Chapter 17

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

" B eing back on the team isn't worth anything if the man I love is killed." I sigh and Donny moves closer to me, taking my hand.

Rylee is over by Colton, and I can tell this is upsetting her too.

"Teo is strong. He's got this, Len," Donny says, trying to reassure me, but something isn't right.

The moment we arrived, his cousin, Angelo, took him to the back and wouldn't let us join.

We have always been able to wait, and doctor him up after a fight.

Mateo stumbles and shakes his head. I watch as he takes another hit.

Something isn't right here. Teo is acting like he doesn't know how to defend himself. His eyes are glazed and his footing is sloppy.

What the fuck is going on? I move forward towards the cage, but Angelo holds me back, laughing as Teo takes another right hook to the cheek.

Fuck, that's going to leave a mark.

Teo groans and my heart breaks. He did this for me. I would do the same for him, for any of our family, but this isn't worth it.

Leaving the Black Widows would destroy me, but losing Mateo would kill me.

Teo holds up his hands, trying to block, but he can hardly stand. "Lennox," Rylee whispers beside me, and I know this is making her sick too.

She is tough and takes no shit, but when one of her guys is hurting, she hurts. That's one of the things I love about her.

"I know, baby girl," I say, pulling her under my arm and kissing her head. She cuddles closer, and I hold her as we watch Teo get the ever loving shit kicked out of him.

Angelo is talking loudly to someone behind us, and I catch his final words.

"Shouldn't have tried to fuck over the family. Payback's a bitch!" He chuckles and Rylee's body goes stiff.

"Don't," I whisper and she clenches her teeth. I can feel her visibly shaking. "Baby girl, these are bad men. They will kill you in your sleep," I warn her and she huffs.

"Don't you see what they've done, Len? They've drugged our man," she hisses and I grunt.

"Fuck, I knew something was off!"

Teo gets hit again, this time in the stomach, and he faceplants the mat with a groan.

"Stay down, baby," I whisper, and Rylee is breaking my fingers with her death grip.

Teo fights to get his weight off the ground, but he can't. Angelo calls it and shoots a wink to their uncle, who is smirking.

Bending low to where Teo is lying, almost unconscious, as he whispers something in his ear.

I can't hear him, but the way Mateo's body tenses, I know it's nothing good.

I wait until Angelo leaves the mat and the place starts to clear out.

A lot of people are pissed that Teo lost, since they bet on him to win. Maybe we should announce that he was sabotaged.

When the coast is clear, we run out to get Teo and bring him back into the locker room. Donny, Trevor, and I lift him, but it's clear he's not going to be able to walk.

"No, just get us out of here," he mumbles, his words slurring.

"We need to have the doctor check you over," Rylee snaps and I sigh.

"Not safe. Get to car."

I glance around, and sure enough, Teo's uncle is staring at us, especially Rylee.

"Okay, yeah, let's go. I'll call a doctor to make a house call," I murmur. Trevor looks like he wants to argue, but thankfully, he listens, and soon we are in the car headed back to campus. Rylee is in the back with Teo and she's on the verge of tears.

Teo's face is a mess, he's going to be hurting in the morning.

"Call Lincoln," Teo mutters before his eyes roll back and he's out cold.

"Fuck, this isn't good," Donny shouts and I nod. Colt is driving, and he even looks unsettled.

"Who is Lincoln?" Ry asks, and I close my eyes, taking a deep breath.

"Mateo's cousin, and if he wants us to call, it means someone is going to die."

I've been a mess since Mateo's fight. For the first week, I couldn't sleep without having nightmares of his bloody face. And I still don't know if his cousin did anything. The guys have been very hush-hush around me.

Since then, Teo's been getting annoyed with mine and Lennox's hovering, so I've been banished from the Cheer house. Rude. But I don't mind it if it means getting to spend more time with Colton.

"I can't believe she really did it." Colton gives me a bright smile, making it impossible not to grin back. "She stuck it out and is truly sober. Not only that, she's choosing to stay longer, even though she's done the required time."

"Just means she wants to stick with it. If she feels like that place is the best option for her right now, it's better to stay there." I give his hand a squeeze.

This is the second time we've visited Colton's mom. The first time, it went really well. She seemed like a very nice woman. When we left, Colton was a bit in shock. He said he never truly got to enjoy the true side of his mom, as she was always smothered by some sort of substance.

Even though we haven't been able to come back to visit until now, Colton's been calling her regularly. I'm so damn happy he's getting his relationship with his mother back. I know how much it's killed him to see her suffer.

Last time I was here, part of me wanted to talk to her, demand to know why she chose drugs and alcohol over her son, but I kept my mouth shut. I wasn't going to ruin the progress they've made. And it's really none of my business, because I don't know her.

I don't know the things that have happened in her life. It's not my place.

"Colt." His mom beams a bright and sunny smile as she walks into the rec room.

"Hey, Mom." He hugs her tightly. "How are you doing?"

"So, so good," she says as she takes a seat. "Rylee, sweetie. Hi."

"Hi." I smile back.

One day, maybe I'll have some sort of friendship with her, but right now, I'm only here for moral support. To hold Colton's hand while he has this time with his mom. I don't say much unless asked a question, or to give my opinion on some subject they're talking about.

"Colton, baby." Her smile slips from her face as a mask of pain takes over. "I need to talk to you about something."

His brows furrow. "Are you okay? You're not sick, are you?"

"No, no, hunny, I'm fine. Trust me."

"Okay, then what's wrong? You look like you're going to be ill."

Her lower lip wobbles, and something tells me, whatever she's about to tell him isn't going to be good at all. I'm on guard immediately. With all the bullshit that's been coming down on us like a domino effect these past few weeks, my fight or flight mode is pretty much permanently on at this point.

"Part of the healing process in recovery is mending the past. And, well, baby, I've kept a huge secret from you. A really big one, and it's been killing me. Literally. It's why I've always had to numb the pain."

"Mom," Colton whispers, reaching for her hand. "You're scaring me."

"I don't mean to, baby. I don't, but I need to tell you this. I can't heal until I do."

"Tell me what?" He sounds helpless. I put my hand on his knee, bracing myself.

"It's about your sister," she whispers, and Colton's whole body goes stiff.

"What about her?" he asks in almost a hollow tone.

Colton doesn't talk much about his sister, it's too painful. But the times when he does, they're always amazing stories about the two of them together. She was an incredible girl taken from this earth far too soon.

"It's the truth about her death."

"What do you mean the truth ?" He takes his hands back, balling them up into fists on the table.

His mom takes a deep breath, and her eyes are full of tears and pain. Shit, this isn't going to be good.

"She was murdered. Wrong place, wrong time," Colt mumbles.

"The first part is true. That bastard killed my baby girl." She lets out a sob. "You were led to believe we don't know who did it. But we do." She continues to cry, getting louder with every word. "We know everything."

Colton's nostrils start flaring and my heart sinks. Fuck. My heart starts to race and a nervous sweat breaks out.

"You see, your sister, she was talking to a guy online for a while. We didn't know about him. She did a very good job at keeping him a secret. Well, this guy, he became obsessed with her. Sent her gifts, and started blowing up her phone. That was how we found out. She wasn't able to hide it because this guy wanted to be known."

She swallows hard. "It got to the point where he started stalking her. And then he showed up at the house."

"What the fuck, Mom?!" Colton raises his voice. "How the hell didn't I know any of this?"

"This man was dangerous. We wanted to keep you safe. The less you knew, the more we could protect you."

"She was my sister." Colton's voice breaks. "My best friend."

"I know, baby. She didn't want you to know. She loved you so much. She wanted you safe."

"What else?" Colton says through gritted teeth, just barely holding it together.

"When he showed up looking for her, the guy your sister thought she was talking to wasn't at the door. Instead of the nineteen-year-old boy she was expecting, it was a man in his late thirties. We didn't know exactly who he was, so when he asked to speak to her outside, we told him to leave or we would call the cops. He didn't like that."

She sucks in a shuddering breath and looks away.

"What did he do?"

"You know what he did, Colton. You know what happened to her."

"Clearly, I don't!" he seethes. "I want all of the details. Now."

"No, baby, you don't, please. Please, don't make me."

"Now!" He bangs his fist onto the table, making me startle.

"Colton." I try to calm him down, but right now, he doesn't see me. All he wants is answers.

"He took her. He came into our house and took her from her bed. He knew how to shut off the alarms and everything. He dragged her out into the middle of nowhere, raped her, and then slit her throat."

She's crying in deep, heavy sobs now. "He came back and showed us photos. Told us where we could find her."

"Why didn't you tell the cops?!" Colton is on his feet now, tears streaming down his face, and I'm utterly shattered.

God, no. Fuck. I feel like I'm going to be sick.

"Because!" she says, getting to her feet and stepping closer. "He told us who he was."

"Who?" Colton whispers.

"Alvero Russo." As she says the name, I gasp, my eyes widening in pure shock and terror. No. Fucking hell no. This isn't good. This isn't good at fucking all.

Colton's eyes widen as he stares at his mom. He blinks and blinks. Seconds go by and I start to get worried.

"Colton, baby, please talk to me." She reaches out for him but he stumbles back.

"I can't do this," he says in a hollow voice. Then he turns around and takes off running out of the room.

"Colton!" I shout as I jump to my feet. I look down at his mom, who is a wreck. "I have him. I'll make sure he's safe."

"Thank you."

I take off running after him, finding him puking in a bush.

"Baby." My voice cracks, and I do my damn best to keep it together for him.

I try not to get offended when he shrugs away from my touch. "He raped her," he croaks, his voice sounds like broken glass. "He killed her."

"I'm so fucking sorry, Colt."

"All that monster has ever done is hurt people. Use people. And now he's dead and buried. But, fuck!" He spins around and punches the brick wall.

"Wait! He's dead? We just saw him at Teo's fight." I gasp and jump forward to help him, but he starts to pace.

"Lincoln took care of it, and the fucked up part is, I want to kill him. I want to wrap my hands around his throat and watch the life drain from his eyes." Colton starts to cry. "But I can't because he's already dead. I can't get justice for my sister. I should have been the one to end his life!"

"No." I shake my head. "I believe that man deserves to rot in hell for the things he's done. And now he is. But not by your hands, because if you were responsible, I'd lose you, Colton, and I can't live in a world without you," I tell him, stepping up to cup his face.

"I love you. So fucking much. And my life is so much better with you in it. But taking someone's life, it's not something you can come back from. It would haunt you, and would ruin the man I adore. And then you would be locked up for life, away from me.

"It's better this way. He's gone. He can't hurt anyone else anymore. Think of your sister, Colton. Would she want that kind of life for you?"

"No," he rasps, blinking away his tears.

"The best you can do for her is to let her know that the monster who took her away from you is gone. And now we can all piss on his grave."

And then an idea hits me that I'm going to have to talk to Mateo about. To see if it's actually possible.

"You're right. Fuck." He wipes his eyes. "I don't know how to feel, Rylee. Everything hurts." He rubs at his chest.

"I know, baby. I know. I would take it all away from you if I could." I hug him tight and hold him as he cries. We're off to the side, on the grass, so no one's really around. We stay there until he's done.

"Rylee?"

"Yeah?"

"Do you wanna come with me and meet my sister?"

I pull back to meet his broken eyes with my watery ones. "I'd love to."

We go to the graveyard and spend the rest of the day sitting by her grave. He tells her all about me, his life and cheer. We laugh and cry together, and all I can do is look at the photo on the gravestone and wish I could have met her.

She seemed like an amazing girl.

"Thank you for coming with me today. I don't think I would have been able to walk out of that place without being in handcuffs if it wasn't for you," Colt tells me as we walk up the steps to the Cheer house.

"I'm always going to be here for you, Colton."

He grins. "I know. And I'm always going to be here for you."

"I know." I smile back. Maybe at one point I would have laughed at that statement, but now I know these guys would die for me. And call me crazy, but I'd do the same for them.