Page 54 of Arm Candy Warrior

Seeing that desperate side of Johnny helped me see who he really is though. I lick my lips, eyeing Magnum. “You said we’re friends, right?”

He nods.

“How far does that friendship extend?”

He lifts his brows, already trying to figure out where I’m going with this.

“I’m not asking you to fuck me.”

His cheeks turn a soft shade of red, easily recognizable even with his copper scruff. His skin is so light that it shows everything. “I’m wondering if it extends to me saying something about Big Daddy K?”

Magnum stiffens.

Well, that’s my answer. “Forget it,” I say, reaching for my mug.

“No. No,” Magnum says, and I don’t know if he’s convincing me or himself. He squeezes my knee again. “You’re misinterpreting my reaction.” He gives me a solid nod as if to tell me to continue.

I take a deep breath. “After you left last night, Johnny opened up to me. You know I’m new here, so…” The lie churns my stomach after just confirming with Magnum that we were friends, but I’m pretty sure I just can’t go off spouting to one of the Crew’s bodyguards that I want to murder the Crew leader. “…well, it made me think twice about the kind of person he is. Johnny seems to look up to him so much, but to be honest, with what he told me last night, he sounds like a master manipulator. Someone maybe Johnny shouldn’t be around.” I don’t dare mention the fact that K thought it would be a good idea that I take up stripping. That can’t get around. Johnny will lose his shit.

Magnum brushes his scruff with his hand. “Big Daddy K is ruthless. You have to be to get to the top of the Heights Crew. I’m sure you figured that out already.” He eyes me, doing one of his bone-deep gazes again. “If you’re asking if Johnny should get away from him, the answer is, he can’t.” Mag shakes his head. “Nor would he probably want to.”

Sourness churns my stomach.

“You haven’t lived your whole life here, so you don’t get it. The Crew is family. It’s all they know. For Johnny, it’s double that because the Crew leader is actually his flesh and blood. Johnny’s been indoctrinated into this way of life since he was a baby. Most of us, we don’t come around until we’re teenagers. We make our own decisions. Even those of us who had siblings or parents in the Crew, it’s not the same as having someone like Big Daddy K in your family.”

“You had a family member in the Crew?”

An intoxicating mix of pain and guilt crosses Mag’s face. “My father.”

“Is he still in it?” I ask, wracking my brain to see if I’ve encountered anyone who looks like Magnum. It seems like the red hair would be a give away.

“No,” Magnum says simply. “He’s dead.” He runs his hand through his copper mane. “That’s why I feel so protective of you, Kyla.”

I cock my head. I don’t know what his father’s death and protecting me have in common.

“Over and above what I’m ordered to do, anyway.” He runs a hand over his chest absentmindedly. “You remind me of my mom.” He takes another sip of cocoa again before putting it back down on the coffee table. “She didn’t want my dad—our family—associated with the Crew, but my dad was a smart businessman. He wasn’t a thug or one of these low lives you see out on the street. He was cunning and smart. That’s not to say he didn’t do questionable things. If you’re in the Crew, your morality will be called into question. Even mine,” he says, piercing me with a glare. “But my mom was an innocent. My dad hid who he was working for from her until it was too late. You can’t just get out of the grips of the Crew.”

My mouth is suddenly dry. “You sound as if you don’t like the Crew. Yet, your job is to literally keep them safe.”

“Protecting people is my responsibility, Kyla,” he says, gaze burning. “I understand that just because you might do something wrong or bad or illegal, doesn’t make you a bad person. Just as if you go to church every Sunday and preach religion doesn’t technically make you a good person. There are gray areas. Hell, a lot of life is a gray area.”

I lean back into Magnum’s couch. He’s right about that. My whole life is a gray area. “Maybe it’s your individual decisions that make you good or bad?”

“In the end,” Mag says, “My dad made the right decision. It cost him his life, but…” He shrugs.

“Your mom?”

His jaw hardens. “I don’t see her anymore.”

His tone ends the conversation. He looks away, and if what he told me about his mom in the beginning of this talk holds true, I bet she doesn’t want to see him because of who he works for.

If she was able to get out, more power to her. I hope she’s safe. Just as I hope to be her one day, as long as living in this world doesn’t corrupt me. I like the idea of being gray. Gray, I can handle. The darkness, I can’t.

22

For weeks, my life is a replay over and over again. School. Training. Fighting. Getting in as much time as I can with Oscar and Brawler while solidifying my relationship with Johnny. He and his father must have come to a conclusion about what pissed Johnny off at Candy’s because me stripping is never brought up again and every time we have an after party at Candy’s, his father doesn’t show up even though I’m positive he comes to all my fights.

I don’t trust his intentions.

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