daughter into a life she doesn’t desire.”
“You’ve already threatened my sisters.” Emilio glimpses over his shoulder to peer down at me. His gray suit is perfectly pressed to his body, and it matches some of the grays that lace in his styled, shortened hair.
I can’t miss the blues in his eyes that match mine nor the tests that have come back that honor what he says to be true.
I am a Wildes.
Whether I want to be or not.
“Distasteful,” he replies with his deep octave. “But it seems to be the only way to get your attention.”
“What about Roger?”
“What about him?” He doesn’t pry his set of blues off mine, pending my answer, and to show me how supposedly he’s not going to make any more dumbass moves.
“You sent two masked men into my house to hurt us,” I remind him through clenched teeth.
He gives a dismissive shrug of his broad shoulders as if that was nothing, nor something I should be worrying about. “Call it a moment of weakness and pettiness. Torin gets that from me.”
They all get something from him.
Torin and his constant vendetta about me ripping him off with all the shit he’s been given. The night Cairo and his cronies lit up our—what once was—a safe place to store our stolen shit.
Now, Levi is searching for somewhere else, and he’s been in a mood about it for days.
The only person I haven’t seen an ounce of bullshit from besides his constant flirting is Reeve.
“No wonder I don’t like him.”
Emilio actually chuckles. “Torin has ideas of his own. He has a lot on his plate.”
“And Ramsey?” Call it curiosity or just preparing myself for the worst from my enemies, but I’d like to be aware of what I’m up against at any time of the day.
“Ramsey is what I told you. Since he’s traveled with me, the Forsaken Crew fell to Torin. Now, we’re building another force to protect The Landings.”
“From what?”
“From South Shore, from any other town or gang that tries to rival ours. Whether I like it or not, the hatred between our towns is ongoing.”
“Yet, you had Levi Wallace in the palm of your hands when Torin took him.”
And I hate thinking about that, but it’s true. My best friend could be dead right now and that could never be fixed, bartered, or ever repaired.
“What good would that do me, Haven?” He returns his attentive focus back to the beach and I don’t bother correcting him on my name. “I was hoping that if you wanted to build a bond, very slowly of course, that maybe you would like to help build The Void.”
“And how would that happen if I would’ve died in that bar?”
Emilio doesn’t falter a bit when he says, “Did you?” I stare at him, and he averts his attention back to the playground. “I’m not going to kill you. Unless you’re planning on killing me. You have an opportunity here. One that I’m not able to act upon, only you.” I wait for the ball to drop, keeping my lips in a fine line because, with each second that goes by, I feel as though I’m betraying Levi more and more by being here. “Gain a Titan seat.”
“No.” The answer is firm and immediately off my lips. “That’s…I can’t.”
“You know, out of all my children, it goes to you, right? And in turn…that’s going to make Torin despise you even more.”
“You’re not doing a good job with selling me on this.”
Emilio releases a light chuckle. “I suppose I’m not. However, you are my bloodline. My only blood.”
That you almost killed because I wanted nothing to do with you.
“I hear your oldest son is a…a little off his rocker.”
“I won’t deny that Ramsey is bloodthirsty. It’s what kept men fearful of him and, in our world, that’s what you want. However, the Titan seat is your right. With power doesn’t always have to come violence, Bay. You could do great things for South Shore.”
“But it’d be a seat for The Landings.”
“And maybe you’re the missing key. I’m getting too old to be caught up between gangs and guns. It’s why I gave up the Forsaken Crew?—”
“I heard Lorenzo Black managed it.”
“He does. Now, the boys will take over and have been. It’s sticky…however, good can come from behind powerful people.”
“Does your eldest know you’re willing to give away something that he’s been anticipating?” He doesn’t falter when he shakes his head again. “That’s fucked up.”
“Ramsey knows he’s not a good leader anyway.”
“So, give it to Torin.”
Emilio sighs and averts his attention elsewhere. “I don’t expect a decision of any kind today, Haven. This was just to get to know each other. Not to start talking power trips and where you want to land in ten years. I know you have your schooling, and I’d like to see you continue that. You’re smart enough to make your own decisions about me and not what’s been said about me. You have Roger, he’s your father in your eyes and I don’t expect anything different. However, I ask for time. I ask for you to somewhat open yourself up to the possibility of a relationship with me. And if you don’t want anything to the with The Landings then nothing changes.”
Still don’t believe you.
Since when does this hurricane of a man who kills people want to do with some South Shore girl who was raised by another man? Am I just supposed to sit here and hope for the best?
I eye him suspiciously. “So, this is what you wanted to talk about?”
He kicks his ankle over his opposite knee, wearing his suit sticking out like a sore thumb on a beach where everyone is in casual attire and bathing suits. “I’m sure you want to know about your mother.”
My breathing staggers because the answer to that is yes, but I honestly can’t take any more Emilio talk right now. He just shoved a power play in my face, and this involves a lot more beef with the boys that I don’t want.
I just wish he’d fuck off and leave me alone, and I’m still trying to figure out how to make him do so without doing something awful to my family.
“Not today,” I finally reply. “I need to get back home.”
“Well, then…” He offers me a small grin. “I appreciate you meeting with me. We’ll speak about it another time.”
“Sure.” I rise from the park bench and wipe my sweaty palms off my jeans. “See ya.”
“Friday,” he emits as if I’ve forgotten. “Unless you have plans.”
I can think of a million.
“I’m falling behind in school?—”
“Then the week after.”
Right.
I give him a small wave before pivoting, not able to get through the park fast enough and into my car. All of Emilio’s words feel like a laundry list of disloyalty to Levi, and I’m not sure how much longer I can keep this up. How many more secret visits I can withstand and get away with before my best friend discovers the truth and nails me for it?
I’m so deep in thought that I don’t hear a thing. No footsteps or rushed movements in my direction.
Nonetheless, I definitely can’t mistake the large hand that covers my lips and hauls me backward.
I permit my weight to fall, hoping it’ll make it more difficult for the person to drag my body, but it’s quickly determined as useless. And after a few more feet, I’m instantaneously released behind a beat-up van parked along the curb.
Whipping around, I come face to face with Reeve. That surfer persona and easy smile greeting me back as the soft breeze whips around his sandy blonde hair.
“Hey, Bay Bay McQueen. Whatcha doin’, baby?”
“Geezus Christ,” I utter, clutching my chest. “Why are you dudes always manhandling me?
“Needed to talk…privately.”
I heave my shoulders upward, impatience and my frantic heartbeat the two things I’m trying to reel in right now. “Well?”
“Why are you having secret meetings with Emilio Wildes, McQueen? I thought you said you didn’t want anything to do with him.”
“Are you going to start with this, too?” He stares back at me, giving nothing away and he must get that from Cairo. “What are you going to do? Rat me out to Baby Wildes?”
“Why are you tryin’ to make everything worse than it is with him, McQueen?”
“I’m not.”
Reeve creeps closer to me, and out of all of the guys, he’s the one who scares me the least.
With my body.
Not my head.
“You are. You know damn well that he’d be pissed if he found out you were conversing with his father.”
“Well, the world doesn’t revolve around him, does it?”
“He seems to think so.” His enticing hazel eyes plummet down to my mouth. “And I’d like to believe that you’re not some shady chick, but someone who lives by her word.”
He sounds as though he’d be disappointed if he was wrong and that would make me a letdown.
“I do.”
“Baby”—his hands come up to either side of my cheeks— “I still wanna take you out, but it’d be more fun if you were alive.”
“I’m not looking to overtake anyone,” I say for the millionth time. If I had a dollar for the amount of times I said it, my dad’s bills wouldn’t be so far behind.
“Then what’s up with the secret talks?”
I bite down on the inside of my lip, but there’s no use in hiding it. “He’s threatened my sisters, and I’m scared of what he might do if I keep ignoring him.”
“Have Levi deal with it.” I lug my face out of his grip, but Reeve holds me, one of his thumbs brushing along the bone of my cheek. “Sounds like you need some backup.”
“I’m fine.”
“I know,” he agrees. “I could watch you walk around for days.”
This guy…
“Reeve…”
“Mhm?”
“Thank you.”
His brows crease a bit. “For what?”
“My sister. You took care of my sister.”
He lifts his shoulders. “It was nothing.”
I trim the bleak distance between us. My chest lightly brushes his as I raise my chin to meet his face. “She’s everything to me. Both of them…and my father. And Levi.”
He gives a slow dip of his head, his concentration lodged on my mouth again. “I know.”
“I never got to show my appreciation.”
A barely audible little groan rumbles from his throat. “What does that include, exactly?”
I crook my index finger, beckoning Reeve to come closer, and without hesitation, he follows my instruction. The smell of sage and saltwater fills my nose and settles my once-wrecked nerves from moments ago.
He’s fucking beautiful.
Everything about him is perfectly designed and done up. The tattoos up his right arm that don’t reach his neck or face. The way his voice is rich and melodious, a steady rhythm that could put me to bed.
Throw me in bed.
He’s so fucking sexy that it’s kinda hard not to fuse my lips with his and show him exactly how much his sentiment means to me.
I mean, fuck, he’s the only one who seems to really give a shit about not hurting or threatening me in some way.
Pressing my lips to the corner of his lips, he chases me for a tick of a second before leaving me to offer what I want. His palms have already clasped around my waist, and I let him, enjoying the way my body doesn’t ward me off that he’s a foreshadowing peril I need to constantly be on my guard.
And maybe that makes him the most dangerous of them all.
“What earns me those pretty fuckin’ lips on mine?” Reeve croons, lightly squeezing my hip and glancing down at me like he’s about to die. “I’m feening for it, McQueen.” I smile, not able to help it. “You want a classic car? Someone’s head on a platter?”
“I’m good.”
“Then name it, it’s yours.”
“I want?—”
“Done.”
I chuckle and, fuck, when was the last time I did that without thinking about it? “You don’t even know what I was going to say.”
“Doesn’t matter,” he says matter-of-factly, kneading the curve resting above my ass and on my back. “You got me locked into this rut where I don’t want to even look at another chick right now. I like this badass, softy thing you got going on.”
“Softy?” I hurl a brow. “I’m not?—”
“Don’t start lyin’, baby. We both know you’re developing some sort of attraction for me. Shit, I’m the exact opposite. I’m always hard—” I smack his chest and rattle my head back and forth with a smirk as I step back from his hold that’s begging me to stay and wander on.
“Alright, Romeo?—”
“Reevie,” he corrects me, those hazels glistening with unblemished hunger. It actually creates a buzzing need through my body to just throw all caution to the wind and take him with me on a ride somewhere where a kid won’t see my naked ass. “You takin’ off?”
“Can I? You kidnapped me, after all.”
“Borrowed you. However, if I had it my way and you wouldn’t hate me afterward, I’d be able to show you everything I’d do to you if I stole you for myself.”
Fuck me, dude. Literally.
Forcing my feet to move, I say, “See you later, Reevie.”
I wiggle my fingers in a goodbye as I put a little more effort into my steps when I walk away.
“You definitely will, McQueen.”