Blame It on the Shame (Blame It on the Shame: Lou-Lou and Ricardo's Story #1) (27 page)

I wouldn't put anything past him. That's why I made sure to get Jackson and Tyrone burner phones with specific instructions not to ever use it
or
turn it on unless it was an absolute emergency.

I want to kick myself for not getting her a burner phone. Then again, what use would it be now? If her jewels are bugged with a video camera he would see it.

“Well in that case, I'm going to head to the gym.”

“Have fun,” she says.

Her eyes close and she draws in a shaky breath. No, she
can't
fall apart now.

If he's taken it to this extreme, chances are he already suspects something's up with her.

Or
me
.

Or worst of all...me
and
her.

Motherfucking shit.

No, there's
no
way he would know about that.

Just to be sure, I need to channel the old Lou-Lou. At least, until I can figure a way out of this mess.

I reach for her hand and she hesitates for a moment too long before finally pulling back. “What are you doing?” she hisses.

I lift her bracelet up to inspect it. “Having a look at your new gifts.”

She stares at me wide-eyed but I ignore her. “I can't believe my father spent so much money on one of his sugar baby's.”

She doesn't react like I expect or want her to. Her lower lip trembles and she looks ashamed.

No wonder
DeLuca suspects something. She's not behaving like she used to.

I fight the urge to hold her in my arms because if this is DeLuca's new way of testing me
and
her because he suspects something, this needs to be done.

I drop her wrist. “It's grotesque.” I give her a dirty look. “But then again...he's always had bad
taste
.”

With that, I walk away and hope to god she knows it was all an act.

“Christ, Ricardo!” Jackson yells.

I ignore him because I don't see or hear Jackson right now.

He tries to move around the ring and dodge me but he's too slow.

I jab him again...and again...and
again
.

And when
that's
not enough, I send a hard uppercut to his face.

“Just trying to prepare you for the fight on Saturday.”

I send another uppercut to his face and blood trickles out of his mouth.

Tyrone yells something on the sidelines but I pay him no mind.

I cock my hand back and deliver what's known as the '
Haymaker
'. It's a power punch that's usually used as a finishing move when your opponent has grown weaker and is less likely to issue a counter.

His face bounces off my fist and he staggers back against the ropes.

“There won't be a fight if you
kill
me, motherfucker,” Jackson roars before sending a straight punch to my ribs.

Tyrone jumps in the ring and stands between us while cursing up a storm.

That's when I realize where I am.

It's not so much Jackson's punch that did it, although he most likely just broke one of my ribs...it's his words that zap me back to reality.

And all the blood.

Fuck
, I took it too far. I've never acted like
this
in the ring with them. I'm their coach, I'm not supposed to.

Shit, if it was anyone other than Jackson in the ring with me I could have killed them.

Tyrone gives me a look I've never seen before. “What the
fuck
, man!” he shouts.

He looks ready to go toe to toe with me on Jackson's behalf and that only makes me feel like even more of a shithead.

Jackson gives me a look laced with pure malice before he spits blood at me. Then he steps to me. “Wanna make this personal, asshole? Because
trust
me, I can make this real fucking
personal
.”

He taps the tattoo over his heart with his sister's name in warning before he charges in my direction.

I'm not scared of him, but I know it's his way of telling me I've just brought out a side of him that shouldn't be brought out during training.

It's a side he only lets out when he's in the cage...fighting for his life.

It's his way of telling me that I just crossed the line.

And he's right...I did.

I brace myself but Tyrone pushes him at the last possible second. His gaze bounces back and forth between the both of us.

“Knock this shit off!” he booms. “Y'all are my brothers and I'm not gonna let you destroy one another.” He takes out his cell phone and holds it in the air emphatically. “I'll call Momma. I swear it.”

For some reason, him threatening to call Momma on us makes us both laugh.

“Fuck, Jackson,” I say. “ I'm sorry, man. I got carried away. I didn't...I didn't see
you
in the ring with me if that makes any sense.”

Tyrone hands him a towel and he wipes his face. “It makes perfect sense, fucker. Believe me,
I
understand. What I
don't
understand is what the hell set you off in the first place.” He points to himself. “It's
me
.
I'm
not your fucking enemy. What gives?”

He snorts. “Never mind I think we all know what's
changed
recently.”

He throws his bloody towel down. “I don't want to be an asshole who gets involved in other people's relationships but there's something you need to know.”

Tyrone starts waving his hands telling him to stop.

Since my curiosity's been more than peaked, there's no way I'm letting this go.

“What's that?”

He lifts his chin and Tyrone curses under his breath.

“Your girl is
still
hitting on me and Tyrone. I don't mean innocent flirting either. I mean, still making sexual advances. And if you don't believe me for whatever reason; you can ask that guy Luke and he'll tell you. He witnessed it happening on more than one occasion.”

Dammit.

I'm not mad. Lou-Lou's supposed to be doing that, it's part of the plan. I just never thought about how it would make
me
look.

Or feel.

“Well, we're not serious,” I say.

Jackson blows out a breath. “Look, brother. There's keeping shit casual and then there's looking like a
chump
.” He gestures between him and Tyrone. “We're your boys...the
last
people she should be hitting on is
us
.”

Tyrone rubs the back of his neck and Jackson shrugs. “I'm not trying to judge, but if
I
was calling someone
my
girl, buying her expensive jewelry,
and
letting her stay at my apartment every night. You better believe I would
never
be okay with her trying to cozy up to some other guy. Or in this case,
guys
.”

The worst part about what he's saying is that I have no argument... because it's exactly how I feel.

I'm not okay with it. I'm not okay with
any
of this.

Especially given the guy she's
really
cozying up to is my father.

They turn to go in the locker room and I'm about to join them but my phone rings.

I'm mildly confused as to why DeLuca's name is flashing across the screen...but then I realize.

He has camera's in the gym.

And that means he heard everything Jackson just said.

Chapter 18 (Ricardo)

“Yeah,” I answer.

“Don't you 'yeah' me. Explain yourself...now,” he rumbles.

I walk out of the gym and head to my car because the last thing I need is Tyrone and Jackson hearing
this
conversation. “What did you expect me to do, Babbo?”

I
hate
calling him Babbo but I know hearing it makes him happy in some sick way.

It makes him think there's a chance of me taking over for him one day.

Too bad for him he doesn't stand a chance in hell.

When he stays silent, I say, “You told me to look out for her, remember?
You
said that you didn't want anyone knowing she was tied to you because of your enemy's—those were your words. You
also
said you didn't want anyone taking advantage of her. You put me in a tough fucking spot. She's one girl surrounded by a bunch of men. How the hell am I supposed train Jackson and Tyrone, take care of the club
and
look out for your little girlfriend at all times?”

I lock my jaw because I hate the next words coming out of my mouth. “You always told me the best way of commanding power was taking control of the situation first.
You
told me that a good business man looks at the big picture and makes the best
overall
decision for
every
possible problem that could potentially arise. You can be mad all you want, Babbo...but I took your advice. It was the only way to handle this situation and if you look at it from my perspective...you'd see that.”

I grip the steering wheel. “There was no better way to protect her other than letting people think she was with me. There was no way to make sure she didn't wander off and get killed at night other than having her sleep on the couch in my apartment.”

He stays silent for what feels like hours before he sighs. “You remember my advice?”

I have to dig deep within myself to pull out my next words. “Yeah. I mean, it's pretty solid advice. I decided to put it to good use.”

He stays silent on the other line for another minute before saying, “I see now that I misconstrued the situation entirely. I realize that you were only doing what I asked you to do. You did the right thing. Good job, son. I'm proud of you.”

I'm positive I must have misheard him.

“Thanks,” I say because I'm still too stunned.

“I have to go back to taking care of business but before I go, I think you should know something.”

“What's that?”

“Lucianna isn't my
sugar baby
,” he spits. “I don't appreciate you telling her such things. I thought you got along but I realize now that you don't care for her much at all. Therefore, I'm
warning
you, son. You better start being nice to her because
she
is sticking around,” he barks before he hangs up.

I sit back in my seat and smile.

DeLuca just showed his hand.

There's no way Lou-Lou told him about our last conversation.

DeLuca was so flustered he inadvertently let it slip that he's watching us.

Now I need to figure out a way to get rid of those things.

I don't even have to ask her to know he warned her not to take them off. Hell, he even prepared for one of them to malfunction at some point because she has not one, but two.

And as much as I want to, I can't just rip them off of her. I have to be smart about it.

It has to be something completely unexpected
and
smart enough to outsmart him.

I pound the steering wheel when it comes to me.

It's a long shot but I recall the very blunt opinion Momma gave me about a certain redhead I was sleeping with awhile ago.

I pick up my phone and hope like hell Momma was right about her after all.

Chapter 19 (Lou-Lou)

I adjust my ring girl uniform and apply more concealer under my eyes.