8. Torin
EIGHT
torin
“Dude…” My voice is scratchy and dry, parched of all moisture as I stare over at Ozzy, who’s hovering over me like a fucking lunatic. I didn’t hear him come in, but I’ve been in and out for fuck knows how long from all the pain meds. Everything’s been a daze. “What are you doing here?”
“Bay.”
My gaze immediately darts around the room, searching for her beautiful blue eyes and long dark hair.
Then reality bitch-slaps me, and I remember where I am on her shit list.
Nonetheless, it still doesn’t stop the thought from forming. And it doesn’t mean I don’t want her here.
She’s not .
The four walls of ivory stand stoically as a greeting that we’re not where we used to be before. Bay and I are still beyond fucked.
And that’s the shit I came back to after several surgeries and some rando Nameless prick with a white ski mask telling me I was leaving soon.
I asked where the hell I was, he told me to fuck off, and I quickly realized I wasn’t getting shit until one of my boys came by. It didn’t take but two brain cells and I managed to get everything I needed to know.
I’m with them.
Regardless, I’m on some top-notch pain medication because I don’t feel a fucking thing, and I couldn’t gather up the energy to get too pissed off. I’m a few more holes greater and per one of the doctors, lucky a bullet only scraped and missed my liver, or I’d be six feet deep.
“How long have I been here?” I ask, wincing as I slowly push my body farther up the bed with my palms.
“Three days.”
I groan.
What a waste.
Obviously, I needed medical assistance, but I could be spending time elsewhere—AKA at the crib. I’m tired of different nurses coming into the room, all with contrasting looks on their faces. From the empathic half-smiles to the semi-glowers of my injuries, I’ve been judged left and right, and I’m ready to get the hell out.
“You gonna tell me where she is, or do I need to beg for it?”
Ozzy drops his gaze as I watch his grave expression continue and it just irks the living fuck out of me.
He’s not here just to visit.
He’s here to tell me something.
We haven’t spoken since he stabbed me after I admitted what I did to Bay.
And, honestly, I haven’t sought him out, either.
Not because I was scared but because we’ve both been making some pretty rash decisions, and one of us is going to wind up dead.
I’m almost thinking Ozzy might have been disappointed I’m still here. But I am his brother-cousin, after all. He might not trust me, but he’ll need to get over it.
We’re family.
“Home.”
“How is she?” Ozzy gives a weak shake of his head and I’m sure Cairo is having a fucking field day right now with the way her boy got lit up. “That good, huh?”
“She killed that girl.”
I swear my heart stops beating at those four random-ass words. It doesn’t register because it doesn’t fit.
Bay is capable of many fucking things but— “ What girl?”
His dark blues latch onto mine. “Nessa.”
“The blonde from the races?” He nods but offers nothing more, and I’m more confused now than I was two seconds ago. “ When ?”
“Last night.”
“Why?”
My cousin clasps his inked fingers together in front of him and directs his solemn scrutiny at me. “De Leon.”
What in the actual fuck is going on out there?
I begin to swing my feet around, temporarily forgetting my injuries and instantly regretting moving.
So much for pain meds.
A sharp pull tears through my gut and reminds me of my stitches. Of the injuries I suffered, mainly because of Levi Wallace.
Don’t ask me why.
The only explanation I have is I knew how much he meant to Bay, end of story. There is no truce, no bond, or newly formed alliance.
It was for her.
Period.
“Where is she?” I ask again, as the machines begin to squawk at me to shut up.
Nonetheless, it doesn’t stop the thoughts sprinting violently through my brain.
Bay shot her friend.
“She sided up with him,” Ozzy deadpans, answering another question.
My nostrils flare because of that motherfucker De Leon…and here I was, thinking he was dumber than a bag of rocks. He chose someone who was close to Bay and turned her.
Genius move.
Despite that, he underestimated my girl.
“Call Cairo,” I order, shoving at the white sheets still covering some of my body. “I’m gettin’ outta here.” He doesn’t move, which has me glowering at him. Ozzy only does this shit when he’s doing something he’s not supposed to or if there’s something he doesn’t want to tell me. “Was there something else ?”
“Yes.”
“ Well …”
“Levi Wallace is dead.”
I never expected my world to stop moving with that news, as if it meant something to me like it would Bay.
She’s my first thought.
The absolute agony and distress she must be going through because I can’t ignore what it is. What he’s always been to her, whether I liked the shit or not.
I sure as hell don’t need Levi Wallace in my life. Never relied on him to do anything but fuck shit up for me. I’ve chased his ass out of The Landings more times than I care to count, and I could definitely do without his meddling when it came to Bay but…
Fuck…Bay.
“How bad is she?” The words barely leave my lips because I know what I would do in this situation if any of my boys got killed.
Matteo De Leon would be dead already. I wouldn’t stop until he was.
“Deadly.”
Forcing myself, I bring my feet around the side of the bed and ignore the discomfort and pain. “She’s gonna run.”
“She can’t,” Ozzy retorts calmly. “Cairo told her?—”
“Do you really think she gives a fuck about what Black says?” I snap, narrowing my eyes on him. “Her ex just murdered her best friend on a sidewalk .” I point to the door. “She’s gonna get his ass.”
Ozzy bobs his head. “Yes, but The Nameless?—”
“Brother, you don’t get it, do you?” I say, rocking my head back and forth. “She’s me . If she puts her mind to it, she’s getting into Shoreline Peaks. She’s going to do it without you.”
We’re grudge-holding assholes who will never forget what’s been done to them. Who might never fail to remember the wrongs done to them.
Oz points to the IV sticking out of my arm. “You have to stay.”
“Fuck you?—”
“ Stay .” His voice is wrapped in steel, enough problems on his shoulders, but she’s going to try and either walk all over him or break his trust.
And I don’t want either of those.
“Tell me something, brother,” I quip because I can’t let this go. Bay is going to be next on the list of deaths, or worse. The fact that she doesn’t want anything to do with Matteo is only going to make him want to keep her alive as torture.
With him .
Ozzy stands still, waiting for me to spit out what I’m curious to know and to make my damn point.
“How did she get to killing the blonde chick?”
His expressionless blues avert and stare at one of the machines behind me. “She escaped.”
I’m not trying to rub it in his face. I’m just attempting to show him how badly she’ll get what she wants if given the opportunity.
This isn’t a game, and Ozzy knows better. But he’s naive in the sense that he thinks she’ll ponder all the consequences before she does something. He’s been watching her from the sidelines, for fuck’s sake, he knows better.
“Doctor said they have to check on your wounds,” he mutters back without waiting for me to say anything more.
I scoff. “Ours can do that at home. I don’t need to be here anymore.”
“Why did you do it?”
My eyebrows pinch at him before his focus falls back to me. “Do what?”
“Step out in front of Wallace like that.”
I roll my eyes because I didn’t do it for him. And it wasn’t like I ran out and jumped in front of him like a live human shield to catch a few for him either.
Then what would you call it?
I remember seeing Wallace bowed over a bit, then he got hit a few more times. It all happened so fast, and the next thing I knew, I was at his side, and then I wasn’t. I remember the searing hot metal ripping through my body, my men gathering me up to protect me and find cover. Wallace was lying in a pool of blood, face down. I was on the phone with Cairo… I recall Ozzy’s voice, and the edges of my vision started turning black.
“Don’t make me a hero, Oz. I’m not one.”
A few ticks of time roam by before he says, “You did it for her then.”
“I did it so it got me some cool battle wounds to brag about.” Ozzy isn’t an idiot. He’s not going to buy the crock of shit so I wave him away. “You need to get back. You don’t leave her side again. I’m for real. She has to eat, you’re with her. She has to take a piss, you’re there in the bathroom with your back to her. She needs air, you’ll be the one to crack the window and stand her in front of it. She doesn’t leave, Oz. Your eyes don’t leave her.”
The soft ringing of a phone goes off then, and Ozzy fishes out his cell from his black jeans and tenses a little before bringing it up to his ear.
“Hello?” I stare at my cousin, and he literally gives nothing away. “With Torin.”
The phone is then held out for me to take seconds later, and I welcome the lifeline of the outside world, knowing exactly who it is.
“Brother, what the fuck is going on?” I greet, clutching the object with force.
“I dunno, dude…” Cairo lets out a heavy sigh, his exasperation filling the space between Oz and I because he’s on speakerphone. Nothing leaves my lips because Bay is never going to let this lie. She’s gonna take this hard as fuck. “Did he tell you?”
“Yeah… Is it true, though? That big motherfucker…got taken out by De Leon, of all fucking people?”
“That’s the way they’re making it sound.” I slowly shake my head because it doesn’t feel real. But I’m so used to Wallace being in my existence that I hate to say that he’s part of mine. “Oz checked, his body’s gone. Pronounced dead yesterday. Juice went to the funeral home yesterday?—”
“Where is she now?”
“Clutching a pencil like she’s about to stab me with it.” He lowers his voice. “She’s in the kitchen with the girls. Ellie is beside herself, and Mae…she’s drawing pictures.”
“Brother, you have to watch her every fucking move,” I order. “Take her phone because she’s gonna get loose, and when she does?—”
“Did you hear me when I said she’s holding a pencil with her fist like she’s waiting on the opportune moment?” he leers back.
“She feels caged. And since when are you afraid of a woman?”
“When I just experienced how much of a loose cannon she is,” he replies under his breath, careful to keep his voice down. “She killed that Nessa chick, and I had to get rid of the fucking body with those two South Shore pricks. I still don’t know what the fuck happened.”
“She sided with De Leon.”
“How the fuck do you know?”
I glance up at Ozzy because how the fuck does anyone know? “Well?”
“Travis Muncy,” he replies evenly, but I notice his jaw twitch just the slightest. “We talked.”
Okay…
“What the hell is going on with you and that kid?” Cairo asks with annoyance. “You looked like you wanted to kill him.”
“Nothing.”
I quirk an eyebrow at my cousin, but I don’t press the shit any more. I don’t care. There are more important things going on than what Oz did to Travis and how he did it.
“We need Reeve,” I state, a hollow feeling filling my stomach because he’s on a binge and fuck knows where he’s at or what he’s doing, but he’d be perfect for this job. “He’s gonna be able to pull her out.”
“We can’t fucking find him.”
“We need a bigger search party then. The more time he’s gone, the more trouble he’s going to get into. He comes back, so will she.”
“I can’t risk any more out than what we have now,” Cairo replies. “Especially since De Leon just openly attacked the King of South Shore, killed him, and you’re not dead yet.”
“Thanks.”
“I’m almost thinking he was stalking the both of you. How the hell did you both end up in the same place?”
“Luck,” I reply with a dismissive shrug I instantly regret when another wave of pain goes through me. “I dunno. He was there. I remember rolling my eyes and then gunshots went off.”
“Perfect timing.”
“Sounds like it, doesn’t it?” I feel Ozzy study every move I make, my fucking tone, and I can’t hide how utterly devastated I am that she’s going through this, and I can’t be there.
That I’ve royally fucked us up, and there’s nothing I’m going to be able to do to right the wrong.
Nothing that levels up to take back what I’ve done to Bay.
No apology could ever get her to forgive me. And right now, she’s going through it, raging off a loss and fighting off the grieving process when I should be there for her.
“So, since you have your hands full,” I convey evenly. “When are you getting me out of here?”
“Doctor is supposed to call tomorrow. Probably in the next two days or so.”
“You’re fucking with me.”
“Torin, I have enough fucking problems,” Cairo grinds out. “You out of my hair is something I’m grateful for.”
“Where the hell am I even at ? I’ve got random men in here with ski masks on, and I know damn well you didn’t leave me with The Nameless.”
Silence.
Oh, this motherfucker.
“You’ve got to be shitting me,” I fume through clenched teeth. “You left me with the assholes who have only put dozens of hits on me over the last several years?”
“Are you complaining about your accommodations?”
This prick…
“Cairo, I will fuckin’ make all of Bay’s dreams come true with that pencil if you don’t get me the hell out of here.”
He chuckles, as if it’s amusing and I couldn’t pull it off. “Well, let me answer your question first.”
“Which one?”
“On where you are.”
A few beats go by, and I clip out, “Alright, go ahead, asshole.”
“Shoreline Peaks.”
I gape at the wall behind Ozzy and just sit there like a dumbass because he just said Shoreline Peaks.
Shoreline Peaks.
“If I didn’t know any better…I’d say you were banking on getting me killed again. For real this time.”
“Not my first choice,” he claims evenly. “However, Hot Rod did bring up some good points.”
“ Like ?”
“It’d be the last place De Leon would look.”
I hate the logic behind it.
But it’s smart logic, at that.
“You know Hot Rod and I aren’t homies, right?”
“Fully,” Cairo replies. “But I’m looking to get you home ASAP. Oz brought you a phone. I’ll call you.”
Still hate this, but what else am I going to do? “Please tell me there is someone here who hasn’t wanted to kill me.”
“There is. I just told them to give you some space.”
My face clenches, but then it all just makes perfect sense . “You’re doing this to fuck with me.”
“It’ll teach you never to step out in front of a hail of gunfire again, dumbass. What you did was fucking stupid and reckless. If I didn’t know any better, I’d say you and Bay are both channeling each other’s bullshit.”
“That’s one of the reasons why she makes me hard,” I deadpan, glowering at the wall.
“Do some more fucked-up shit like that,” Cairo warns, “and I’ll make shit real hard for you, Torin. Rest up. I’ll get you home soon.”
I hand Ozzy back the phone, hanging up on Cairo in the process as my subtle fuck you. “Get lost”—I slowly raise my hand to fist bump it out—“and keep her safe.”
He lightly knocks on my knuckles but doesn’t sway from my bedside.
“What did you do to Travis Muncy?”
My brother relaxes then, alluding this is a more comfortable subject. “Talked.”
“ How did you talk?”
I meet his gaze full-on because I’m not getting the whole Muncy’s kid hate-act here. It radiates off him like the heat does the sun. You can’t miss the shit.
“I cornered him in his bedroom, held a knife to his throat, and told him what he wasn’t going to do.”
I sigh and slowly swing my feet around to lay back in bed. “Was all that necessary?”
“Yes.”
“You know, if you would’ve asked, he would have done it.”
“I liked my way better.”
A weak snort escapes my lips, but I don’t berate him for his actions. I just don’t understand why they had to be so aggressive. “Anything else I need to know besides…” I can’t say out loud that Bay gunned down someone. I’m not sure why. Maybe it’s because it means coming to terms that my girl is starting to shape-shift into something else entirely.
“Nothing else,” Oz claims. “They were looking for Wallace, but they were being trailed by Nessa. Then…they received the news, and Bay went crazy.”
I bob my head. “Okay. Remember what I said.”
“I will.”
“Alright, kick rocks.” Oz doesn’t move. “I’m fine. If it makes you feel any better, I’ll be ordering you around for snacks and shit when I get home because I’ll be moving around like an eighty-year-old.”
“Okay.” He backs up and leisurely makes his way to the door.
“Make sure you get her something to eat. And call me if something else happens.”
He dips his head again before finally turning on his heel and disappearing to take care of my girl.
Our girl.
My cousin deserves her way more than I ever would.
Except I’m slightly apprehensive about what she could do that would possibly tip him over the edge. Something that would hurt him.
Something he wouldn’t hesitate to end.
And I’m afraid she’s banking on it with where her head’s at.