Page 30 of Knockout Queen

They told me my father isn’t coming for me.

I don’t trust the bastards but try telling my mind that when my last memory is of flames surrounding her. When I get out of here and find out she’s dead, I will burn the Heights to the fucking cement it’s built on. I won’t just stop at where I live. I won’t just stop at making sure everyone I’ve seen here suffers, I’ll just kill everybody. Everyone will pay.

The hunger rumbling in my stomach is constant now. I can ignore it for the most part, especially when they come in for my hourly beating where they interrogate me incessantly on how to get into the tower to take my dad out. Gregory wants to usurp him. I haven’t seen the asshole once since they shoved me into this small room, but I know it’s him. He wants to throw my dad out and put himself in his place.

The thing he doesn’t realize is there’s a reason why my dad’s at the top and he’s not. My dad is a ruthless, zero-fucks given psycho. He won’t bow to anyone, and he’s crazy and smart. A ruthless combination. He won’t die. I’d like to see these guys storm the tower. They wouldn’t make it inside. They’d be dead before they even started their attempt. Kingston Marx is the nucleus of our group. Everyone in that place will protect him at their own cost.

Even though there are a few Crew guys here who have obviously turned against him, I still believe that. These aren’t tower guys. They aren’t in the inner circle. They were brainwashed to switch sides, but the core group in that tower will lay down their lives for my dad...and me.

I hope.

Something gnaws at me, but I push it away. My dad’s tactics are what they are, but I’ve always known that deep down he loves me. I’m his only son. The son he wanted more than anything. Since I was a boy, he’s talked about us ruling alongside each other in the biggest business in this state. He’s smart. He’s cunning. He’s everything I wished I could be.

Until Kyla. Now I know there’s a much bigger world, and not all of it revolves around the Crew. Or business. Or blood. I’d give anything to see her next to me again.

I shake my head, so I don’t go down the rabbit hole of believing their lies. I won’t believe she’s gone until I have proof, and even if it is true, knowing it won’t help me get out of here. I need that strength she internally possesses. The strength she needed to bring me around, and I’ll be the first to admit I’m a pig-headed fucking asshole. Selfish. Arrogant. Determined beyond belief.

But one thing I do possess is the never give up attitude.

The steel door opens at the end of the room. I’m sitting in a metal chair on the far side of a basement. It’s cleaned out, but it smells like motor oil and dankness. I was passed out when they brought me here, so I have no idea where I am, but I have to give them props for their staging. The slow walk of my captor to get to me would make a lesser man pee his pants. For me, it’s just another bullet point in the handbook my dad made up. Instill fear. Make sure your hostage knows they have no way out.

Unfortunately for them, the part where the captive starts talking won’t happen. When I signed up for the Crew, it wasn’t just a good idea, it was the only idea. I’ve lived and breathed it since I was born. I know no other way.

The fucker finally gets to me. He’s in his late twenties. I don’t know what exactly he did for the Crew. Our reach is too big to remember everyone’s name, and if I hadn’t recognized him, he made damn sure to tell me he’s an ex-member anyway. He went so far as to ask how I’m going to manage to kill his defected ass. That’s what we do to Crew members who leave. They die. He has the upper hand now, the gloating prick, but that doesn’t mean he always will.

“We told you he wasn’t coming for you.”

“And I believe I told you to get fucked.”

He smirks. He’s playing the prick card right. I’ll give him that much. “I know someone who won’t be getting fucked anymore. Your pretty little girlfriend is char and you’re going to die anyway.”

I make no reaction even though I imagine slitting this fucker’s throat from ear-to-ear. I told her I’d get her out of the Heights, and I’m the selfish prick that was filled with so much elation when she turned me down. There’s something fucking wrong with me. “At least I can die knowing I had the best pussy in the Heights. Your girl’s probably raw from overuse and smells like rotten fish.”

The guy tilts his head. “You’re not wrong, but I get my dick wet and that’s all that matters.”

I used to think that, too, but not anymore. There’s so much more to being with a woman than the carnal pleasure. Not to get too fucking sentimental, but I’ve never felt more accepted in my life than when I’m with Kyla. What I told him was true. I can die happy knowing I had something real in my life. Even if for a short time. “When does the killing part happen? I have to admit, I’m pretty exhausted.” The only parts of my body I can see are my torso and thighs, and I look like shit. The throbbing in my head hasn’t stopped since I’ve been here. The ache in my limbs is something I’ve never felt before either. Plus, there’s the constant pain surging from the bullet in my hip that hasn’t been attended to at all. In fact, all they’ve done is make sure it doesn’t heal. Pushing on it, sticking their fingers inside the hole, ripping my skin. I’m both shocked and proud that we groomed someone like this. He would’ve been a great asset if he wasn’t such a traitor.

“You’re next in line. Happy? Any last thoughts?”

I tilt my head to the side. “You would’ve killed me already if that’s what you wanted to do.” He opens his mouth to object, but I talk over him. “Not saying you won’t because you will. But you obviously want something. My guess is, what you want is for my dad to make a mistake. You—or Gregory I should say because we all know you aren’t calling the shots—thinks that by having me here, my dad will do something stupid, which will allow him to swoop into the tower, throw him out, and land in the place of power he’s always dreamed of. What you don’t understand is that when things get shitty, that’s when the best version of my father steps up. No, he’s not coming for me. He won’t come for me until he knows he can obliterate every last one of you so not even your families will recognize your bodies. It will be the end of you guys. No second chances. No running away. When he hits you, you’ll be dead.”

His jaw ticks though he tries his best to hide it.

“That’s why you’re better off just killing me now. If that’s the satisfaction you want out of all of this, at least give yourself a few days of having it until he obliterates every last one of you. Then, you can take the memory of killing me to the grave with you while I’ll be thinking of my girl.” I shrug like the asshole I am. “Whatever gets your rocks off.”

I earn a smack to the face which tells me all I need to know. I’ve gotten to him. This isn’t the only time I’ve gotten to the guy either. He’s good, but he’s not as good as me. I learned from the best. I saw my first dead body when I was three. Accidentally walked in on my dad cleaning up the mess. It wasn’t until I was grown up that I found out it was the mayor of Rawley Heights. Turns out, we didn’t like him very much.

I wiggle my jaw around and return his gaze. “You asked for my opinion. If I were you, that’s how I’d do it.”

“They were right. You are a cocky asshole.”

I shrug again because...obviously. “I guess the real question is, how are you going to play it though? What’s Gregory instructed? Do you think it’s weird he’s not here?” I tilt my head for effect. “I don’t know. I just think ifIhad someone like me, I’d be all up in his face. I wouldn’t be able to help myself.”

The guy sighs with a hint of humor. “Who says he’s not here?”

“Prove me wrong.”

“You’re not the one in charge here, Johnny Rocket. In fact, you never were.”

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