Page 144 of Chaos Kills

“Yeah, well…I guess so since Roger never threw a couple of bullets in his head. I remember Lorenzo in South Shore a few times talkin’ to Dad on business. It wasn’t something I liked, however, I trusted Roger’s judgment.”

“But not enough to side up.”

I hear Levi sigh a bit. “No. Maybe I should’ve. But I have a hard time trusting the man who built the Forsaken Crew and has been up in my shit ever since.”

“He’s deep,” I confirm. “He had pictures of me as a kid. Said that, I guess when Paisley and Dad separated for a minute, Dad had me under Lorenzo’s watch and care for a while.”

“You remember that?”

“No.”

“I don’t either. I may have not been around.”

“I think they know,” I vouch under my breath. “Cairo does, at least. He confirmed it. Us leaving and shit. He’s also not sold on this being the best idea I’ve ever had?—”

“And whenwestart giving a fuck about what Cairo Black says, I’ll personally let him know,” Levi carps out. “He needs to stay in his fuckin’ lane where he belongs.”

I lower my voice so my sisters don’t hear my next words. “What if Emilio finds out? What if he finds me, like he did before?”

“Astor—”

“We might be fuckin’ ourselves harder if we leave. You won’t have The Nameless there. What if he gets to Ellie or Mae first to get us to comply?”

“Bay—”

“Can we even make it out there? California is expensive. I found a few places, but the median income is insane. And we haven’t told?—”

“I lied about the job.” My eyebrows clash together as an impending silence wafts between us for a few seconds. “It’s not just one stop, it’s several. Four, actually. I’m in Detroit. I have a meeting in about an hour with one distributor and then another tonight. Then, I come home. It’s a hundred grand, but after I split it with the guys, we’ll have our money and then some. Then, whatever we make with races until we leave, we’ll bank. And I have some more money saved.”

I’m speechless.

There’s nothing that formulates in my brain to say back to him, but I’m not mad.

I’m just shell-shocked that Levi didn’t tell me before. That he’s throwing everything on the line to make sure our idea is carried out.

That we’re safe.

“On a scale from one to ten, how pissed are you?”

“I’m not,” I reply. I seriously can’t think of one thing he could do that would get me to go off.

I don’t think I even have the energy for it anymore, for one. And two, what Levi is doing is honorable. It’s for our family.

“You sure?”

“Yeah. I’m sure. I just want you to be careful?—”

“Bay, do you have change for a fifty?”

I glance over at Ellie, who is waving a piece of money in her hand, and notice a woman standing in front of their cupcake with a smile.

Mrs. Cooper.

She’s already given me two hugs today and had a whole five-minute conversation about Dad and all the memories she has of him. It’s like once she remembers one, she comes over and tells me.

“I’ve gotta go,” I quickly tell Levi. “Cupcake duty.”

He chuckles lightly. “I’ll call you later.”

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