Page 119 of Magic or Madness

“Yes, but Max and Lex are trying to figure out who the client is, maybe hit them back with something harder.” He sits back down, draping an arm over my shoulder, but I’m too shocked, and pissed, to lean into his touch.

I want to control my anger, battle the demons inside of me that are begging to be let loose, to scream at the top of mylungs, but the more I think about it, the less I can contain those feelings.

This isn’t justhis lifeanymore, and I’m losing my mind, knowing that we may not see next week with how reckless he’s been.

“You havefive fucking days! You’re either going to die, or go to prison, Ozzy. Do you understand that? It’s not hypothetical anymore!”

My voice echoes through the room, something I’m familiar with, but not in the same sense. Usually, it’s Ozzy making me scream with pleasure, not frustration.

He doesn’t say anything for a few beats, processing my outburst, and lazily tossing his hair into a small bun.

I don’t understand what the big deal is if people find out Doc is gone. He was a horrible man, and in my opinion, deserved what he got. Ozzy, Oliver, and the rest of the guys are better off without him and have proven that they can take over the reins of the business undetected.

I decide to shelve that question for now. I’m already rustling his feathers enough, seeing as we’re in the middle of a heated argument, and it's new territory for us. I’m about to break, unable to withstand the disconnect between the two of us. Arguing with the person who’s supposed to be your other half literally feels like ripping yourself in two, tearing right down the middle, and I won’t lie, it fucking sucks.

Instead of pushing him, I watch as he works through his thoughts, and wait with the most patience I can muster on how we move forward from here.

Obviously, this job is too dangerous to take, or reject, but we have to come up with something.A way out of this.

“We don’t have a choice,” he whispers, and I feel my heart crack in my chest at the pure defeat in his voice.

“Let’s go. Right now. We’ll start over, and live the life you keep promising me,” I beg, but he only shakes his head softly.

“I can’t leave them, Bambi. We’re going to figure this out,” he says, and I stand up, my hands firmly planted on my hips.

“What happens next time, Ozzy? This person has leverage over you guys, and if you do this, he won’t stop. He’ll keep hiring you, pushing you further, while holding your greatest secret over your heads. It’s fuckingblackmail!” I yell, my voice straining from how loud I’m getting.

“I don’t know, Fallon. One job at a time, that’s the mantra.”

I close my eyes at his words, biting my lip to keep my cool. If I don’t, I’ll scream in his face, beg him not to do this, and tell him to look at this from a more rational point of view.

He’s quoting Doc, and now that he’s back in this mindset, I know there’s nothing I can say to change his mind.

I have a gut feeling, but this time, it’s not ominous or clouded.

It’s direct, screaming at me from the crypt, and begging me to see things with a clear mind and full heart.

It’s Masha.

The last time a job had the potential to go so far fucking sideways, it did, and Masha ended up dead. Her voice – one I’ve never heard aloud – is screaming at me, warning me that something isn’t right, and I refuse to ignore it.

After all, when Masha infiltrated Ozzy’s mind, we followed it back to Jacksonville, and that’s exactly what was needed to end his nightmares.

I fully believe that she’s the guardian angel of this group, but this time she’s come to me, and she’s begging us to listen to her about this.

I will stop the guys from doing this job, even if it means they never work again.

Blacklisted and working at a fucking grocery store is better than dead or in jail, and I’ll stand wholeheartedly behind that.

I’m taking a stand, without a plan, and only five days to execute – even if it means going against the man I love.

The countdown begins now.

The vibe istense this morning, with everyone hearing the fight between Ozzy and I last night, as well as the uncertainty lingering over the job.

Usually, we’re all boisterous, making jokes and sharing stories, but today, everyone is dead silent. You could hear a pin drop in this place, and no one makes eye contact with each other.

I’m in no fucking mood myself, barely getting sleep as I tried to devise a plan to stop this shitshow of a job from happening.

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