Page 178 of Chaos Kills

Cairo backs off me a bit, and I’m surprised a kid’s beverage is what does it. “I’ll see you tomorrow. Call me if you’re starting to feel petty. I’ll loosen you up.”

I glower at him. “I can’t stand you.”

He hums as he takes a well-needed step back for the both of us, and I bite the inside of my cheek to keep from asking him for details on what that would include. My blood warms in unflawed interest, while my pussy contracts a little at how I could get him to go down there and relieve some of the pent-up aggression I have in my body.

Cairo pries his attention from me and directs it at Ozzy. “Clean up your mess and be good.”

Then he pivots and begins to leave toward the front door, while I’m left with the complex and dark gaze at the back of my fucking head by yours truly—Mr. My Lips Are Sealed.

FORTY-ONE

ozzy

“So,you’re sitting here trying to tell me…that you want tofuck herbecause you can’tkill her…because, not only will Emilio fuckin’ off your ass but because we all know you don’t have the balls to do it.”

Cairo stares down Torin like he’s actually gone off the rails and lost his mind.

He has.

He doesn’t know if he needs to stay mad, sad, vengeful, or permit himself to move on with his life.

I don’t tell him what I know. I’m certain Bay didn’t murder Judah, but that would be giving away a lot of other things I can’t mention right now.

Besides, he won’t listen to anyone about it.

Regardless, this is a mess I’m in the middle of cleaning up, but I didn’t understand how difficult it would be. My brothers are stubborn as well as equally irrational and not used to having anyone outside our group that we had to look out for.

Bay is my responsibility that I’m trying to get better with now that she can actually see me, but it still means something. To Torin, he can’t decide if I’ll kill him for hurting her in any way, shape, or form, or if I’ll permit him to do whatever it is he wantsto do. He keeps stealing glances at me to see if I’m about to lose it or not.

The answer to that is I’ll cut his throat if he tries to harm her. She may be a handful, something I’m not totally comfortable handling when she’s so fucking pretty and…weird.

She’s always watching me when she doesn’t think I notice. She’s careful sometimes not to say the wrong words, but when I upset her, she goes off the handle, and I don’t mind that.

I married her to safeguard her from everything surrounding our group, including my brothers who currently still can’t pull their heads out of their asses, and no outsider was going to interfere in that.

Technically, though, I’m on the outside looking in. She doesn’t fully trust me yet, but she’s trying. I can’t expect to make miracles happen, but I can keep Torin from fucking shit up any more than he already has and to get Reeve to stop doing drugs before he kills his fucking self.

“Pretty much,” Torin deadpans, lighting the blunt that hangs from his lips. He kicks his seat back, the bottom of his dirty-ass shoes kicked up on the edge of the patio table, and enjoys the sun like he hasn’t seen it in years.

This is his second blunt of the afternoon, he’s on his fourth beer, and he’s been out here for fucking hours locked in his own head.

“Stay the fuck away from her,” Cairo seethes through his teeth, always the leader, the fixer, the one who just wants this all to disappear. We all need her in some sort of capacity, even him.

For me, I just need her to be present for the boys. I can’t handle any more.

That alone fits me just fine right now.

“She’s ours, isn’t she?” Torin counters back through a cloud of gray smoke. “That’s why Ozzy married her fucking ass.”

Cairo shakes his head, glimpsing over his shoulder at me for help, but I learned my lesson with Torin a long time ago.

He’s a righteous prick who believes it’s his way or the highway.

But he’s wrong now, and he’ll continue to act like he’s right until he has proof that says otherwise. And that’s why I’m helping Bay get a copy of that tape of Judah.

“Did you find anything on Matteo?” That comes from Cairo as Torin slides his legs off the table and allows the front legs of his chair to slam into the cement patio with unadulterated interest.

“You mean her ex-boyfriend who she’s probably fucking and has been fucking since us?”

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