Chasing Bliss Read Online Free Page B

from Smoke, but it looks like we got his ass to kiss.” He glanced at Chase, and Chase’s mouth turned down like he suddenly tasted something sour. “But that’s all right. If he wants to forget his family…it’s all good. We’ll still love him, right?”
    Corey looked from him to Chase and shook his head. “You know what, Cyrus? Maybe we can go another way. Maybe we can hire somebody to get this thing off the ground, you know? It ain’t no big deal.”
    Cyrus blew breath between his teeth. “Yeah, at least not to Chase.”
    “Come on, Cyrus. Ease the fuck up. If he don’t wanna do it, ain’t no use tryina force him. Just leave him alone.”
    Chase weighed the pros and cons in his head. If he helped Cyrus with his new little business venture, which at least sounded legit, at the very least, he wouldn’t have to go through both of their bullshit. For all he knew, maybe Cyrus’s club would have a chance at succeeding; if that happened, Cyrus might stop hanging out at Cream, trying to sling his shit in Chase’s spot. Maybe, just maybe, Cyrus and Corey would get so involved in running their own club that they’d turn over a new leaf. It was farfetched, but it was a possibility—especially for Corey, because knowing Cyrus, he’d pass off all the problems that came with running a place down to his baby brother. Maybe Chase would finally wrest Corey from Cyrus’s influence.
    “You want him left alone? Fine, it’s done. Smoke never remembers where his loyalties should lie. He’d rather trust his own business to that bitch Delia, a fuckin’ stranger, than deal with his own flesh and blood, and—”
    Chase had had enough of their judgmental and self-serving bullshit. He picked up his butter knife and threw it at Cyrus. It hit him in the chest and would have stuck if it had been a steak knife.
    Corey’s mouth dropped open in shock as Cyrus knocked the knife away reflexively, and outrage took over his features. “What the fuck is wrong with you, Chase? You tryin’ to stab me? Your own fuckin’ brother?” He was so upset that he was shaking.
    Chase smiled.
    His ass was shaking because he was knew Chase had mad skills with just about any kind of blade. All three of them knew that if Chase had meant to hurt him, that little get-together woulda been his last meal, and Chase said as much. “Calm down, Cyrus. If I wanted to hurt you, that knife would be sticking out of your chest. All three of us know it. I just wanted to stop your goddamn whining about my fuckin’ loyalties, and since you wouldn’t shut the fuck up like I told you, I needed to get your attention.”
    Cyrus picked up his drink and drained it with a shaky hand. He put it back down and wiped his forehead with his handkerchief. He looked at Chase angrily. “Fine. You fuckin’ got it.”
    Chase leaned forward and put his hands flat on the table. “Good. I’m gonna help you, Cyrus.”
    Cyrus put his handkerchief away and looked at Chase with sugar-coated venom. “Well, thank you, Chase. Thanks for steppin’ down to Earth long enough to help me out. I appreciate it…and I’m humbled.”
    Chase laughed and shook his head. In spite of the laugh, he had a fleeting wish that the knife had been a steak knife. Cyrus could be a complete asshole at times, and this was one of them. For once, though, Chase was not in the mood. He refused to be baited and talked down to or made to feel obligated. He stood up with his hands still flat on the table. Chase looked Cyrus in the eye, and Cyrus fell back a bit.
    Corey stayed silent, still looking from one brother to the other.
    “You’re a fuckin’ bully, Cyrus,” Chase said plainly.
    Corey looked down at the table and started shaking his head. “Chase, man…please!”
    Chase didn’t take his eyes off Cyrus as he spoke to his little brother. “Much love, Corey, but you ain’t in this right now. I need you to be quiet. No disrespect.”
    Corey nodded, still looking down at the table, seemingly resigned