Page 149 of Falling in Reverse

“Speak for yourself, Wildes,” Reeve interjects.

Torin shakes his head and ignores him. “Levi’s never gonna let us in. And I’m starting to double-guess that idea. Being neighbors with my fucking stepdad? Yeah, I’ll be the next Wildes with a hit on my head.”

“Your stepdaddy is probably gonna be dead by the time we’re done,” Reeve points out. “So is your brother. No other way around it.”

“That’s if we can get to him,” Torin retorts, and I furrow my brows at the honey-colored eyes in front of mine.

“You think we’re gonna dip out without making a mess? When I win against Matteo De Leon and take my father’s place at the Titan’s table, Emilio’s gonna try to move against South Shore if he gets that fucking hacker to side under his payroll. The longer we stay while I’m there, the harder it’s gonna be to get out. And I’m not looking to take orders and fight with your old man.”

“Didn’t you already when you went to that shit bar Bay works at?”

“That was my father who sent me. If Emilio can trust me, he fucks off.”

“And if he likes you,” Reeve states, “the bigger the betrayal is gonna be. Then it’s all of our heads. He thinks I’m a fucking playboy because that’s all I allow him to see.” Torin scoffs, but he continues. “To him, I’m dumb. You’re reliable.”

“My family needs me to be,” I grind out. “What are my sisters gonna do if one of us dies by Emilio’s hand? My mother?”

“No one is dying,” Torin says confidently. “We’ll keep at it until we can’t no more. Until we have to make some serious moves.”

We fall silent and back in a line amongst each other and that’s when the squealing of tires scrapes against the concrete, and Bay is off, ahead of a Thunderbird as she drags off to the finish line.

In another world and place, I’d still be in South Shore.

I would’ve kept tabs on her.

I would’ve done a whole lotta other shit, because with her growing up like that…I can only blame Torin and Reeve so much.

“Well, well…” a male voice says in a slow and taunting voice. “Looks like we found Torin Wildes, Cairo Black, and Reeve Stanton, boys. I’d say we might never get this chance again. What do you think about taking a few stabs at them and seeing if something sticks?”

THIRTY-EIGHT

bay

The smell of turbo blue and exhaust fills my nostrils, calming me into a slow and steady beat of euphoria. Cars rumble under the hoods of naturally aspirated motors and others rev obnoxiously, otherly known as rice burners to try to intimidate.

I watch Nessa stand on the faded yellow median line, her long blonde hair passing her tits and down to her mid-torso, wearing a black crop top, matching daisy duke shorts, and a black beanie on top of her head. Her signature silver hoops hang from her ears and her makeup is simple but on-point like it always is.

“You run a tune on your car?” Levi asks me, all business and no fun. While double-checking the air pressure in my tires, I glance up at him.

He’s stoic, calm, and pissed.

I slap him on the back, catching his black-inked roses that appear like shattered glass on his shoulder and bicep underneath his white wife-beater. He got them for his mom a few years ago when she died, and the guys give him shit for having a flower permanently drawn on his body, but he doesn’t care. He could have a dick there instead and it’d make no difference, he’d still beat your ass.

“You not gonna talk to me for the rest of the night?” I ask, nestling up to his side because, let’s face it, I piss him off, but he loves me.

“Working,” he grounds out, his mind I’m sure a whirlwind because three of the Forsaken boys showed up out of nowhere and there’s no clear reason to him why.

“Levi, we should talk—” He rounds on me, so quickly that I almost stumble back.

“Yeah, you know what, we should,” he leers through clenched eyes. He’s so pissed, he can barely keep it in, and I’ve made him mad plenty of times in the past to know when he’s reaching a limit. “What’s up with what I just saw?”

“Saw?” I repeat stupidly, because we both are perfectly aware of what that all was.

My best friend only cocks his head to the side like I’m an imbecile. I am. He just doesn’t know how much yet. “Why did I encounter the three fuckateers macking on you?”

“Uhhh…I dunno.”

“Bay.”

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