Page 243 of Chaos Kills

“You fell for it, didn’t you?” I press, stepping closer to him, and he’s only a few feet away, but I’m feeling nostalgic for all the times he and I used to hang out. That I safeguarded him until I didn’t. “You’re trying to prove her innocence, thinking we’re going to be a happy family again. That you’ll be in the picture this time.”

“Torin—” That comes from Cairo, but I’m not done making sure he understands all of it even though I’ve said it all already.

I’ve made my intentions known, my hurt is evident, and Bay still plagues me every day I wake up either from being hungover or when I’m just too tired to keep my head up.

“It doesn’t fucking matter what you do,” I emit, reaching him and stopping within an arm’s length. “We’re done. She and I—there is no happy medium. She will forever hate me, and I won’t…” My nostrils flare as my temper begins to reach a new fucking high. “Don’t bother, Oz. It doesn’t fucking matter anymore.”

For the first time, he averts his eyes, and it’s a relief to know he comprehends all that’s happening here.

That Reeve and I, we’re hanging on by a thread.

That he has made sure we’re in the know and has been our greatest weapon thus far.

However, he’s too close to the target, and one bat of her eyelashes and sway of her hips and he may fall victim just as Reeve and I have.

Ozzy moves swiftly, and I don’t feel anything at first.

Nor the second time.

But when Ozzy stabs me on the third round, I can feel the dizziness permeate through my head and the warmth of blood filling the cotton of my shirt.

My cousin is jerked back by Cairo as my palm touches one of the wounded places just to come back filled with bright red blood.

I guess his head is exactly where I thought it was.

With her.

“Drop the fuckin’ knife,” Cairo orders, his voice pitched and posed to no more bullshit, but it’s done.

We’re all done.

Nothing can bring us back together after the handful of events that happened. How Reeve and I both took this. We’re severed and broken, and she did what she sought out to do.

“You stupid prick,” Reeve barks, and as I raise my chin, he’s swinging at Ozzy’s jaw.

Cairo has no more control over the situation. It’s done.

Reeve still has a bone to pick with my cousin because he married her, and Reeve was in love with her. Their little fight got broken up over the first bitch that caused my cousin to go down the rabbit hole.

Now, it appears like he’s back at it again.

Reeve flies backward, crashing into the coffee table and sending the whole thing to the floor with an unforgiving smash of wood and the air knocked out of him.

Cairo shows up in my peripheral as a shield, but it won’t stop my cousin from coming after me if that’s what Oz wants to do.

“This shit stops now,” he snarls out. “You got it out.”

“Come over here, you quiet piece of shit.” Reeve slowly tries to regain his footing, but he’s too fucked up to jump to his feet. “I hope she burns you.”

Geezus fucking Christ.

“Enough!” Cairo again. “Ozzy, we can’t do this.”

He already did.

And I’m not even completely pissed about it. I’m more disappointed than anything. However, it could be the whiskey floating through my veins that I’m not wishing to put a bullet in his head to save him from the heartache of what Bay can do.

“Torin, dude, let’s get you to the hospital.”

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