Page 46 of Knockout Queen

Magnum squeezes my thigh. “I know. I’m sorry,” he says. He glances over his shoulder. “I’m sorry he ruined your visit, too. It’s not fucking right.”

“We were done,” Brawler says, “but yeah, not fucking right.”

Mag taps his fingers against the steering wheel. “Well, get ready for a huge meeting tomorrow. K’s got a plan on our retaliation against Gregory.”

Wonderful. I glance back at Brawler to see the tight line of his jaw. He’s probably wondering what awful thing K is going to make him do next.

It only takes a few more blocks before I realize Magnum isn’t taking us back to the tower. Oscar’s familiar neighborhood comes into view out the windshield. “Do you have to go back to your place, Brawler? Oscar has something special planned if you want to stick around.”

“I’ll be okay,” Brawler says. He sounds distracted, so I turn to find him texting on his phone. When I peek to try to see who it is, he leans back in the car and angles the phone away from me. When I face forward again, Magnum smirks, and now I know something is up. What the hell is this “special” thing Oscar has planned?

Magnum parks around the block from Oscar’s place. We get out and then climb the stairs to his second-floor apartment. I like being able to get away to a place like this. Somewhere that’s not associated with the Crew in a lot of ways. Some place with distance from the inner workings of the Crew. It’s why I love the cabin, too. Being in places like this makes me feel like we could actually have a life like this.

When we open the door to the apartment, I know we can.

As soon as I step inside, the smell of ham hits me. I blink, coming to a stop until Magnum hits me from behind. Oscar’s apartment is in pristine condition. It was never not clean, but right now, we could probably eat off the floor and be fine. Sitting in the middle of a new dining room table tucked away in the corner is a Christmas dinner.

Oscar and Johnny must not have heard us come in because they’re arguing in the kitchen like a pair of old maids. Oscar is making his snide, sarcastic comments, and Johnny is letting everything roll off his back with his cocksure attitude.

“What is this?”

Johnny and Oscar both glance up at the same time. Their sour faces turn to smiles as soon as they see me. “Princess,” Oscar beams. “Surprise!”

“Sur—” Johnny glares at Oscar.

“What?” Oscar asks, elbowing him out of the way. “It’s my apartment.”

“It’s my chefs and cleaners.”

“The place didn’t need to be cleaned,” Oscar all but growls.

Johnny grunts in disapproval, but by the time Oscar gets to me, he pulls me in for a hug. I can’t help but smile. They’re arguing like an old married couple, which is truly hilarious.

“Are you sure you like him?” Oscar whispers in my ear.

“Afraid so, Drego.”

“Alright,” he says with a mock groan. “If you’re sure.”

Johnny casually waits his turn, but when he thinks I’m not looking he glares at Oscar before pulling me to him. “We thought you would enjoy this.”

“No Christmas dinner at the tower?” I ask, surprised. He said their Christmases weren’t traditional, but I figured they’d be spending more time together than just a business meeting about the Crew.

“No, my dad probably has a bunch of escorts right now.” He says it with no emotion whatsoever, so I have to replay his words in my head to make sure I heard him correctly. All I can picture is little pre-teen Johnny having to grow up in a place like that. A place where all K did was act out his needs and desires of sex and violence.

“When did you move into your own suite?”

“When I started getting ready for school by myself.” He places the tip of his finger on my lips and stares into my eyes. “Let’s not talk about that. Let’s eat.”

“Yes,” Oscar says from across the room. “Let’s eat this meal that Johnny paid for and made everyone do extra work during this special day of the year instead of spending time with their families.”

“Fuck off, Drego.”

Brawler moves past me, brows raised as he listens to the two of them bicker. Even Magnum has a smirk on his face. If those two were any more alike, they’d hate each other with a passion. They absolutely, positively would not be able to stand to be in one another’s presence.

My guys stand in front of place settings. Oscar practically wrestles Johnny out of the head chair, so he can sit in it himself. I never had a big family, but this makes me think of movies like that. The arguing, the crass remarks. They’re expressing their love for each other, but just in a different way.

“Are you coming?” Magnum asks.

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