Page 196 of Falling in Reverse

From where I’m sitting, he’s never met her before, nor have they spoken.

“I’m a little surprised that you’re so trusting of someone who can change the shift of power as we know it,” I quip as placidly as I can. “So, there must be something more you’re not tellin’ us.”

“Because she’s Levi Wallace’s girl,” Pops asserts evenly. “And I don’t have to tell you how important it is to stay out of Wallace’s way.” He keeps his hard scrutiny on Torin, already privy to what he did last week when he kidnapped the King of South Shore. “You almost blew the whole thing out of the water if you would’ve done more than what you did besides abducting him.”

“He stole from us,” Torin counters with as much edge as he always does when we speak of South Shore and, as of late, Bay Astor.

“And it was your dim-witted brother who had his shit transported onto their ports. Your days of being your dad’s errand boy are through. If you want your own legacy of kindness and community, you won’t work for Emilio Wildes, son. Because I’m here to tell all three of you, once and for all again, that I didn’t frame Penn Northcott. I don’t talk about it. I don’t want to talk about it. And there’s been a lot of moving parts along the way to fix what’s been broken.”

“Emilio,” Reeve mutters from behind us then comes up to stand at Pops’s desk so Torin can see him. “Emilio did it and we’re still in the dark.”

Pops nods. “Yes. Your loyalty was to your family. I wasn’t about to outsource you just yet and fill your head with hate.” He slices his mocha eyes to Torin. “You…I had to wait to see what side of the coin you were going to land on. Your family doesn’t have a good track record, son. First Ramsey, then…” Pops stops and suddenly clears his throat. “Reeve, you’ve been through your own trials and tribulations with the disappears of your father and?—”

“He’s dead.”

Pops leans forward a bit. “You found a body?”

“No.” Reeve shakes his head. “I’m starting to look for him again. Something just…doesn’t feel right.”

“Then listen to your gut, son. I’ll enlist all the help and resources you’ll need.”

“Right,” I reply, wanting to help Reeve with everything I got within me, and I have, but Pops isn’t explaining the whole fucking story here. “We’ll get to the bottom of that, brother, and I’m not trying to cut you off here, but we need to discuss Bay being Emilio’s daughter. He’s trying to recruit her.”

Pop’s face of calm doesn’t falter. “He’ll fail.”

“How do you know?”

“Because Bay Astor is Roger Astor’s daughter, whether she’s his blood or not. He ran with that girl for years to escape Emilio’s wrath and took his own daughter with him as well. When The Nameless formed, Roger came back to South Shore and reclaimed his Titan seat. He gave up everything for that little girl.”

“Still doesn’t mean she won’t side back with Emilio to get to know him.”

Pops looks over at me. “What do you think she’ll do?”

Honestly, I don’t know.

I haven’t trusted any female as of late, but that has everything to do with Vivian and nothing to do with Bay.

Still, I’m not willing to risk it.

“I’m not sold that she’s not going to try to get her hands on The Landings,” I admit. “And with Emilio and Ramsey having The Void, it may start a civil war amongst ourselves.”

Pops glances over at Reeve. “And you? What do you think?”

Reeve stares at him, not willingly ready to nail her to a cross yet. “I think she hates Emilio more than we do,” Torin grumbles something under his breath before he continues. “However, if she is up to something, I think I can wear her down and get it.”

“Torin?”

He won’t look at Pops, his chin tucked into his chest. His own battle going on in his head. “I’ve known her to be with a man who doesn’t have our best interests in mind. However, I will say that at least Wallace isn’t a sleazy gutter rat. He mans up to what he’s going to do, and he has no problem announcing it.”

“But, the girl,” Pops returns, keeping his gaze locked on him. “Is she a threat?” Torin doesn’t answer him again. So, Pops helps him out. “Just because Emilio has power doesn’t mean she’ll want that kind. I knew when you blew up his cocaine warehouse in Newport that you weren’t going to bat with Emilio. I also never saw the same crazed look in your eyes like Ramsey. I’ve never seen you turn your back on your brothers”—he points to me and Reeve—“especially when Reeve dated that one blonde chick you had a crush on in tenth grade.”

Reeve snorts a little too proudly, as if reminiscing. “Annabella Sheridon.”

“I will beat your fuckin’ ass,” Torin leers, steering his famous glare at our best friend.

“Then there was that time Cairo wrecked your bike.”

“Clutch got stuck,” I mutter, and both fuckheads laugh because they both know I didn’t know how to ride the damn thing but did it anyway like a dumbass.

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