Page 79 of Knockout Queen

K rocks back in his chair again. He looks entirely too happy for someone who doesn’t like me. “Gosh, this is fun, isn’t it? This life? This...everything?” A shiver must go through him because he visibly shakes like he’s having a moment of profound joy. It sends an icy ball of dread down my spine with how uncaring and ruthless he is. “There’s just one thing, guys. Just one thing. Gregory’s guys that you killed? They weren’t Gregory’s guys. They were Crew.”

Johnny sits back. “Used to be Crew, you mean. They defected to go to Gregory.”

K shrugs. “Nope, they were Crew, I’m afraid. Them, and Gregory. All Crew.”

Johnny’s fingers tighten on the fork in his hand. He sets it down lightly. “Gregory’s guys shot up The Ring. They took me hostage and have plans to overthrow you, Dad. They’re not part of the Crew, they’re our enemies.”

“Except they’re not,” K says. When Johnny’s jaw slackens, K laughs. “Don’t look so upset over killing innocent people, Son.” He leans over and playfully punches him in the knee.

My back stiffens as I watch the scene play out. With the way K is getting so much satisfaction from this, it looks like he’s had this revelation planned for a long time.

“What are you saying?” Johnny growls out.

“I’m saying,” K says, still all teeth as he works up to his big reveal. “With as much as you strung your plan together, I’ve been stringing my own. You knew you’d have to do something big to be my right-hand man. Well, here it is. You did it. You’re in.”

“Killing Gregory?” Johnny shakes his head, and I’m with him. I have no idea what K is getting at. “One of our own Crew members?” Johnny questions softly as if he still can’t believe it.

Warning bells go off in my head, but there’s nothing I can do about any of this except to wait for it to play itself out.

K’s gaze flicks to me. “You were getting soft. Your tight cunt here had you pussy-whipped, and I wanted to make sure you still had it in you. You proved me wrong on that fact, Johnny. I thought you were just going to let him go. I thought you didn’t care about the Crew anymore, your true family.”

“Of course, I—”

“Stop right there,” K growls, a threat that curls my toes with its authenticity. “If you’re about to make some pledge to the Crew, you can fucking save it, Son.” He bites his last word out like a curse. His eyes turn glassy with anger, with sadness, with a contempt I haven’t witnessed before. The stone-cold color of his eyes is liable to freeze anyone on the spot. “I know what you’re plotting. You think you’re steps ahead of me, but you’re wrong.” He pushes his chair back, and the legs scrape against the tile. He stands in one fluid motion, coming up behind Johnny.

I go to move, but a hand falls on my shoulder. I start, expecting to see Magnum, but it’s not him. It’s a guard who came in from the hallway. He holds me in place as K puts his fingers on Johnny’s shoulders. “You’re no son of mine anymore.”

The pulse in Johnny’s neck feathers, and his jaw tenses. “I can explain.”

“No need to. I know, Johnny. I know you and your little girlfriend’s plan to take me out.” He slides his fingers around Johnny’s throat and squeezes.

It escalates so quickly I don’t immediately react until Johnny starts clawing at his father’s fingers.

I try to stand, but the guard pushes my shoulders back down. The chair backs are so fucking high, I don’t have any leverage, so I punch back wildly until I connect with something hard. His grip loosens, and I’m able to stand enough so that when he grabs for me again, I throw him in a move I learned in a Judo class several years ago. He ends up with his back on the table, a groan filling the air and several broken dishes under him.

I pull the gun off his hip and point it at K. My hands shake. Excitement, panic, everything, just pours into me that I’m finally at this moment. I’m at the point where I can pull the trigger.

K loosens his grip on his son, and Johnny chokes, falling forward to the table, gripping the side as he breathes life back into himself. K doesn’t even give him a second glance. “Dearest Kyla. What’s this? Defending my traitorous son? I thought you wanted to be a part of the Crew?”

“I hate you,” I spit. I never exactly practiced the words I wanted to say to K when this moment happened, but they slide easily from my tongue. “I’ve hated you for so long.” I step forward, and he takes a step back, moving around the table to shield himself.

“You women are always so dramatic. I’ve barely known you a few months.”

I laugh, the sound wild and erratic. “I’ve known your name for a long time, Kingston Marx. They were uttered by a cop in the middle of a dining room.” I lick my lips, my heart beating frantically inside my chest. “You killed my parents when I was twelve.”

K’s gaze darts behind him, but I don’t look. I don’t know where Mag is, but I know he’ll let me do this. This has been the plan all along. He’s scared. I can see it.

It makes this so much sweeter.

“My parents were Kyle and Anna Ridley. You—” His eyes round, stopping my planned speech. I hadn’t planned on him knowing who they were. “You killed them in an alleyway. You killed them so you could get this spot in the Crew that you don’t fucking deserve. You killed them for nothing.”

K laughs. He laughs so loud, a chill runs through me. He turns gleaming eyes my way. “You’re her daughter. Ha.” The cackling sound of his laughter settles into my bones with a hardness that I fear will make me crack from the inside out. He grips the back of a chair, leaning over to laugh. “This can’t be happening.”

I want to pull the trigger. Just fucking pull it, but his words eat at me. Instead, I steady the barrel of the gun at his chest. “You knew my mother?”

K grins at Johnny. “I understand why you’re so obsessed with her now.” He puffs his cheeks out. “She has good DNA.”

“What the fuck are you saying?”

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