Page 34 of Knockout Queen

“My dad was there, and then he wasn’t. Am I making that up?”

I shake my head slowly, watching his usual blue eyes turn ice cold. “No, you’re not making that up. It was just you, me, Brawler, and Magnum until we got separated.”

“Where—”

“Your dad left us,” Mag says, turning around in his seat. His voice holds a thread of warning I haven’t yet heard from him before when it’s just us. “He took off with his last guard. Then, the box half collapsed. We’re lucky we got out of there.”

Johnny sits up even straighter, pulling his feet down to rest on the floorboards at his feet. He shoves the car door open, and it bounces off its hinges until he stops it from closing on him again with his palm. He doesn’t say a word, and I share a look with Magnum. He needed to know. He asked. His mind probably wouldn’t let him believe what happened, but it did. His dad fucking left him, and I still can’t get over it, so I can’t imagine what Johnny is going through right now.

Mag and I hurry out of the car to help Johnny to the elevator. His macho bullshit attitude is turned on full strength like he can walk by himself, but he can’t. He’s had a bullet festering in his hip for two days. He’s been beaten and tortured. He needs us, whether he wants to admit it or not.

We still hold onto him as we take the longest elevator ride to the suite level. The doors open, and the guards on duty just stare as we take Rocket past them. They bow their heads in respect until we get to Trey. “Is he awake?” Johnny asks.

“We woke him. He’s in the living room.”

Trey moves out of the way, and we push past him. Johnny relaxes his hold on us, trying to walk himself, so we take the hint and let him limp his way badly into his father’s suite.

Watching Big Daddy K eye Johnny as we approach makes me trigger happy. He’s stoic. I mentally plot out grabbing Magnum’s gun and putting a bullet in his head. It’s just unfortunate for me that there are a shitton of guards outside this fucking room who would just be waiting for me to come barreling out.

Vengeance is one thing. Surviving it is another. I have to survive. They have to survive. Otherwise, all of this will have been for nothing.

Then again, I wish I would’ve killed K already. If I had, Johnny never would’ve known the hurt of a parents’ betrayal. He didn’t say anything, but I don’t care who you are. You could be someone who prides yourself on not having any feelings, but when a parent leaves you behind, that’s the day you find out there’s a spark of humanity left in you and betrayal fucking hurts.

It’s okay. Johnny has me. And he has Oscar, Magnum, and Brawler. The sooner he realizes that the four of us will do anything for him, the better. He doesn’t need his father. He never did.

K stands when Johnny closes in on him. He inspects him, dragging his gaze from the tip of his head to the soles of his feet. I hope every speck of blood turns his stomach. I hope every bruise reminds him of what he did.

It’s not even that K could’ve stopped what happened. In fact, that’s probably not the case. The thing is, you stick by the ones you love no matter what. There’s no survival instinct in cases like this because your survival instinct is also making sure the ones you care about are alive, too. Not just yourself. Because if the person you love dies, a piece of you dies, too. For whatever reason, K doesn’t have that inside him, and he probably never will.

They just stare at each other. With each passing second, I glare holes into K’s temple, begging him to say something to Johnny, fucking anything about how he’s alive. Ask him if he’s okay for Christ’s sake. Just fucking do something.

“We took him to Doc’s before we brought him here. He got the bullet out and cleaned him up.”

With Mag’s words, K seems to have shaken himself out of whatever was going through his head. “Good to hear. I’ve always liked that old man.” He sits back on the couch now without another word.

Johnny sways on his feet, and I move forward to put my arm around him. Less in a helpful way, and more in a way that just seems like I want to hold him. We move back to sit on the opposite couch, and Mag moves in behind us.

“Tell me everything,” K says. The only telltale sign that K was asleep is that the suit he wore earlier is slightly disheveled. He’s combed his hair, he’s put the suit back on along with his shiny black shoes. Johnny looks like death warmed over, but not his father. His father looks like he’s spent two days in the tower while Johnny was getting beaten because that’s exactly what happened.

“After Brawler and I went to check out the family of our ex-guy, Kyla and I had the idea to talk to some of the prostitutes in the area. We thought some of them would know where Gregory was, especially if they used to work for him at Candy’s. We were in luck. She didn’t know much, but she heard something about some of the girls being taken to a track. A few months ago, Johnny checked out the racetrack. We decided to do a drive by since we weren’t sure. We figured if someone was there, we might see signs of life, and sure enough, there was. We went in right away.”

“Gregory?”

Mag shakes his head. “Wasn’t even there. Fewer than ten guys, too. It was an easy in and out. They were banking on us not knowing how to find him, but they bet on the wrong location.”

K turns his attention to Johnny who’s stiff at my side. Slight tremors shake his body, as if he’s barely keeping himself together. K’s eyes darken as he looks at his son. “Did you see Gregory at all?”

“No, but the guy who tortured me made it clear who he was working for.”

“They sent me a video.”

“I know,” Johnny says. “They told me they were going to send it to you.”

“What’s your assessment?” K asks.

I lock my jaw together and lean into Johnny further in case he needs comfort or strength. I would cut myself open and give him anything he needs.

“Hostage situation to send you a message. They tried playing mind games. Mainly that you didn’t care and wouldn’t be coming for me.”

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