“Lay it on us then, bro. Tell us how many motherfuckers we need to go kill for this,” Alex says, slouching back in his chair as if we’re discussing the fucking weather.
“Okay,” Theo says, resting his elbows on the table and looking everyone in the eyes before continuing. “You know how we’ve been concerned about the Reapers’ involvement in all of this.”
Everyone nods.
“That’s because they are.”
“Motherfuckers,” Nico scoffs, throwing his pain au raisin down on the table. “Emmie?” he asks, shocking the shit out of me.
“We don’t know how deep this runs yet. But we know who’s been doing the hits, and we know who’s planned it all.”
“The Italians?” Alex asks, leaning forward and suddenly looking interested.
“They were right. It is an inside job.”
“Who?” Nico snaps, his patience quickly running out.
Reaching out, I take Toby’s hand that’s resting on the table beside his place.
Suddenly, the room is so silent we’d hear a fucking pin drop. Hell, I fucking do. I hear the exact moment that realization hits with Alex, Nico, and then finally Toby.
“No,” he breathes. “No.” His chair goes crashing to the floor as he stands, ripping his hand from mine.
“Toby?” I whisper, twisting so that I can get to him quicker.
“He’s been doing this? He’s been trying to fucking kill you? He’s the reason I was fucking shot? Why Seb was shot? Fuck. FUCK,” he barks, lifting his hands to his hair, pulling on the short lengths until I swear he’s about to rip the strands clean from his head.
We all sit there for a few tense minutes, just watching as he paces back and forth, trying to come to terms with what Theo’s just told him.
“Toby,” I say softly, scooting to the end of the chair, ready to go to him if he needs it. “There’s more.”
He pauses and looks up, his eyes colliding with mine.
My breath catches at the pain in his depths.
“None of this is your fault, Toby,” I tell him, hating that I can see the guilt that’s etched into every inch of his face.
“Of course it fucking is,” he barks, swiping his arms across the counter and sending plates and food flying. “I should have fucking killed him when I first discovered the kind of man he was. I should have stopped him. I should have stopped him hurting my—our—mum. I shouldn’t have given him the chance to get anywhere fucking near you.”
The pain in his voice fucking wrecks me, and I rip my other hand out of Seb’s tight grip and walk toward my brother.
“None of this is on you, Toby,” I say before colliding with his body and wrapping my arms around him, giving him little choice but to return my embrace.
He sucks in a shuddering breath as he tightens his arms around me.
“I’m so sorry,” he breathes in my ear.
“Not your fault, Toby. No one blames any of this on you. All you’ve done is what you thought was best for Mom.”
His breath catches as he realizes that I’ve just called her that for the first time.
“I’ve just wanted to do right by her. She deserves so much more than him.”
“Too fucking true. We’re gonna do it. Okay? Together.”
“Fuck, I don’t deserve to have a sister as fucking cool as you.” I can’t help but smile at his words as he wraps his hand around the back of my head and drops his lips to my forehead as if he’s literally soaking up my strength.
“Nah, you just needed a Bonnie to your Clyde.”