Page 160 of Falling in Reverse

“You don’t appear to have lost any sleep over it.”

“On the contrary. I’ve failed to find anyone better suited than you, Bay.”

“I can’t believe you dated this joke,” Cairo says under his breath, as though that’s the stupidest fucking thing I’ve done since he’s seen me again. He wouldn’t be totally wrong, but he’s not the most menacing threat in this space right now.

“What do you want, Matteo?” I coax so we can be on our way. “It’s not going to be a good look for you when Levi gets here.”

Matteo smirks, his chiseled jawline hard as granite. He’s not totally put off but, you can tell by how he put on more muscles over the years. However, so has Levi, Juice, Hot Rod, and the others, always in prime readiness for a fight. “What makes you think I’m scared of Wallace? His boys don’t scare me.”

“Then you’ve failed to find the other half of your brain,” I retort. “All I gotta do is yell and one of my boys will be here.”

He nods to Cairo. “Is he one of your boys?”

“No.”

“Then why are his hands all over you?” I don’t answer because Cairo’s fingers on me are the reason I’m probably not freaking out right now. “Call ’em,” Matteo taunts, his voice dripping with that arrogant confidence that makes my fingers itch to slap him. “You know just as much as I do that I love a good fight.”

“I want you to leave me alone.”

“I already told you, sweetheart”—he closes some of the distance between us—“I miss my girl. And I came to win her back. I heard about your pa. Bad break, babe, but I can help you. I got the money. We can get him whatever he needs.”

The love I have for my only living parent calls out to me then. Fully aware of how much money I need to get Dad the help he needs.

A lot.

A physical therapist is costing me $125 an hour. And that’s not including the medications he needs, the hospital bills he’s already racked up, and how long he’s going to be needed for.

I really need the help.

Not only for Dad’s necessities but the credit card debt my mother left behind. I’m in over my head and that hole is only getting deeper with each passing day. However, anything with Matteo comes with a price and it’s not one I’m willing to pay.

“Don’t need it,” I force out, my stomach dropping at the rejection of what my family requires. “But I appreciate the fake authenticity behind it.”

“You’re pissing me off,” Matteo growls, face twisting with sheer rage. “I’m offering you more than any punta in these streets. You think because you have a hot ass, you can speak to me like that?”

“Like everyone else?”

A mirthless chuckle rumbles from his chest before he rolls his shoulders. “You just love to learn the fucking hard way, don’t you?”

I don’t answer that, because the obvious answer is no; however, it’s usually the only one that sticks.

“I told you a long time ago that I’d kill a motherfucker who put his hands on you. I warned you explicitly that I wasn’t going to share.” Those murky depths of eyes snap to Cairo. “I know that Torin Wildes touched what was mine all those years ago.”

“Let it rest,” I dismiss. “We’re not together anymore.”

“I don’t want to force your hand,” he replies, and he says it like he’s truly sorry it would have to be that way but it doesn’t reach his tone. “But you’re not leaving me many choices with showing you how serious I am.”

“Get lost. I’m not doing this again.”

Matteo blows out a sharp breath through his lips. “Well…if you insist.”

His next movements are so fast that I don’t register them as anything but I blur of color. The gun that’s raised and pointed to his left, my curiosity follows the end of the weapon as the roaring sound rings and that’s when it lands on Nessa.

All the air leaves my lungs as I watch her fall to her knees, hitting the hard, cracked cement. I advance forward, not thinking of anything else but getting to her when a strong forearm tugs me back and hurls me off my feet.

I think I scream, but the shouts of men mix in with the noise around me as I’m gaining ground with someone else’s movement.

Cairo’s.

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