Page 82 of Knockout Queen

The smirk that crosses his face makes me look away. He can talk so casually about killing my mother, someone he claimed to care for. Johnny was right. Women are property in the Crew. I didn’t see it because I was doing them a service. I made them look good, but all along, I was also their property to do with what they wanted. If I decided I didn’t want to fight, I’m sure they wouldn’t have needed me. If I hadn’t been Johnny’s girlfriend—or even if I was—that probably meant I didn’t deserve to breathe anymore.

This whole world is sick.

K reaches over to move a strand of hair off my face. I can’t even flinch away. He literally has me pinned right where I am. “I think I might have another use for you, too. Other than to keep me sated, anyway.” He licks his lips. “That’s why I kept you when I could’ve killed you. The truth is, I’ve been salivating for a taste of your cunt for a while, and now that I know you’re Anna’s daughter, I need a taste. I’ll feel eighteen again, balls deep in the beautiful girl from out-of-town.” He rubs his hand down the crotch of his pants. “I’ll warn you right now, fighting only makes me even more turned on.” His lips turn up even higher. “I have a feeling you’re going to do it anyway, which just makes me that much more excited. I hired a dark-haired slut the night Johnny gave me the pictures of you and Jiko, but now I’m about to have the real thing. Anna number two. Not the original, but you’ll do.” He trails his hand down my arm, getting closer and closer to the knife. “I hope you’re excited about experiencing the original Marx. I’m much more experienced than my son. I’m looking forward to the moment your eyes change from hate to bliss because I’ve fucked you so good you can’t fucking help it.”

The need to throw up is overpowering, but I can’t move. His hand hovers near the knife, and I have a feeling the next wrong thing I say will only mean more pain for me. He’s already injured my hand. My strong, uppercut hand. If he’s fucking ruined me for fighting, I’m going to rip his balls off and shove them down his goddamn throat.

He tilts his head to the side. “I hope that sassy mouth comes back later.” He yanks the knife from my hand, and my other hand digs into my thigh to keep from screaming. “I have business to take care of. While you guys were worried about Gregory, I was putting my plan into motion.” He stands from the table, and I just stare straight ahead. “I’m guessing you know about the Dragons being in town.” He sighs happily. “Well, they’re about to be Crew, and the Crew’s boundaries will increase tenfold. My empire is finally falling into place.” He tsks as he walks away. “It’s a shame Johnny turned out defective. We could’ve ruled the tri-state area as one.” Just before a door closes, K orders the guard to take me to Johnny’s suite and to make sure I don’t leave.

As soon as he’s gone, I take the closest napkin on the table and hold it to my hand. Blood leeches out. I bite back a cry as I pull the makeshift bandage between my teeth and free hand to tie the knot around it tighter to stop the bleeding. Hopefully.

“Come on, bitch,” the guard says, pulling me to my feet. The world tilts as I stand, but I make it to Johnny’s suite on unsteady legs. The guard pushes me inside, and I fall to my knees. Without the strength to get up, I just lie there, letting my cheek rest against the cool tile.

I don’t have time to think about how trapped I am. Or about how alone I am. Or about how I fucked up everything. The blackness takes me under, and I’m out.

34

My head throbs. My eyelids peel open like they’re made of sandpaper. A swish-swish sound increases my curiosity. The last I remembered, I was on the floor just inside Johnny’s door. I’m definitely lying on something more comfortable than tile though.

Finally, I force my eyes the rest of the way open and climb out of the fog. My hand is at my hip, resting on a pair of clean joggers. Despite having fallen asleep using a stark white cloth napkin as dressing, there’s a real bandage there now. Beyond the stretchy gauze is a dark square of blood.

The swish-swish sound returns again. I glance over to find Magnum with his back to me, a mop in his hand. He’s cleaning the floor where I passed out. The taut muscles in his back move as I watch. Fortunately for me, I’m not in any pain other than the overall exhaustion begging to drag me under again. I’m almost relieved. I was pretty certain I was going to wake up and want to saw my own arm off from the pain.

Magnum places the sponge mop in a bucket and bends to pick it up. He peeks over at me and does a double-take. The bucket slips from his hand and falls to the floor, the bloody water sloshing over the sides.

His eyes latch to mine, burning into me. I try to sit up, but he rushes to my side. “Don’t move. I gave you something for the pain, and I don’t think you could get up right now even if you wanted to.”

“Planning on taking me to jail too? Or sticking a knife in my back?”

His lips purse. The freckles that dot his nose are stark against his much paler skin. Actually, a different Magnum than I’ve seen yet sits on the sofa beside me. He rubs his hands through his copper hair before looking over at me again. “I told you I had a secret.”

“I don’t give a fuck about that.” I groan because I actually do give a fuck about that, but that’s not why I’m mad. “That’s nothing compared to what you did to Johnny. Where the fuck is he?”

“You think I’d do something to him? Come on, Kyla. You’re so much smarter than this.”

I lift my good hand up and slap him with all I can muster. Unfortunately, it’s not much. It’s about as annoying to him as a buzzing fly. His eyes spark, and I follow right after him. He has no right to be pissed at me. “You know my weaknesses, Magnum. You took Johnny. You left me alone in there withhim.” I spit out, conjuring up Big Daddy K’s ruthless grin as he stabbed me through the hand. Glaring down at my new wound, I finish my sentence. “What the fuck am I supposed to think?”

He grabs my free hand and kisses it. He holds it to his forehead, bowing over it like he’s saying a prayer of forgiveness over and over. “Johnny’s fine. I didn’t take him to the police. Well, I did, but—”

I gasp. “You took him in?”

“He’s not being charged with anything. He’s being held there in case Kingston checks up on me, which he most certainly will. Fuck! I can’t fucking believe I didn’t check the car for bugs.” He growls but reverts back to the stricken look I’ve noticed since I woke up. “We just wanted to get to you. We knew you’d be freaking out over what we said, how we made you leave the Heights, so we just got in the car and left.” His mouth works, but nothing comes out at first. “I guess I just didn’t fucking check.”

I don’t blame him for K finding out what we were plotting. Anyone can make a mistake, and he can’t expect to be perfect all the time. Shit fucking happens.

I groan inwardly. I need to listen to my own inner voice and give Magnum the benefit of the doubt. Despite his dirty looks, I pull myself up to a sitting position. My hand skims a bandage on my thigh, and there’s another one on my arm, too. I guess Magnum patched me up everywhere. I wrap my arms around my knees and try not to glare at him but fail. “If anything happens to him…”

“I would never forgive myself. If anything happens to any of you, I’ll never forgive myself. Damnit, Kyla. I’ve never said an empty word to you, I swear. I’ve meant every single thing I’ve ever said. I love you. You captivated me from the very beginning. None of that was a lie. What I want with you in the future, isn’t a lie. Everything is the same as when we walked into Marx’s suite earlier. I swear to you.”

“Oscar and Brawler?”

“I heard from Oscar a little while ago. His mom is being held at the hospital. He and Brawler just left there.”

“And what did you happen to tell them about what was going on?”

“I told them there were some developments...”

I roll my eyes. It seems like such a high-schooler thing to do in this moment, but oddly, also fitting. “Developments is an understatement. You’re a fucking cop, Magnum.”

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