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Shit...he's right. Obviously, the club has been closed since that night, but it's technically mine now.
And I'd be lying if I said the idea of going back didn't make the feeling in my chest a little lighter.
“Okay it's a deal—” I stop mid-sentence when Tyrone's eyes resemble saucers.
I open my mouth to apologize but then he says, “Have you spoken to her at all?”
I ignore him and breathe a sigh of relief as we near the end of the bridge. I slam my foot on the gas of my Mustang and Tyrone grabs the handle above his door as I fly past the security booth and continue soaring until I bang a sharp left and peel into the parking lot of the prison.
“I'll take that as a no,” he mutters as I open my car door.
After we make our way past security and avoid the long line of inspections and pat downs that other visitors have to go through, we finally meet Jackson in a private visiting room.
I slip the guards some cash and tell them to make sure that the other person I came here to see today is ready for me.
Jackson seems more on edge than usual this visit, but it doesn't surprise me since his trial is so close.
“How's Alyssa?” he immediately questions, and that's when I realize his anxiety has less to do with the impending trial and more to do with Alyssa's pregnancy.
She's starting to show now, and I know that scares the shit out of him because he's still stuck in here and he has no idea what the verdict will be.
What he doesn't realize is that guilty or not, he's not spending the rest of his life in a fucking prison cell for murdering his little sister's piece of shit abuser who took her life.
But I'll let him go about it the honorable way, seeing as he's so hell bent on it and only step in if I have to.
Tyrone and I exchange a glance. Due to Alyssa being pregnant, Jackson doesn't want her coming here anymore because of the potential dangers regarding the visiting process.
However, Jackson talks to Alyssa every day, he even video chats with her, given that's the only special privilege he let me use my pull for and allow me to set up for him.
“She's doing great, “ Tyrone says. “But she spoke to you this morning, so you already know that both her and the baby are perfectly healthy.”
Jackson rubs the back of his neck. “She had another prenatal appointment yesterday.”
Tyrone nods. “Yeah, I know. Shelby and I went with her.”
Jackson pounds his fist on the table. “But I didn't go with her,” he bites out. “I'm missing everything.”
His gaze cuts to me. “Is everything really okay?” He waves a hand in the direction of Tyrone. “I know he'll only tell me whatever Alyssa wants him to because she doesn't want me to be extra stressed when I'm supposed to be focusing on the trial—but I know you'll give it to me straight, Ricardo.”
I look him right in the eyes. “Both your girl and your son are perfectly healthy, I swear. She has the best doctor in New York and I'm making sure she's getting shitloads of healthy food delivered to her.” I give him a smirk. “Although she keeps requesting more pickles and ice cream.”
“And mustard,” Tyrone adds, making a face.
Relief crosses over Jackson's features and he exhales sharply. “Okay, good. I just—she was acting a little weird when I talked to her this morning.”
“Weird how?” I ask, and for a moment I regret moving out of the apartment complex.
His brows draw together and he props his forearms on the table. “She kept falling asleep when she was on the phone with me. I don't know if it's because my trial has her so stressed and she's not getting the proper amount of rest, or if it was her way of getting me off the phone to avoid telling me something bad or—”
“Because she's pregnant?” I interject. “Trust me, man, it's completely normal for her to be so tired all the time.”
My stomach twists as I recall the time Lou-Lou fell asleep mid-conversation right after I asked her to go on a date with me.
Jesus how could I be so stupid? That was definitely a sign.
He nods and I don't miss the brief look he gives me. The look of sympathy and remorse.
Shortly after Jackson got arrested, I ended up visiting him. I pretty much broke down and told him about everything—including Lou-Lou being pregnant and the heinous act that was forced upon her.
I couldn't keep it inside anymore and I needed him to understand where I was coming from and why I was taking DeLuca's place.
I knew Tyrone would understand, seeing as he knew who I was before Jackson found out due to Lou-Lou telling him because she didn't want him to blame me for his accident.
I just wasn't sure how Jackson was going to handle it all—considering that the moment he put everything together was at the warehouse—when I was holding a gun up to his girlfriend's back as my father recalled how he killed her father and purposely set her up with a sex tape.
Christ, that day still haunts me...and not just because of the obvious—but because I feel like I'm missing something.
I know Emilio ended up enlisting Ford and that's how everything got set up, but there's still something awfully unsettling about it.
I originally thought it was DeLuca behind everything. But he was too freaked out about Lou-Lou ending up in the middle of it all.
And if he had set it up with Ford on the down low, surely he would have been prepared for Lou-Lou being there.
But he had a genuine look of fear in his eyes for her, or rather the child he thought she might have been carrying at the time.
And that right there tells me one of two possible things.
One—if it was DeLuca's plan, it obviously got fucked up...because someone ended up crossing him and setting him up in the end.
Well, other than me and Emilio.
And two—the option I now believe to be true.
DeLuca couldn't be behind what happened at the warehouse. At least, not with Ford's help. Because DeLuca spilled the beans about everything to Alyssa...including Ford's part in all of it.
There's no way Ford wouldn't have seen that coming and there's no way in hell he would have went along with that. He knew that Alyssa finding out the truth would be the end of his sick relationship with her.
There's also the glaringly obvious fact—if DeLuca really wanted to get revenge, he would have done it in the form of a crow bar to the head or a bullet when they least expected it, not set up a long drawn-out meeting in a warehouse with Ford of all people.
DeLuca was simply thinking on his feet and purposely confusing everyone. He would have been more prepared if it was his own plan...and there's no way he would have ended up dead.
Hell, the only reason he even ended up there in the first place was because Alyssa was holding Lou-Lou hostage.
There had to be someone else other than Emilio and Ford behind it all.
Someone else behind the scenes that manipulated everything for their own personal gain.
But there's only one person who's still alive that can tell me who that person might be.
Jackson and Tyrone give me a curious look when I stand up. “I'll be back in a little while,” I tell them. “I have to handle some business.”
They both look like they want to say something but I walk out of the room before either of them have the chance.
I walk down a long corridor and into a room all the way at the end.
I hand the guards some more cash and they nod and walk out—leaving me alone with him.