Chapter 20: Tirone: Chapter 21

My feet weighed a hundred pounds as I dragged them out of the room. The noises coming from downstairs curdled the blood in my veins. Shattered glass. Screams. Swears of wrath. Threats of torture to death. I held the banister and looked down at what seemed to be, despite the dark, a battlefield from hell.

Abruptly, Doc flew up the stairs and held my arm. “You have to go back inside. Rex is out of control.”

“I can help him,” I whispered.

“No. He’s incoherent and been attacking every single person who dares come near him, even if they’re trying to help. He injured Molar and Marshall.”

A tightness in my chest constricted my breath as remorse flooded through me. Tirone was angry and lost. He’d been hurting people. He could even hurt himself. And it was all my fault.

“I have to try,” I sobbed.

“Prez’s orders are clear. Keep you inside and as far away from Rex as possible. You have to stay in your room. I’ll lock you up if I have to.”

Something smashed against the ceiling, and another scream erupted. I used the distraction to escape Doc’s grip and darted down the stairs.

“No! Fuck! Jo!” His footsteps scurried behind me, but I kept going. My own guilt was eating away at me and I needed to get in there and fix this. This had to end. Everything had to end. Now.

I trudged through the narrow hallway that led to the bar counter near the kitchen, glass cracking beneath my shoes. The only light there was the faint glow from lamps that hung over the pool tables. I could see well, though. I was used to it, and it gave me an advantage over Doc. Men and woman stared at me like I was crazy for coming down. I didn’t care. I had to go in there.

“Get back, Jo,” Doc barked behind me.

“I’m not leaving. I have to talk to him.” More glass crackled beneath my feet as I raced in the dark toward the lounge, where the only lights on were. Why was it so dark in here? Did Ty smash the light bulbs? Was that the source of the shattered glass I was walking on?

I shivered, expecting more damage in the lounge. A chair flew across the room, soaring past my view of the entryway. It crashed into a table, and then Laius was swearing, and Ty was screaming in pain.

“Ty!” My heart hammered so hard I thought my ribs would snap. I barged in, unfazed by the debris or Molar and Marshall who were withering in a corner, tending to their wounds, but were about to come my way when they saw me. I lifted a hand at them to stop them, scanning the room for Ty. Until I finally spotted him.

He staggered in place, his face haunted by the demons that controlled him. Like a wounded animal, blood covered his hair and face, trickling down his clothes. Then a loud, broken wail exploded out of him.

“Get out of here, Jo. It’s not safe, Goddamnit!” Laius bellowed, his back to me, standing as a barrier in front of Ty.

I approached them from the side, nonetheless. “No. Tirone won’t hurt me.” He promised me.

Ty stilled at my voice and, moving in slow motion, his head tilted up to face me. His eyes were bloodshot, filled with infuriated tears that spilled down his bleeding face when he saw me. “Jo,” he choked out.

He had fresh bruises around his temple and jaw. Sweat and blood covered the visible areas of his chest and abdomen; his t-shirt was ripped. More wounds appeared on his body as I came closer most likely from fighting the members of the Night Skulls and their president, his own father.

“Yes, Ty, It’s me. I’m right here, and I’m not leaving until all of this is sorted out.”

“He fucked you? You let him inside of you?” Ty sobbed. “How could you?”

“I said leave, Jo,” Furore hissed, and his teeth were bloody. Jesus. “I’ll take care of him.”

A moan tore out of me. “You have to stop fighting each other. I’m not leaving until you listen to what I have to say. Both of you.”

“Not now! You have to get out of here!”

“No! I can’t take this anymore. This ends now. You have to know the truth.”

A moment of silence rang among us. Then Furore glanced at me from the corner of his eye. “What truth?”

Bile rose to my throat. I tried to swallow, but my mouth was as dry as sandpaper. “The truth about Tirone. The truth about me.”

“You can’t do this,” Ty rasped. “You can’t be with him. Not him. You can’t do this to me.”

Tears streamed down my face. “I have to. I can’t see you like this anymore. It kills me.”

“You can’t do this!” he seethed.

“I can, and I will. I don’t care what happens to me, Ty. No more of this. No more of hurting the people that care about you. No more of hurting yourself. This isn’t a life any of us deserves. All of this pain must end now.” I switched my swelling gaze to Laius, holding my invisible shroud, ready to face the consequences of my mistakes. “I’m sorry I kept it from you all this time, but I’ll tell you everything now. I don’t expect you to forgive me, but I just want you to know that I love you.”

Laius’s brow furrowed. “What the fuck, Jo? What’s going on?”

“Tirone and—”

“Who’s Madeline, Prez?” Ty suddenly asked.

My heart skipped a beat. That was my mother’s name. I never told him her name. How did he know it? Why was he asking Furore about her? Ty must have meant someone else because Furore never mentioned he knew anything about my mother.

Furore’s head whipped toward Ty. “Where the fuck did you hear that name?”

His reaction took me by surprise. Why would he be upset when Ty mentioned her name?

“The brothers were talking.” Ty smirked. “You know, the Irish girl you met in New York? The one who got away? Madeline Kelly.”

“Shut your fucking mouth,” Furore snarled at Ty.

My head spun. “That’s…my mother. Madeline Kelly, Irish, lived in New York. How… Did you know my mother, Laius?”

“Your mother?” Ty asked in shock clearly feigned. “Wow. Did you know your girlfriend’s mother while you were with mine?”

Furore jabbed his finger in the air between them. “I never cheated on Delilah.”

“Then Madeline was the one that couldn’t make you love Mom, that couldn’t make you love us, your own family.”

“What?” I spiraled. “Is this true? Did you know my mother? Personally?” My voice cracked. “Intimately?”