Blame it on the shame Part 2

Chapter 39 (Ricardo)

Being DeLuca's still in Italy, the only meeting I could get Tyrone was via video conference.

However, DeLuca being DeLuca—he demanded the meeting be held in the office at the club. Along with purposely stationing a group of his men right outside the door to ensure I wouldn't overhear a word of what was said in that room.

I tried like hell to get Tyrone to open up to me about what was going on but he wouldn't.

And now that his fight is a mere few minutes away, I'm sweating fucking bullets.

Not only did Tyrone's opponent get switched at the last moment— but Jackson came ru

I blew up DeLuca's phone over and over again but he ignored every single one of my phone calls.

And to make matters worse...Tyrone's officially in shutdown mode, refusing to acknowledge anything or anyone.

That is until we start walking down the corridor leading to the cage and I tell him, "You're not fighting tonight. I am."

That seems to bring him out of his haze. "What?" he screams while shoving me against the wall. "You can't do that. This is my fight!"

I shove him back. "Not anymore it's not. You won't tell me what that meeting was about, you're comparing yourself to a dead rapper, and you're not acting like yourself. You're not fighting. Your heads not in the motherfucking game."

"You can't do that, Ricardo. We both know if I'm not the one in that cage fighting...DeLuca will go ballistic." He glowers. "And if that happens I'm as good as dead and so are you and Jackson." He stands up straight and looks me in the eyes. "I've got this. I'll tell you everything you want to know after, I swear. Just let me knock this fucker's block off first."

"I don't know, Tyrone—"

He points two fingers at his face. "I've got this."

"Fine," I grit through my teeth. "But the second you don't have it I'm jumping in that cage. Got that?"

The crowd's shouts for the 'Hulk' become louder and louder, signaling the start of the fight.

"Got it." He pulls me into a hug. "Love you, brother."

I don't know if I feel better or worse after that, but it's time to get this shit over with.

He walks in the cage and the crowd goes wild. He scans the mass of people until he finds Jackson who pats the spot above his heart where the tattoo of his sister’s name resides. Jackson's eyes find mine and I give him the thumbs up sign."Everything's okay," I mouth as I watch him visibly relax.

That is until Tyrone's opponent walks out and we both realize it's the same asshole from Jackson's last fight.

I tell myself to calm down and remind myself that not only is Tyrone one hell of a competitor...he's never lost a fight before.

Besides, the second this fucker makes one wrong move, I'm going in.

When they a

Tyrone's retort is to blow Jackson a kiss.

I shake my head and laugh and the crowd goes even crazier, despite the fact it's a weekly interaction between the two.

When they a

When Lou-Lou walks over to wish him good luck he nods and puts his game face on.

I leer at her but she turns around, faces the crowd and holds up a cue card. The bell rings a second after and I walk out of the cage and over to the sidelines.

I continue staring her down as she proceeds to make her way out of the cage to stand behind me. It's on the tip of my tongue to ask her if DeLuca ever mentioned why Tyrone's opponent was changed, but then I hear Jackson shouting Tyrone's name.

I turn my head to see what's going on, but out of fucking nowhere some guy grabs Lou-Lou...and all I see is red.

Everything happens in slow motion as 3 more guys come out of the woodwork and charge me. Lou-Lou starts kicking and screaming and I fucking lose it. I dodge their punches and kicks the best I can, solely focused on getting to her. I throw an elbow in the face of one guy until I hear his nose break. I body slam another, and I kick the last one so hard in the balls I fucking feel it. When Lou-Lou screams again, I bear down and charge ahead full force until I'm colliding right into the asshole who's still holding her.

The second he begins to lose his balance and fall, I grab Lou-Lou and set her down. Her face pales and she immediately points to the cage.

When I turn around, I see the pool of blood oozing out of Tyrone from the wound in his back.

My heart’s in my throat and my stomach drops to the fucking floor.

I almost do as well, but then I see that motherfucker charging after Jackson with the same knife he hurt Tyrone with.

Instantly I bolt toward the cage and jump on his back. The sound of me snapping his neck before he falls limp is as reassuring as it is gratifying.

Jackson rushes over to Tyrone and I run over to fetch the doctor and call for an ambulance.

The second I watch them take him out on the stretcher, I feel myself come undone.

Not only am I ashamed that I failed him...there's no doubt in my mind that I'm the reason this happened in the first place.

What happened tonight was a personal message to me from DeLuca himself.

And now I might lose someone I consider my family, my blood...my fucking brother.

And it's all my fault.