22. Bay
TWENTY-TWO
bay
I let myself into Emilio’s house, receiving a glare from a man in a black suit who screams butler or door opener or whatever. He’s never been here before, but he doesn’t hide his disdain for letting myself in.
Too bad.
I already know my way to Emilio’s office, and I hate that I know this place so well. Torin remains behind me, probably because he can’t keep up with my pace, but his dogs stay faithfully at my side through each step.
I just want this shitshow over with so I can go home.
I’m in Emilio’s space in seconds, the jiggling of the dog collars prompting my arrival as Kona and Koda sit their excited asses on Emilio’s hardwood floors.
Then I’m slamming the door in Torin’s face.
Emilio’s head shoots up from the loud and abrupt entrance, and I force a smile. “Hey.”
My sperm donor’s expression lifts at my extra-as-fuck entrance, down at my furry company, then back at me. “Are you—” The door to the room opens, and we—well, I—know who just walked in. And Emilio does not bother to appear happy about it. “What the hell are you doing here?”
“Bugging the shit out of me,” I fill in, ambling deeper into the room and putting some well-needed space between myself and Pretty Boy. “You called me here?”
“Yes,” Emilio says slowly, still eyeing Torin in the room. “Obviously, with the turn of events that have taken place, I wanted to make sure you were okay.”
“I’m fine.”
“Fine is a stretch. Killing a girl from South Shore wouldn’t pose such an idea.”
Lovely.
He knows. It’s my fault, though. If I hadn’t taken the photo, no one would know, and it would be my little secret.
“She betrayed me,” I deadpan, receiving Emilio’s leveled gaze.
“How?”
None of your fucking business is the first thing that pops into my head.
Nonetheless, I’m here to play the crazy daughter who lost her apparent shit while dealing with the abrupt loss of her best friend. Which isn’t far off the mark. I was that less than forty-eight hours ago.
“She was working with Matteo,” I divulge. “And that’s a big no for me. It also led to Levi’s murder. Tack on the simple fact that I’ve been personally attacked by Matteo…and let’s just say, I snapped.”
Emilio stares at me for longer than I’d like, and I’m fully aware he’s trying to size me up to get inside my head. “I’m sorry for your loss, Haven.”
This shit again.
I don’t bother to correct him on my name. I stand here and wait for his faux concern so I can move my ass out of here.
Unfortunately for me, Emilio wants confirmation I heard him and with it not being needed at this point, I struggle with the right words to say.
“There’s nothing you can do,” I emit easily, with zero attachment. “I just want to go home.”
“Of course.” He drops the pen in his hand and folds his fingers together. “We’ll postpone things until you’re feeling up to it. However, I’m assuming things in South Shore will be shifting.”
“I wouldn’t know anything about that.”
“You should. I’m going to assume, with Wallace’s death, you’d be the next one in line for the throne.”
It shouldn’t be surprising, but him mentioning it straight out of the gate is. I’ve never had someone in my life who is so hellbent on power all the time. Someone who eats, breathes, and shits it on a daily basis. It sounds exhausting, but it’s a personal choice on his end. I have other issues in my house that need resolving and one of them is standing behind me.
“Not the first thing on my mind.”
Emilio gives me a small smile that illuminates how pitiful he thinks I am for not thinking of such matters. As if the loss of my best friend would be overshadowed by an imaginary seat I might get to sit in. If this was Game of Thrones, and I could see the damn thing, I could get the appeal, but we’re not in a fantasy world.
“We’ll talk when you’re ready.” His blue eyes flick over to Torin. “When we’re in better company.”
“Sorry, Dad,” Torin drawls out, bored. “I figured since you were handing out conversations, we should have one, too.”
“I’ll pass,” Emilio dismisses before his spine hits the back of his leather chair. “You and I don’t have much to talk about these days.”
“You’re right,” his son agrees. “Us Wildes never really bullshit and talk. We just act and handle the business our way.”
“What do you want, Torin ?” Emilio grinds out, his scowl almost as powerful as the ones Torin hands out. “Is this about The Landing’s seat? Because I never once set the expectations up that you’d ever land on it.”
“I don’t want your piece of shit chair,” Torin refutes simply. “I just want you to look me in the fuckin’ eyes when you tell me you want me dead.” Emilio’s blue eyes are quick to maneuver over to me. “She didn’t tell me. Ozzy did.”
Whoa .
I’m not up to speed on Torin’s play here, but this is starting to feel familiar.
Like Nessa familiar.
All the cards are laid out. All the words spoken.
My body buzzes with a bit of anticipation because the air suddenly feels thicker. Torin’s words and the things he wants to express today don’t sit well in my stomach.
Stomach.
Baby.
I’m pregnant.
My skin crawls because the father of my child could be standing right behind me, and he doesn’t know it yet.
Only Cairo and Oz.
But Torin…I don’t trust him. He already believes he can touch me after everything. All the events we haven’t hashed out, all the pain and hurt, thinking I could be carrying his child is the last damn thing I want to do.
And I’m still on the fence about exercising my rights as a female or getting used to the idea.
To be frank, I haven’t allowed myself to do that just yet.
My sperm donor’s jaw flinches as he continues to bore daggers into his son’s head. “You’re reckless. You bring everything down around you. And if it wasn’t for Cairo, you would’ve done it sooner. But…you got attached. To a beautiful young lady who just happens to be my fucking daughter. And that’s where I’m going to draw the line with you, boy.”
“You mean, the last month or two, you let slide and now since I almost offed your heir?—”
“It’s about you being a waste of space and additional energy, Torin,” Emilio snarls. “I always told you your negligence would get you killed one day.”
“Well, let’s try for that day right now.” He slowly spreads his arms wide at his sides. “Pull that Ruger out of your drawer and take your opportunity, old man.”
And here enters the male egos, ladies and gentlemen.
Thoughtlessly, I turn and face Torin, giving my back to the man who allegedly has a gun inside his desk.
If Torin has suicide on his plate, for the sake of the boys, I can’t stand by and watch.
“Don’t be stupid,” I chide under my breath. “I think we’ve both been through enough over the last several weeks, don’t you?”
His lucid amber eyes descend on me, but he couldn’t put more effort into not giving a fuck than he does now. “I’m settling shit, Wildfire,” he claims. “Move.”
“You’re being an idiot. And I don’t have time for this.”
“Then leave.”
My face skews at his implication I would take off and have whatever happens in this room happen, but I’m not fully immune to Torin Wildes.
I’m not.
The realization is as annoying as it is the current state of affairs and how my brain has been acting. I could still be off my shit. It more than likely could be hormones—I don’t know when those start poppin’ off, never been pregnant before—but I am well-versed in the conflicted emotions Pretty Boy gives me.
I want him to hurt, but I don’t want him buried.
“Why don’t you leave?” I argue. “This isn’t your stupid-ass meeting. And apparently, you weren’t invited here.”
“My daughter doesn’t want you dead,” Emilio implies simply through the space. “She’s made her decision very clear to me.”
“And you appeased her to shut her up,” Torin claims, flicking his attention back to his stepfather. “But let’s not get it fucked up that it won’t still happen. You’ll make it look like an accident. I’ll get some allergic reaction to something I’m not allergic to. Something will happen to make you appear as if you had no part of it, so she can’t claim you murdered me.”
“Don’t be?—”
“Stupid?” Torin cocks his head to the side before gently shoving me to the side so he has a clear shot at Emilio. “I’ve been your makeshift son for too many years, Dad . I know your plays. I’ve done some of them. I learned from a cold-hearted killer, and I stood off in your dark shadow while you played.”
“Get the hell out of my office,” Emilio grinds out, causing me to turn back around and see a vein in his temple bulging from his head. “You’ve wasted enough of my time.”
“Last chance,” Torin warns stoically.
Emilio flies up from his seat, almost knocking the leather chair over in his wake. “Or what , you little shit? All you have is because of me . You’re not even supposed to fucking be here. I married your bitch of a mother and took you, Lennox, and Ramsey in because I was lacking . And you became a fucking disappointment, while Ramsey became a fucked-up version of a killer, and Lennox thought he was better than everyone else. Three letdowns. At least, she”—he points to me—“doesn’t have a problem going up against me.”
“For how long?” Torin goads. “Until you’ve reached your limit? It’s not high; we both know that. Not even her mother wanted shit-all to do with you. Then you offed her.”
My stomach instantly knots, and my palm goes to the spot to control it. I’ve been dealing with and speaking to my mother’s killer without so much as a thought to her, most of the time.
I didn’t know her.
She’s an anomaly that obviously existed but Dad never spoke of her much. It was always Paisley who was around making my life a living hell. I replaced my birth mother with a woman who couldn’t stand me.
“The Forsaken Crew is pulling away from you,” Torin proceeds. “And you know that. It’s why you built The Void. You’re outnumbered; as much as the idea kills you inside, you don’t let it show. Everyone is tiptoeing around this bullshit reunion between the two of you, but we all know it’s not going to work. She’s South Shore, and she hates you, period. There is no middle ground to make up. There will never be a time or place where she’ll go to care for you. It’s been over before you shoved yourself into her life and threatened her to play nice.”
“You sound as though you’re becoming jealous, boy. The Void was a precaution, yes,” Emilio agrees, before he begins to round his desk. “Because Ramsey can’t lead, and you’re too half a man to do shit. Fully deaf in one ear which makes you a liability.”
“It makes me flawed. A man who knows he’s not immortal.”
“You live like that and you’re going to see how immortal you are. I’ve let you live long enough. You can thank me later.”
The hell?
“The only thing I’m going to give you props for, old man, is the woman at my side. Who is nothing like you. I can only assume Amelia gave her balls and half a mind to stay the fuck away from you. Maybe she’s reincarnated into her daughter after all.”
Why is he saying this?
It’s the longest mention of my mom. But he’s right. Maybe I always had something in my head that kept Emilio at arm’s length, next to all the facts that have been told about him. How I’ve been able to carry this long around Emilio is a mystery, but I knew his wrath would bring more havoc into our lives so I stayed.
“Amelia is just like Haven,” Emilio confirms with each step he takes toward us. Every nerve ending in my body demands we get out of this room. That Emilio is about to fucking snap at any moment in time. “However, there’s one thing in this world she would never allow to happen. It’s why she pacifies my existence in her world.”
“My sisters…” I mutter without much thought. It’s why I’m here now.
“Your sisters, Wallace, and them ,” he grinds out, but he doesn’t bother looking my way to express his disgust. Kona and Koda release warning growls, but it doesn’t stop my sperm donor from erasing the distance between us. “Placing you on a seat protects everything he’s set out to build. Torin has always hated me. Especially after Lennox’s death. Why the fuck I would waste my time finding his murderer when he left me is beyond ? — ”
“Shut the fuck up,” Torin carps out, stepping away from me and toward Emilio’s pending frame. “Judah saw right through your bullshit. Your fucking lies. He knew you didn’t give a shit about us?—”
“Because you were all fuckups,” Emilio censures. “All of you. Not one of you was worth a damn. Lennox is dead. You thought I wasn’t going to double-check and double down? That I wasn’t going to check to make sure that worthless piece of shit wasn’t killed? I did. And he was?—”
“Bullshit—”
“Get it through your fuckin’ head , Torin. He did me a favor. Two of you against me wasn’t going to work. Lennox was already against me. Once he got his hooks in you, that would’ve been it. I would’ve had to watch both of my shoulders when I now only needed to watch one. Your denial and hope make you weak. So, take it from me when I tell you I saw his body. I have the bullets that took your stupid brother out but wait, there’s more.” His face skews into a malicious smirk. “I showed you mercy and didn’t lay them on your bed when I should have. Maybe you could’ve had that lead redone and thrown them into that stupid head of yours. It sounds like I did a disservice to myself when I didn’t. And I can’t say I was upset when it was him.”
I feel the animosity penetrating off Torin’s body and, I swear, I heard his heart crack.
However, he doesn’t utter a single fucking word.
“We done here?” Emilio prompts sharply. “Or do I need to make myself clearer, boy? Maybe louder? You’re a waste of fucking space—but then I found her…a silver lining. My long-lost daughter. I wasn’t going to not get her under my thumb one way or another.”
Torin doesn’t move. The news of his brother again, the finality of it. Judah isn’t coming home.
I knew that.
I just don’t know if Pretty Boy was still holding on to hope that maybe something went wrong and his brother was still floating around somewhere.
“That’s why you’re so pissed off,” Torin replies in a detached tone. “I almost helped finish what Judah couldn’t. The tearing in the lining, the way she was molding and changing us. We weren’t picking each other anymore. We chose her. I dropped her in the middle of the ocean. She can’t swim—but you know that, right? I was going to fucking kill her. I was going to make the only piece of blood you have left in this world?—”
“You won’t make it past the week if you don’t shut the hell up.”
“I just thought you should hear the dirty details from me, Dad. Because we both know you were never going to give Bay the seat. Not for long anyway. We both know you were never going to give up your power trip. You were going to take the fifth seat and give Ramsey The Landings because she would never leave Wallace. Not for us. Not for anybody.”
His voice cracks a bit at the end, as if his heart’s broken, and he’s accepted the fact he’ll never compare to Levi.
Torin holds his chin up like a soldier, facing off to his adversary and mine, admitting to his actions and the consequences they would’ve held.
It does nothing to slow my racing heartbeat. The world only stops turning for a moment because I’m linked up to a man who has done ungodly things to me, but I still stand at his side against his enemy.
Against mine.
“Wildfire,” he mutters ever-so-softly. His voice soothes over my skin and wraps tightly around my veins. “Take my car, and get home.”
I can’t.
Not with this tension in the room. Not when Emilio is so damn pissed.
“Come with me,” I return instinctively. “This argument doesn’t need to happen now.”
“I have Kona and Koda. Take one.”
“Torin—”
“This shit ends now ,” Emilio leers, stealing my attention away from his son. His piercing blue eyes are locked and loaded on me with dejection and the awareness of what’s going on. What he’s already admitted to knowing. “You better think long and hard about this. I’m not going to sit here like a fool while you continue to double down on both sides. You are my daughter, my blood. I could give you everything you ever wanted. Your sisters will never want for anything with me. I’m offering you power, money, and security, Haven. Your mother was a smart woman, but it wasn’t the illegal activities I was doing or the fact I was a bad man. It was that she loved Roger and was carrying my child. I was young, hard-headed, and just as fuckin’ petty as the boy standing next to you. No one was going to get what was mine.”
You need to leave.
You need to get out of here.
“So, right here and now, is where your whole life is going to change,” Emilio continues. “It’s either me or my son who has done nothing but make your life a living hell. Someone who has already attempted to take you out of this world. I’ve never laid a hand on you but at this point, my patience is wearing thin. It’s either Torin or me. Who are you going to choose to save your family?”