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Chapter 40 (Lou-Lou)
I watch Ricardo drop to his knees and bury his face in his hands. He looks so destroyed I can't help but start to tear up myself.
And then I get angry...really angry.
Because somehow...I just know DeLuca was behind Tyrone's attack.
And it kills me that someone as sweet and i
I feel like a pot ready to boil over as I walk outside and yank my cell phone out of my purse.
Ford answers after the first ring and any and all reservations I ever had about doing this melt away. "I'm ready," I tell him.
He stays silent for a moment, no doubt shocked before he says, "Good. Everything is all set to go one week from today."
I grimace. "A week? That's too long."
"I need another week to get all the ducks in a row so this goes off without a hitch. It's DeLuca we're talking about, Lucia
"Fine," I say before hanging up on him.
Behind me I hear someone say, "You're making the right choice."
I spin around to face Emilio. And that's when it all clicks. "You. You're the reason Ford sought me out."
He folds his arms across his chest and nods. "I told you I'd figure a way out of this for you." He takes a step forward. "He's the only one with the co
"Yeah, I get that," I say softly. "I just don't know whether I should be saying thank you...or fuck you for arranging all this."
"Don't say anything, Lou-Lou. Just know that I'm sorry."
He gives me a solemn look before he turns around and begins walking down the street.
When I close the door to my apartment I sink to my knees and begin praying for Tyrone.
The last thing I heard the Doctor say before they took him out on the stretcher was that he was going to need emergency surgery.
I wish I could call Ricardo and find out how he's doing, but I'm positive he won't pick up the phone when he see's it's me calling.
Therefore, the only thing I can do right now is pray and continue to pray.
I quickly wipe my eyes with the back of my hand when I hear someone knocking.
When I open the door...it's the last person I expect to see standing there.
Alyssa Ta
"You don't know what happened, do you?"
Her eyebrows furrow and she shakes her head.
I swallow the lump in my throat before saying, "There was an accident at the club tonight. Tyrone got stabbed by his opponent when the match started."
Her hand covers her mouth and a sob escapes as I continue, "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," she says softly.
She starts ru
Besides, it's late and I know for a fact that she doesn't have a car anymore.
"It's after 2am, Alyssa," I call out. "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."
To my surprise, she agrees.
We stay silent on the ride to the hospital, both of us too distraught to speak.
The silence between us breaks however when I pull up to the front of the hospital to drop her off.
"You're not coming in?" she questions.
I look down. "I want to, but I don't think anyone really wants to see me."
Actually...I don't think. I know.
"Look," she starts. "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."
I open my mouth to argue that Ricardo would most definitely not want me showing up but all I can think about is Tyrone.
He's been the only kind one out of all of them and I do consider him my friend. And Alyssa's right, he does need all the positive support he can get right now and I want to be there for him.
I get out and hand my 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."
The look on her face as we enter the emergency room tells me she didn't think of that.
The grim look on both the security guard and the nurse at the front desk face tells me they're going to be less than accommodating.
I sigh and watch as some nurse wearing pink scrubs who could pass for an older version of Alyssa save for the now different colored hair passes us.
I open my mouth to ask Alyssa if she has a sister but she takes my hand and we hurry over to the woman. "Penelope," she calls out before explaining the situation to her.
Pink scrubs surprisingly takes pity on us and leads us past the front desk and to a special section of the intensive care waiting room.
And that's where we find Jackson and Ricardo in some kind of standoff, looking like they're two seconds away from tearing each other’s faces off.
"You've gotta be kidding me," I mutter.
Not only is this not the time nor place for this shit..this is the last thing Tyrone would want. "Stop it!" I scream.
It's like they don't even hear me because Jackson advances toward Ricardo and holds him up against the wall by his throat. "You knew this was going to happen, didn't you?" he sneers.
Christ almighty, Jackson's insane. Ricardo would never allow what happened to go down.
"You're out of your mind, Jackson," Ricardo shouts. "For fucks sake, I snapped that guy's neck. You think I would ever let anything happen to either one of you?"
Jackson shakes his head. "You knew about them switching his opponent before the fight. You had to know something was up. You told me everything was okay right before the fight. But, it wasn't fucking okay. You knew about the meeting because he had to go through you to get one! You knew he wanted out and you never fucking told me. And now, my best friend is in surgery fighting for his life."
Tyrone requested a meeting with DeLuca to get out of the club? Even I know DeLuca would never let him out before his contract is up. Why the hell would Tyrone even attempt something like that?
Oh, God. Our last conversation.
Some horrible combination of panic and guilt grip me, but in the blink of an eye Jackson slams Ricardo up hard against the wall again.
Ricardo's eyes flash and I fight back a shiver because I know what's about to happen if Jackson doesn't tread carefully.
"I had no idea that any of this was go