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“What – No!” They said simultaneously.
“You have to.”
“The fuck we don’t!” Cruz shook his head. “Not when it comes to this.”
“Okay, enough of this shit. Let’s get back on topic or I’m walking out this door to go look for Santari myself.”
“You still don’t get it,” Storm said.
I rushed my hand over my head repeatedly.Now,I was annoyed.
“For fuck’s sake.”
I turned and strolled to the door.
“We are not your father or your mother, Titan!”
My footsteps paused, and my body stiffened.
A slew of profanity dropped from Cruz’s mouth.
“We won’t abandon you like they did.”
“We never will,” Storm added.
“So don’t do it to us.”
I locked my jaw, my heart ricocheting like a drum. There it was… that thing that sat so deep in my soul it often times ruled my choices. I was used to being left to fend for myself. It was the story of my life. While my father’s side of the family lived and thrived heartily in St. Louis, I had no idea if my mother was even still alive. I could find out, but my disdain for the way she left me halted my curiosity about her.
Storm, Cruz, and Rev were the only ones who knew my truth. I’d gotten close to spilling my trauma to Santari, but she was so pure and untainted to me that I’d left it alone. When it came to her, I knew she’d changed by being around us, but I also knew when it came to the darkness that lived within, that was something that lay dormant inside you until you fed it, stroked it, and pursued it until it was second nature.
I turned back to them,watching them watch me.
“What are you motherfuckers saying? You love me or something?”
Storm’s facial expression changed. His jaw relaxed, and his lips curled into a smile he tried to fight. Then, he burst into laughter, breaking the tension between us as Cruz shook his head but held back a smirk.
“You raggedy bitch,” Cruz said.
I guffawed, and Cruz joined in, neither of us could contain our seriousness. He strolled to me and slapped my shoulder.
“For the record, yes, we do! Now tighten up and stop running off to kill motherfuckers by yourself.”
I shook my head. “I know that’s why you’re really mad.”
“Titan.”
“In all seriousness, the last motherfucker I burned said, we’d never make it to her in time.”
All smiles dropped and their eyes widened.
“They wanted to get me alone to delay something. Maybe time to move her or whatever they’ve got planned. They also were supposed to kill me. Whoever this is has a vendetta towards me.”
“Towards us,” Storm added.
We glanced at him. “If I needed to take out four professional killers, and I only succeed with getting one the first time, I wouldn’t be stupid enough to try it like that again. I’d take someone they loved, disorient them, and pick them off one by one.”
Cruz shut his eyes. “Like when they came for me at the gym.”