Page 89 of Knockout Queen

“You forget we’re bigger than you.”

K chuckles. “In size. Your holdings are nothing compared to ours.”

His guard moves first. He reaches in his pocket, but movement to my left catches my attention. Trey goes for his gun. I react. I slam my body into his, knocking his gun from his hand. The gun clatters against the uneven terrain.

The roar of an engine breaks the tension. A speeding car barrels into view headed straight for us. Before it gets too close, I’m slammed from the side. I go down hard. Trey bashes my head against the ground. Around me, gunshots ring out, and suddenly, Trey slumps over me.

The weight of his body presses down against me. I push him off and scramble out from underneath him only to hit something solid.

“Kyla, watch out!”

That voice. I roll out of the way and stand to find Johnny staring down the barrel of a gun, aimed right at his father.

Cole and his two men come out from around the car. Brawler and Oscar flank Johnny. Magnum joins them, and then I sneak on the other side of the invisible line, too. I’m on the right side. I always have been. It’s not about morals, really. It’s about right and wrong, and to me, I see nothing wrong with doing what I’m about to do. I’m not taking one person from the world. I’m saving the world from him.

“Christ,” Cole stutters out. “I almost had a heart attack.”

Oscar puts a finger under my chin and makes me look at him. He frowns at my face. “Are you okay?”

“Fine,” I tell him. I go down the line, squeezing my guys, letting myself believe that we’re all here again.

Magnum nods when I get to him. He then reaches in his waistband and pulls out a royal purple gun. It’s sleek and shiny. It gives me goosebumps. He told me he’d get me a gun, and he fucking did.

“I bet you never thought it would end like this,” Johnny says to his dad.

I take the gun from Magnum and move into place next to Johnny. His father glances down the line at us, and I let him. I want him to take all our faces to the grave with him. This is the moment K didn’t get his way. This is the moment his best-laid plans never came to fruition. In fact, I’d say they blew up in his face.

“You’re going to kill your own father?”

“I don’t have a father.”

I steady my hand on Johnny’s, lowering his gun while raising my own. This has always been my task to complete. I know I’ve had doubts in the past. Could I really pull the trigger? Could I really take someone’s life? The truth is, K’s not a person. He’s a living, breathing monster whose reign of terror was never going to stop. Women. Johnny. Roza. Dunnegan. Gregory. His complete lack of empathy for human life is jarring. My mom and dad. Johnny’s mom. The countless others I’ll never know all the names and faces of.

I level the barrel at his forehead. “You know my name.”

He glares at me. He doesn’t say a word, and I still see the tick of defiance in his dead eyes.

“You know their names.” I thought all along that I had to say something important. Something that would make him think about what he’s done. Something to make him know that it was me that got the better of him. But right now, I understand that none of that matters. One pull of a muscle, and I can have the rest of my life. I’ll have the life I should have had. “As soon as I pull this trigger, I vow to never think of you again.”

His eyes widen. His reaction is like a magnet that pulls my finger backward.

The purple gun discharges.

The bullet flies through the air.

It hits Big Daddy K, leader of the Crew, dead center in the forehead.

And just like that, I’m free.

37

Sirens sound in the distance. Magnum places his hand on my arm, lowering it to my side as I stare into the void. I smile. I smile so fucking huge that I think it’s going to break my face. Then, the tears start coming. Make no mistake, I’m not sad. I’m fucking happy. I’m fucking proud.

“You guys need to go,” Magnum says.

“Remind me never to fuck with her,” Cole says to one of his guys, and I start to laugh, which I think freaks him out even more. He nods at his guys, and they take off. He and Magnum share a look, and I know this probably isn’t the last I’ve seen of Jacob’s cousin.

Oscar takes my face in his hands. His dark eyes sear into mine like a brand. He wipes the happy tears from my cheeks. “God, I love you,” he breathes. “I don’t know what it says about me that I have a stiff one right now, but I could literally lay you down right here and—”

---