“What?” I laugh. Totally not what I was expecting him to say.
“I’m just wondering how we’re ever going to have time for one another. I want my sexy cheerleader.”
I make a mental note to buy an actual cheerleader uniform. Better yet, I can steal one from school. Oscar would probably jizz his pants to see me in Heights colors.
“Fuck me. Don’t look at me like that.” He turns me away from him and taps my ass. “Shower. I’m sure the Crew wants their princess looking like royalty.”
I do as he says, hopping in the shower, taking an even quicker one than I ever did at Greenlawn despite the fact that there’s zero soap scum in this shower, and I don’t have to worry about any of the pervy residents walking in on me.
Well, that’s probably not true, but I wouldn’t actually mind any of the guys here walking in on me, so there’s the difference.
When I get out of the shower, I find everything right where I left it. I run a brush through my hair and put on a minimal amount of makeup before moving out into my room to dress. My closet is stocked with the same skimpy outfits, so instead of pulling on any number of those, I grab some joggers and a cut-off t-shirt. Once I’m dressed, I run my fingers through my still wet hair, but it’ll have to do because I’m sure my half hour is up.
I haven’t heard a word out of the guys since I’ve been in here, so I walk out. It turns out Brawler is the only one in the apartment. He lifts his head from his phone when I walk in. Rising to his feet, he pulls me in for a quick hug before saying. “They’re next door in Mag’s place. You better go.”
He leads me to the door, opening it. Mag’s door is open, and the copper-headed bodyguard is sitting facing the door, so he waves for me to come in and then gestures for me to shut the door behind me. Brawler stays where he is, which makes sense because this is Crew business, and luckily, Brawler isn’t Crew.
“She just walked in,” Oscar says.
Oscar moves over, allowing me space on Mag’s couch. I sit, facing the laptop that’s open in front of us that holds Johnny and his father. I trap a breath in my chest after seeing Johnny. He has a fresh black eye, and I immediately ball my hands to fists. Whoever touched him will fucking pay for that.
I’m about to open up my mouth and ask when Magnum butts in. “What do you need me to do?”
Big Daddy K smiles at Magnum approvingly. Subtle differences differentiate this Magnum with the Jacob of yesterday. This one looks like a giant steel rod is shoved up his ass. He’s so tense. His face not only impassive but serious. It’s a far cry from the guy who hugged me yesterday, but I understand the role each of us need to play. I wish I could play it better myself sometimes.
“I’ll get to that shortly but let me take a look at Kyla here.”
I take my eyes off Johnny. Other than a sad smile he gave me that I didn’t return, he’s super stiff next to his father, and I’m immediately on edge thinking it was K who hit him.
“I’m glad to see you back at the tower and safe.”
Focus, Kyla. Fucking focus. I need to act the part, and with the way Johnny’s eyes are begging me right now, I know he’s thinking the same thing. “Thanks to you and Johnny,” I say. “Let me know what I can do to make it up to you.”
“Nonsense,” K says, though it doesn’t look like he believes the words at all. “That’s what family is for.”
My stomach heaves, and I throw up a little in my mouth. After just imagining my family being the ones surrounding me right now, the thought that Big Daddy K would even be in the vicinity is physically making me sick.
“I just can’t figure out why your fingerprints would’ve shown up on the gun.”
I swallow and take a leap. Heights kids own guns, so this shouldn’t be a revelation. “Probably because it’s my gun,” I tell K, locking gazes with him. He tilts his head just off-center, so I continue. “My gun was in my apartment, but it got ransacked after the shootout that night. What I don’t understand is how the police knew they were my fingerprints. It’s not as if I’ve ever been in trouble before.”
“Fucking Reynolds,” Johnny curses. “I told you he was after her for some reason.”
His father sneers at him, but Johnny doesn’t back down.
“He probably got your fingerprints from that school. Didn’t you have a meeting with him in the principal’s office that one time? He could’ve gotten it off anything you touched.”
A meeting? If he means browbeat into talking to him, then yes, I guess it was a meeting. Either way, his explanation makes sense. It’s one I came up with myself and even had my fingers crossed so damn tightly that it wouldn’t get traced even further back to Joanne Ridley. Because I didn’t know how they’d gotten them, I wasn’t sure who knew what, and I still need to keep that part of my life separate from this one.
“Don’t worry about the charges, Kyla,” Big Daddy K says, and if I didn’t know any better, I’d think he actually meant every word that was coming out of his mouth. His voice is like butter, and he’s so put together that looks are definitely deceiving in his case. He’s a monster in an expensive suit. “The lawyer took care of them, and we’re going to make sure they don’t stick.”
I bite my lip, wondering if that’s what someone told him six years ago when he killed my parents. They patted him on the back and told him not to worry about a thing because Crew people don’t go down for their crimes. The only difference between us is that I actually didn’t do what I’m accused of.
“Alright, plans,” K says. He sits back, crossing one leg over the other while Johnny still sits stiffly beside him. “I need everything to return to normal ASAP. We’re bleeding money here, and people are starting to get restless with what’s gone down on the street.”
“What about Gregory?” Magnum asks.
“I’m hoping he’ll go the way of Roza Fonz’s band of dimwits, but we’ve got our ears to the ground, trying to sniff him out. I haven’t forgotten what he did to you and Kyla, and as soon as we find him, he’ll pay just like Dunnegan.”
I try not to think about the life draining from Dunnegan’s eyes. Not that he was a good person, but I’m not judge, jury, and executioner. Big Daddy K fancies himself just that, though.
“Magnum, I need some of the guys still there to check something out. We got wind that a junior guy might have been found in the old fight warehouse this morning.”
Oscar sits forward. “Junior guy?”
“Farmingham,” Johnny explains.
“Farmingham? We never recruited him.”
“But we were, and I don’t think Gregory’s guys ever got the memo. We think it’s a retaliation killing.”
Oscar’s leg jumps up and down. “So, you don’t think they’re backing down?”
K shrugs. “We’ve got to find that out, but I can’t let them think they’re getting to us, so everything is back on as of now. Start the fights again. Get back into the school, recruit, recruit, recruit. I’m sending some guys home today, and we’ll follow shortly. Everyone else is getting the same instructions. Johnny’s returning early to run Candy’s in Dunnegan’s…” He smiles. “...failure to remain alive.”