Blame it on the shame Part 2

I brush my thumb along her cheek. "And if you ever insult her again? You'll be swallowing your goddamn teeth."

I give her a wink and zip up my fly. "After all...I am a DeLuca. Rumor has it you really don't want to piss us off."

Fear flashes across her face and she gulps. "I-I'll never bother you or her again. I-I promise."

I open the door and make my way back through the club. That's when I notice a crowd of people gathered by the bathrooms and hear the familiar sounds of Jackson pummeling the shit out of someone.

Fucking hell...I thought they went home.

"You ruined her life and now I'm go

I part through the crowd just as some girl shrieks, "Someone call the police! I think that's the mayor's son."

I look down and sure enough? It does appear to be a very bloody and battered Dean Gaffney Jr getting the shit beat out of him.

I can't say the fucker doesn't deserve it because he definitely does...but still...this is going to be one hell of a mess to clean up. Especially now that I notice a few people are filming the entire thing.

I'll take care of them in a second. My first order of business is to stop Alyssa from getting between them.

I wrap an arm around her waist and haul her the fuck out of the way.

I calculate the split second before Jackson's next punch and that's when I slide the shithead's body out of the way and hand him over to Freddie and Jimmy—two of DeLuca's men I had come with me tonight since Emilio is watching over Lou-Lou.

"Put him in the SUV and wait for my instructions," I tell them. They nod and a moment later they're gone.

Jackson's starting to come out of his haze but that chick is still going on and on about calling the cops.

I walk over to her, take her little flip phone in my hand and proceed to snap it in half. "No one is calling the police," I boom. My expression warning everyone not to fucking cross me.

I hear a few audible gasps, but no one says another word. Not even when I walk over to the three dip-shits who had their phones out recording what happened and stomp on all three phones until they're broken.

'Alyssa," Jackson says.

I give him a look and he gives me a small nod, letting me know he's back to himself now and he's fine.

However, Alyssa looks like she's about to shit a brick...but seeing as she's Jackson's girl, that's his problem to handle.

My problem's currently waiting in the SUV for me.

I walk out and motion for Frankie and Jimmy to step out of the car.

Since prick-face is still passed out unconscious in the backseat, there's no threat of him ru

I point to the both of them. "This is how it's go

They look taken back. "But—" Jimmy starts.

"But nothing. Let me put this into terms that you two boneheads can understand. You two owe me a favor. And that favor consists of you not remembering anything about tonight and keeping your traps shut."

I take out my gun. "Because if you say a word—Hell, if I even suspect you said anything—" I move my gun between their faces. "The last thing you'll remember is this beautiful sight right here. My Beretta 92'...right before I make you suck it off and I pull the trigger. Capisci?"

They nod and start to walk away, but I'm still not done.

"And gentlemen?" I say, halting them. "Just in case you forgot something...I'm the one and only person who's able to take over for the current DeLuca. Therefore, if you're good to me...you'll find I can be very accommodating to you both in the future."

I aim and shoot my gun between their feet and they both jump back. "Or I can be your worst nightmare. The choice is yours."

Frankie takes a step forward. "What do you need us to do, Boss?"

I pat him on the shoulder. "You know what, Frankie? You just became my favorite. And boy, do I have a job for you."

He understandably looks confused. Until I point to the brand new Mercedes that belongs to Dean. "You're go

He nods and I point to Jimmy. "And you? You're go

"Don't worry, I took care of everything," I assure Jackson later on that night at his apartment.

He looks unconvinced. "How?"

"I had a few of DeLuca's men waiting on deck, just in case something happened. Plus, I was in the wings myself. I wish I got to you sooner, but I didn't see you go into the bathroom. I thought you left because I saw you both head out for the exit."

I grimace when I think about Scarlet. I decide it's better to lie so I don't have to get into it with him. "I stayed back chatting it up with some hot redhead. Then I heard the commotion."

I run a hand through my hair. "You fucked him up bad, Jackson. He's got some serious damage. On the bright side, he was so zonked out of his mind he doesn't remember shit before or after. He had no idea he was talking to Alyssa in the bathroom or that he got into a fight."

I smirk as I remember the events from a few hours earlier. "I had Freddie wreck his car and stage it like he got into an accident because he was too stoned. I also issued him a warning. Not only did I tell him that you were in DeLuca's circle and ran with him. I mentioned that if his memory about tonight were to ever come back, he and his car would be found at the bottom of the Atlantic."

"Thanks. I owe you," he says before pausing. "But what about DeLuca's men? What if they say something to him?"

I jerk a shoulder up. "They won't. They owe me a few favors. But, if DeLuca finds out, I'll handle it. I don't really see him flipping out over some stupid bar fight, anyway. He's got much bigger shit to worry about. It's not like you ended up in jail or on the news."

It's true. This won't even be a blip on his radar. Besides, I know Frankie and Jimmy aren't going to say anything. Not if they know what's good for them.

"Shit. What about the cell phones? It was the mayor's son. You know someone will be more than willing to sell the footage to tmz or post it online."

"Took care of that too," I say.

"What if you missed one? Then what?"

I consider this for a moment. If that's the case I'll just have to issue a warning. "Then we take care of it."

I look around, hoping to change the subject. "So where is Alyssa?"

He spends the next few minutes telling me how he ended up watching the video and that Alyssa put two and two together and figured it out before he could confess. He doesn't even need to tell me he regrets it...it's written all over his face and I honestly feel bad for him.

My rage begins to build when I think about why he's currently in the predicament he's in.

"Fucking Lou-Lou," I growl. "She doesn't know when enough is enough. Always causing problems."

It doesn't even come close to the real reason I'm so angry with her...but since I can't tell him about that...it's a blanket statement that I know Jackson will buy.

"Yeah, but it was still me who watched it," he says. "I have no idea how the hell to fix this."

Usually, I'm pretty good with dishing out advice to both him and Tyrone, but seeing as I'm in a very different but yet similar situation...the only piece of advice I can offer up is, "Maybe it's best to just leave it alone and let it perish. Some things are better that way."