Page 58 of Shallow

“Go away, Shiloh,” I growl. “He disrespected me and what I’ve built.” I turn my attention back to Romeo. “Now get your ass in the ring, or get it out of here. Which will itbe?”

“Cary!” sheyells.

Extending an arm, I push her out of my way. I’m in no mood to deal with her bullshit tonight. I’m too pissed at Romeo for being a douchebag and her for defendinghim.

Romeo glares at me and rolls into the ring belly first. “Fine. Take your best shot, old man. But I won’t take it easy onyou.”

I squeeze in between the ropes and stretch my arms. “You done running yourmouth?”

We attack at the same time, and Romeo gets a lucky jump on me first, maneuvering me into a headlock as he lands a few impressive blows to my ribcage. I’m not going to lie, it takes the breath out of me, but I’m far from done. Taking that Krav Maga shit Shiloh pulled on me the other day, I grab his wrist, pull it out, and twist around until I’ve got his arm pinned around his back. Jerking hard, I bend my arm and land five hard blows to his back with my elbow until he hits the floor. Running on pure adrenaline, I follow him down, grab his ankles, and turn them until he cries out insubmission.

Releasing my hold, I grab a fistful of his hair and yank his neck back. “Get up, and get the fuck out. Don’t even think about coming back until you’re clean. Do you understandme?”

“Yeah. Yeah,boss.”

“Good. Now, roll your ass out of here.” Letting go of his hair, I turn a side-eyed glare toward Frankie, who’s watching beside Shiloh. “Take his ass toWill’s.”

“Boss, I don’t have acar.”

“Takemine.”

“Boss, I don’t have alicense.”

“Do I look like I give a shit right now? Just get him out ofhere.”

Frankie just nods, helping Romeo out of the ring as he hobbles silently toward the door. The rest of the boys stare in silence, their hands shoved deep in theirpockets.

“Any of you have something tosay?”

They all shake their heads in unison and cast their eyes toward thefloor.

“That’s what I thought. Everybody out. It’s getting late anyway, so you all can find something else to dotonight.”

Although they all groan, nobody challenges me as they file out one byone.

Scrubbing my hands down my face, I feel something wet and sticky, and realize I have Romeo’s blood all over my hands, which I’ve now wiped on my face. “Motherfucker.” Jumping out of the ring, I slam my feet on the floor and stomp across theroom.

Shiloh’s slender arm stops me. “Don’t you think you were a little harsh onhim?”

“Don’t judge what you don’t understand, Shiloh.” My breath wheezes out with forced exertion. “This is how we settle things here. There’s one line we don’t cross here, and he crossedit.”

“He just made a mistake, Cary. Everybody makesthem.”

“Is that right? Interesting. Does everyone who makes them own up to them? In my experience, that’s not the case.” White noise fills my head, and I honestly have no clue what the hell is coming out of my mouth. Seven years of pent up hate is finallyexploding.

She frowns, managing to look pissed and dignified at the same time. “Have you never regretted anything in your life, or are you just that damnperfect?”

“Un-fucking-believable!” I roar, jerking out of her hold so hard she stumbles backward. “There you go again, turning shit around on me. You just can’t own up to what you did, can you? You’ll never takeresponsibility.”

“What good would it do now?” she screams, her anger level starting to matchmine.

“Whatgoodwould it do? Damn it, Shiloh! Do you have any idea the hell I went through for you?” Grabbing a towel from the side bin, I turn my back to her. “I can’t have this conversation rightnow.”

“Where are yougoing?”

“To take a shower. Unless you’d like to fuck that up for metoo.”

I stomp down the long hallway toward the locker room. Turning the corner, I rip off my drenched clothes while cursing her name. With every slam of my fist into the shower tile, I hear a telltale cracking sound, letting me know I’ve gone too far. Closing my eyes, I brace both palms against the fractured material as water pelts me from overhead and try to control myself. I’m in debt enough. I’d be an idiot to willingly destroy property I can’t afford to repair. Admitting that to myself pisses me off even more and makes me want to want to rip down every piece and smash it against the concrete floor with my barehands.