He looks woozy and backs up, but at the last second, he starts charging me with the same knife that he stabbed Tyrone with.
That's when Ricardo hops on his back and I hear a cracking sound.
The guy falls limp and I know what's been done...and I'd be lying if I said I wasn't happy about it.
But I have more important things to worry about.
I rush over to Tyrone. He's shaking, and his blood is pooling all around him. I take off my sweatshirt and tie it around his wound tight. He finally looks at me, but when he does, his eyes are glazed over, and I know he's out of it.
I scream his name and tell him to hold on. “I can't lose you, Tyrone,” I scream. Hell, I'm probably sobbing, who knows.
I hear Ricardo on the phone calling for the mob doctor to get to the cage.
“Love you, J-man,” he whispers.
“I love you, too,” I say. “You're gonna be fine. The doctor's on his way.”
“Tell Momma I love her and Shelby...tell Shelby I love her,” he says. “I did this for her,” he whispers.
“What the fuck do you mean?”
He begins nodding off but looks at me. “I made a deal with DeLuca. I asked to be out of the club. I wanted to end my contract.” He gulps in a mouthful of air. “I wanted to start my life with Shelby. She didn't know I was doing this, though.”
“And what did he say, Tyrone?” I scream, already fearing the answer.
“He told me I had to fight one last opponent...and then I was out.”
I shake my head. “No. You had to know it wouldn't be that easy.”
He begins nodding off again, but I force him to stay with me. “I know, Jackson. But he promised. His only stipulation was that I had to go a full 10 rounds with the guy you fought last week.”
His eyes close but he keeps talking. “I knew it would be a tough fight. I mean,10 rounds with that beast? You only went 3 with him. But DeLuca told me to drag it out to 10 rounds and take my hits and my punishment like a man. But, I never thought it would end up like this. I should have, though, Huh? I mean, it's fucking DeLuca. Still, I didn't anticipate being stabbed.”
DeLuca was setting Tyrone up to be killed. There's no way he could have lasted 10 rounds with that guy without defending himself. I barely survived 3 and I did fight back. If Alyssa hadn't screamed, I never would have made it past that.
Weird thing is? That beast looked at me right before Tyrone’s fight, like it was some kind of personal message.
Tyrone starts shaking again and I have to hold him down in order to make sure there's pressure on his wound. His eyes flutter and the feeling of dread washes over me. I lower my lips to his ear and whisper, “You're my brother and I love you. You better make it through this because I need you. Don't you fucking bail on me, Tyrone.”
The doctor finally shows up, declares he needs to go to a hospital right away and they take him out on a stretcher.
I sit there in shock, my eyes are still wet and Tyrone's blood surrounds me. It feels like my heart just got crushed into dust.
But then venomous rage fills my blood.
And I know exactly who it's for.
The Devil himself.
Fuck sitting down to try and talk to him. Fuck laying it all out on the table for him. Fuck offering him an ounce of my loyalty in exchange for Alyssa's safety after he pulled this shit.
There's another way to ensure that she's safe.
There's another way to get payback for those I love.
This bastard has now hurt two people that I would do anything for.
Fuck this club, fuck his contract, and fuck him.
I stare into the camera and narrow my eyes. “I'm coming for you, DeLuca,” I sneer, low enough so that only I can hear.
I see the camera move and I know he's watching me.
Good.
Chapter Thirty-Four
Alyssa
Last call ended 20 minutes ago.
Jackson, Tyrone, and Ricardo never showed up after the fight.
I've tried calling Jackson's cell multiple times but he still hasn't picked up or responded to any of my text messages.
I would call Momma, but she doesn't believe in cell phones.
It's obvious that something is very wrong. Which is why I locked up the bar and I'm currently standing in front of Jackson's apartment door, pounding on it as hard as I can.
I thought for sure that Momma would be here, but seeing as I'm still not getting a response, that only makes this bad feeling I have worse.
With no options left, I have no choice but to walk down the hall to Lou-Lou's front door.
She answers on the second knock. Her eyes are red and puffy, it's obvious that she's been crying and she's upset about something.
“Look, I'm sorry I'm interrupting whatever it is that you're going through right now, but I can't get a hold of Jackson, and no one is at the apartment—”
“You don't know what happened, do you?” she says, her voice raspy with emotion.
I swallow hard against the lump in my throat and tell myself to breathe before I shake my head.
“There was an accident at the club tonight. Tyrone got stabbed by his opponent when the match started.”
My hand flies over my mouth and a sob escapes.
“Everyone's at the hospital because he's having emergency surgery. That's probably why you can't get a hold of anyone.”
“Thank you.”
I start running down the hall, but to my surprise, I hear Lou-Lou's footsteps behind me.
“It's after 2am, Alyssa. You'll never catch a cab because they're too busy picking up drunk idiots and it will take you an hour to get there on foot. Also, it's not exactly safe to go walking in the city by yourself this time of night. If you want, I can drive you,” she offers.
I nod my head, too shaken up to form actual words. My heart is breaking for Jackson...and Momma. Oh, god, poor Momma.
I pray as hard as I can for Tyrone the entire ride to the hospital.
I give Lou-Lou a questioning look when she pulls up to the front of the hospital but makes no move to get out. “You're not coming in?”
She looks down. “I want to, but I don't think anyone really wants to see me.”
“Look, don't take this the wrong way, but it's not about you right now. Tyrone needs all the positive thoughts he can get. Plus, I think Ricardo would appreciate you showing up and offering your support.”
She gives me an odd look and I can tell she's ready to argue, but instead she gets out with me and hands her keys to a valet attendant. “Do you think they'll give us any information? We're not immediate family and we didn't come in with him. And you already said that Jackson wasn't picking up his phone.”
Crap, I didn't really think about that.
I scan the emergency room. The look on both the security guard's face and the nurse at the desk, tells me they're both going to be hard nuts to crack.
Out of the corner of my eye, I see my doppelganger's blonde ponytail and pink scrubs.
“Penelope,” I call out, while taking Lou-Lou's hand and rushing over to her.
I quickly explain the situation. She looks sympathetic, and before I know it, she's leading us past the front desk and walking us toward a special section of the intensive care waiting room.