Page 77 of Knockout Queen

Mag, who’d followed Johnny out of the room, strides back inside. “We’ve got guys coming in. We need to leave.”

Brawler helps me up, and then steadies Oscar as he gets to his feet with his mother in his arms. He holds her with one hand around her shoulders and the other under her knees. It’s a tight squeeze in the car, but no one is going to complain. We use napkins and a water bottle to wash the blood from her hair. At some point, she passes out again, and Oscar sighs in relief. “She hates the hospital. If she’s passed out, she won’t even know that’s where she’s headed.”

Brawler grabs another water bottle from the back and wets another napkin. I don’t understand what he’s doing until he runs it down the inside of my arm. I hiss a little, then turn my arm over to see a long scrape. “You got hurt,” he whispers.

Johnny turns around in his seat. His eyes darken when he sees my injury, but he leans forward for a moment before handing Brawler back a box of tissues. From there, Brawler cleans my scrapes as best as he can that lead all the way down my arm. They go farther than that, too. Brawler notices the tear in my outfit and uses the napkins to clean my bloody thigh. “It’s just a scratch,” I say, steadying his hand.

He gives me a look like he knows I’m just trying to be brave. Maybe I am, but I have to put the injuries aside. We all do.

Magnum drives straight to the hospital. I offer to get out with Oscar, but he waves me away. “There’s nothing you can do here. You’re better off going to see K.”

I frown at him, but Brawler squeezes my leg. “I’ll go with him. I’ll make sure he’s good.”

It’s probably for the best, anyway. Going into the hospital like this would only arouse suspicions.

“Call us when you hear anything,” Johnny orders. “And I got the financials covered. Tell Oscar not to even worry about it.”

Brawler claps him on the shoulder and then hurries to catch up with Oscar as the automatic doors open for him while he carries his druggie mother. I’m sure Oscar has had a hundred different moments like this with his mom, but I’m hoping this one sticks. That this could be the start of a good life for her again. Away from the Heights, she might even be able to breathe. To live.

I lean forward, now the only one in the backseat, and Johnny takes my hand. He tugs on it and then helps me maneuver through the tight space to sit on his lap. He holds me tightly, feathering kisses over my neck while Magnum reaches over and places his hand on my thigh, carefully avoiding my new injury. I place my hand right over his, and we give each other a squeeze.

It feels like we’re ticking things off a list at this point. Gregory’s down, and I’m already thinking about what’s next on the agenda. We have to tell K our hatched-up plan—that was never really a plan from the beginning—though we’re pretending it was. That will get me back to the Heights, and that will get me close enough to do what should have been done a long time ago.

People like Kingston Marx don’t deserve to live. They certainly don’t deserve to have power over so many human beings.

“Is what Gregory said true?” I ask Johnny. “About your father growing the Crew?”

Johnny shrugs. “He believes in strength in numbers. An army is better than a club.”

“Loyalty, though, is even more important.”

“It took me up until The Ring to get it, but the only person my father is loyal to is himself. I’m not sure how he got that way. Maybe he’s always been that way, and it just took me way too fucking long to figure it out. Either way, I get it now. The only thing is, I’m not sure I shouldn’t be brought to justice right alongside him.”

I suck in a breath. “Don’t say that.”

“Why?” The force of his stare clenches the muscles in my stomach. “You saw what I did today. Gregory was right. Before you, I’m not sure I thought about anyone else but myself.”

I don’t know how to make him feel better because I don’t know the extent of what he’s done. I’m not sure I need to know either. I know the Johnny now, and that guy deserves to have what he wants in life.

“It was always your dad,” Mag says, speaking up. “If you want to lay the blame for all the guilt you’re feeling right now, put it where it’s supposed to be. Your dad did this to you. You’re only now realizing it because you got someone in your life who finally sees the real you, not just a pawn to place where you’re needed in a plan for taking complete power and monetary control over people.”

“I still did what I did.”

“And what would’ve happened if you didn’t?” Magnum asks, voice hard. I glance between the two of them. I almost feel like this is a conversation I shouldn’t be here for, but at the same time, I’m glad I am.

Johnny clears his throat. “What if when we get out of here...” He finally turns toward me. “What if when we leave and you get everything you want— What if I’m not good enough for you then? What if I can’t be saved? What if—?”

I place my finger over his lips. I’d kiss him, but I really want him to hear these next words out of my mouth because they’re so fucking important, and I can’t talk and kiss at the same time. “You’re better than your surroundings. You just never knew that because your surroundings happened to live in the same house as you. Just like Brawler and Oscar and Mag, you all grew up in a place no one should. The fact that you overcame something like that tells me how special you are. What I can say for certain is that when we do get out of the Heights, you’re going to thrive. Not because you know how to shoot people. Not because you’re constantly thinking about the devious way to get shit done, but because you’ll finally be able to see there’s a whole other world out there, and they’re waiting for Johnny Marx to show them what he has.”

He shakes his head. A smear of blood on his forehead catches the moonlight. It could’ve been from any number of guys he saved us from tonight, but to me, it’s just a scar from this life. When we get out, no more blood. No more death. No more anything other than long nights in bed.

Well, at least for the first few months.

I snicker to myself. Who am I kidding? It’s going to take me my whole life to fuck these guys out of my system.

32

With Johnny’s hand solidly in mine and Magnum at our backs, we approach K’s suite. Exhaustion whips through me, but I hold my head high because I’m about to go back into the snake’s den. The predator. The baddie to end all baddies.

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