Chapter 24 #2
“No, I don’t think I will. They did start it after all.” He smiles with his yellowing teeth from too many cigarettes and shakes his head. “But because I’m such a good person, I’ll offer you a deal.”
I inhale through my nose quickly, knowing that I’m either going to be burned or beaten. But I’ll take either if it keeps Ty and Asher out of his hands.
“What’s the deal?”
“Thata girl,” Mickey smirks sinisterly. The crowd around us cheers. Turning my head quickly to glance over my shoulder, I have to make sure Ty’s okay. As soon as I see him, his eyes are on me and they’re murderous. Mickey grabs my throat, turning me around to face him, and growls.
“You’re my fighter for the next few weeks and one big fight of my choosing. Do that and I’ll keep them out of it.”
The crowd is rushing towards Ty, but I hear him roar my name.
“Roxie!”
In the split second I have to decide, I know what I have to do. I know I just told Ty not to do this, not to sacrifice because we solve our problems together, but this one… This problem is mine and I won’t jeopardize anything he’s built.
I won’t take anything from him, I won’t put him in danger.
“Deal,” I say quickly, ripping myself from his grip. Mickey’s eyes widen just slightly with delight and laughs.
“I’ll be in touch,” is all he says before he disappears into the crowd. He fucking vanishes as if he’s a ghost.
“Carino,” Ty’s voice fills my ears and chases all the ickiness I felt from having Mickey that close.
“Baby, are you okay? Where’d he go?” He’s breathing heavily, bleeding from his eyebrow, nose and lip, and all he’s worried about is me.
His eyes are taking in everything around us, searching for Mickey and keeping an eye on the crowd at the same time.
“Yeah, I’m okay. It’s fine, he’s gone. Just wanted to tell me what a piece of shit I am, but whatever,” I lie, turning it back to him. “Are you okay?” I ask, looking him over, cataloging all the injuries and bruises that are already forming over his ribs and arms.
“I will be. We have to get out of here, where’s Mario?” He cups my cheek, pressing a bloody kiss to my forehead before looking around.
“I don’t know. He’s been gone since the first few minutes. Let’s get your winnings and get out of here.”
Just as I say that, Mario comes crashing into us, obviously high as fuck if his blown out iris’s are any indication.
He starts talking to Ty quickly in Spanish, so quickly and slurred I can’t understand anything he’s saying, but Ty must because he pulls me into his side and snarls at his brother before answering him. He’s pissed. Mario shrugs and tosses Ty the car keys before wandering off.
“Come on, vida, let’s go.” Ty fists the keys hard and I see the blood start to drip down his knuckles from the open cuts.
“He’s not coming?”
“He’ll find a way home.”
“Let’s get your cash,” I say, trying to steer him towards the middle where the Ringmaster sits, but he just shakes his head and pulls me quickly towards the staircase that will lead us out of here.
“Mario has–had–it,” he says through clenched teeth and I gasp softly.
“No.” Just that one word. Just that. I clench my fists and turn back into the sea of people intent on finding his brother.
“Roxie! Roxie, wait!” Ty’s calling for me behind me, but I won’t let this shit slide. If it ruins his family’s opinion of me forever, I guess I’ll have to live with that. But I won’t let Ty live with this.
I can feel Ty following me, but I’m faster.
I see a stumbling head of dark hair and dart that way. When I get closer, I see him making a beeline towards a group of hookers. He’s young, probably too young for the kind of life he’s started on and it almost makes me feel bad, but at the same time, he’s gotta learn.
“Mario!” I call out, and his stumbling ass turns around wobbly, hands out like he’s trying to figure how to stand without falling.
“You!” He points at me like we’re friends and I storm up to him, socking him right in the eye. He crumples like a piece of paper and falls to the ground, crying and holding his face. Goddamn, Ty really protected him fully. A hit like that wouldn’t even phase Ty.
That thought makes me furious. Ty shouldn’t have had to take all those hits for him.
“What the fuck, you crazy bitch?” he screams, tears streaming down his cheeks and I’m already proud of the bruise forming. But I’m not done.
He tries to move back away from me, but fuck that.
I stalk over him, grabbing him by the shirt and pulling him closer before hitting him again. His head knocks back and he falls against the dirt, eyes wide in fear but he’s too fucked up to try and defend himself.
“How dare you! Your brother’s done nothing but care and provide for you and this is how you repay him?
Taking the money meant for your family and spending it on what?
Blow and a quick fuck because you know that’s the only way someone would ever touch you?
” His lip curls up in a snarl, but I press my knee into his chest and step on his hand while holding his other down onto the ground easily. He’s so weak, it’s not even funny.
“You don’t know what you’re talking about, perra,” Mario snaps and I don’t need to know Spanish to know that he’s cursing me out.
“I know enough,” I growl, the words leaving my lips angrily and intentionally.
“I know he’s killing himself to help you while you do nothing.
I know he loves you guys regardless of the fact you’ve shown him nothing in return.
I know he started fighting again to provide for you and your family even though you wouldn’t lift a goddamn finger.
You don’t deserve him, but you’re a lucky fucker.
Because Ty’s decided he cares for you so he’ll do everything he possibly can to help you.
” I take a deep breath to try and steady my anger.
“But me? I love him and I refuse to let you treat him like this. So, the next time he puts his life on the line to help keep food on the table and you think it’s a good idea to buy some drugs with that money, I hope you remember this.
Because next time, you won’t walk away with a broken nose.
You’ll be crawling out on broken knees. Understood? ”
His eyes widen more with each word I say as I pull him higher and higher, my knee on his chest making him hinge, before he nods in fear.
“Good,” I snap, dropping him roughly onto the ground. “Don’t you fucking forget it or you will be dealing with me.”
He doesn’t move as I push into him a little more, just enough to cause a wince and a wheeze from his chest.
I turn back around, intent to go find Ty, but he’s right there. Staring at me with narrowed eyes, his nostrils flaring, his arms at his sides bloody and clenched tightly. My heart stops and it finally catches up to me; what I’ve done, what I’ve said, just how much I overstepped.
But I don’t regret it. Not a second of it.
Because Ty deserves more than he’s been given. And I won’t let that keep happening to him. Not when I love him so fucking much.
“Ty,” I say, but I don’t really know what I’m going to say because he looks angry. At me. I know most people would apologize, but I’m not sorry. “Did you hear that?”
“Yeah, Roxie, I heard it.” Roxie. I wince internally because he used my name. Not baby, not carino, not sweetheart or something soft, no. He used Roxie.
“Are you mad?”
He doesn’t respond, he just grabs my hand and yanks me towards the exit.
“Ty?” I ask again, pushing people out of the way as he pulls me harshly through the crowd.
People give me–him–dirty looks and some start to cuss me out, but I throw up my middle finger at them.
Ty doesn’t answer me.
Just pulls me harder against him.
“Ty?” I try to pull my hand from his, try to get him to stop, but he doesn’t. In fact, the asshole tightens his grip on my hand and I stumble into him.
“We will talk in the car,” he snarls hotly as we start ascending the rickety staircase.
Fuck. I didn’t… I swallow the fear that’s crawling up my spine and follow behind him as quickly as I can. How badly did I screw this up?
I follow him in silence, the fear quickly turning into indignation.
How dare he get mad at me? The fucker’s pulling me around like he owns me when all I did was defend him. No, fuck that.
Ty pushes me in front of him as we enter the dark hallway, keeping two hands on my hips and pushing me faster.
“Quickly, Roxie.”
“I’ll go as fast as I fucking like, dick.”
I hear a growl in the darkness. “Don’t push your luck.”
“You’re being–” I start to say, but he spanks me. He spanks me. “You did not just do that.”
“I did, so you better get a move on before I do what I really want to do for everyone to see.” A shiver runs through me as I hurry faster.
I know, without a shadow of a doubt, that Ty would never hurt me.
He’s had the opportunity to, and he’s never laid a hand on me that I didn’t like.
Spanking included.
He might be mad at me, but I know deep in my bones that he’d never touch me in anger.
Wait.
I stall, because that…that means that the spanking…
His grip on my hips tightens slightly and I feel it. The energy pulsing between us. It’s not anger he’s feeling.
He’s turned on.
Ty pushes the door open roughly, and we’re thrust into the open night air. My feet catch on the uneven terrain, but I don’t fall because Ty’s got such a hold on me.
“Ty?” I ask again, softer and slightly breathless because this chemistry between us is only making my heart beat faster.
“When we get to the car, Roxie,” he says roughly, but it’s not dark. It’s desperate.
The walk to the car feels like it’s forever, and it’s not really a walk so much as I’m nearly running to keep up with the strides of Ty’s stupidly long legs. The darkness stretches on as we hustle to where the car is parked, surrounded by others in an empty field with no lights at all.
It looks like a scrapyard of junkers with a few nicer cars here and there.