Page 239 of Chaos Kills

“Welp,” Levi begins to move us toward the foyer, “if I hear anything…I’ll let you know. Temporary truce and all that.”

Cairo scowls at him. “Are you seriously still not considering what I’ve been saying?” He gestures to me. “She’s starting to.”

“I don’t like you,” my best friend says matter-of-factly. “And sitting down with you while you made me dinner was nice and all, but I have better things to do with my time.”

“You always want to stride through The Landings with a target on your back?”

Levi lifts his shoulders. “I won’t need to worry about that when Bay’s heading the shit.”

“If Emilio hasn’t killed you yet.”

“Ah…see, he hires sucky snipers. The dudes he once sent over to stab me had bad aim, too. Didn’t know how to fight. He’s cheap.”

My eyes widen at the two assassination attempts he just mentioned that he’s never divulged to me. “Levi, what the fuck?”

“You’re nothing but a stubborn asshole,” Cairo sneers. “And I don’t know why she deals with you.”

“Where do you think she gets it from, Black? I grew up with this girl. We’ve been through thick and thin together. It shouldn’t be that hard for you to figure out.”

Cairo steers his dark browns to me. “Make sure Wallace dresses up. My mother expects elegance and class. Not ripped jeans and leather jackets.”

“It’s all I own,” Levi coos. “Guess we’re not coming.”

Silently sighing, I loop my arm around Levi’s waist so we can go but tell Cairo, “I’ll make sure he’s presentable.”

“See you around, Black,” Levi says, guiding me away, but not before Cairo reaches out and brushes my hip with his fingertips in a silent commitment that he’s not going to be swayed by Levi.

He never has been.

And this is always going to be a thing.

FIFTY-FOUR

torin

“You told her what?”My perplexed eyebrows clash together, nursing a beer while I watch Cairo make us dinner.

His words: “it’s time you assholes eat more than chips and alcohol.”

However, I could give a fuck about food while he’s over here playing a different game than the rest of us.

“I’ve already been over this shit with you,” he replies, reaching for the olive oil and ignoring the three stares he’s getting from Reeve, Oz, and me in the living room.

“Are you looking for her to pay attention to you or something?” I bitch, eyes clinched because I know damn well it’s not something he wakes up every day pondering about. “An alliance so Wallace can finally get what he wants and bury us all in shallow graves?”

“He might get you,” Reeve mutters, lips wrapped around a blunt at my side. “You’re the dumb fuck who took her sisters away and threw him in jail.”

Who the fuck cares?

“They all got out, didn’t they?” I flick my attention to Oz. “Knight in shining fuckin’ armor over here.”

“You want out from Emilio or not?” Cairo clips out, loudly dropping something metal in the sink to express his frustration. “I’m tired of being the only asshole around here who’s left to worry about it. If you two want to stay where you are—fine. Because I’m ready to drop all of you on your asses. I don’t want to play Emilio’s lackey and be at his every beck and call anymore.”

“Don’t act like you’re doing it just for our sake.” I kick my feet out onto the coffee table because this isn’t just candid bullshit.

This is his Titan seat.

One he’s taking very seriously right now without consulting anyone about shit.

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