He starts to shake, giving me one more facet of him as he pumps into me harder. He slams into me one last time on the heels of a moan that has me coming again right alongside him.
I let out a breath as I hold him to me.
“I think I love you, Princess. And that scares the shit out of me…because everything I love turns to shit.”
10
A while later, Oscar drops me back at the tower before going out to look for his mom again. I offer to help him, but he turns me down. He’ll be going into some seedier parts of the city and doesn’t want me involved in any of that shit. Especially since I’ve gone and “cracked like porcelain”.
When I get to my apartment, a surprise waits for me. I do a double take because the swinging heavy bag in the corner of the room was most definitely not there when I woke up this morning.
I walk up to it, admiring the quality. A steel bracket mounts it to the ceiling. I give it a good push, and it swings back. The damn thing is solid. Even as heavy as it is, it won’t pull out of the ceiling. The tower is probably made with reinforced steel. I doubt there are any wooden studs in this place. It was built to keep high priority targets safe.
Brawler texted me earlier to say he was heading home, so Magnum must be behind this. I stroll to his apartment, knocking on the door. He opens it, visibly relaxing when he sees it’s me and that I’m safe. I hike my thumb over my shoulder. “Did you do that?”
He shrugs like it’s no big deal. “I thought you could use it to heal your arm. Since K wants the fights back on, he’s going to want you headlining, so you need to recover as soon as possible.”
I was afraid K would do that. I want to fight more than anything, but the last thing I want to do is injure myself getting there. If I start too early, I could potentially cripple myself permanently. Something tells me K won’t want to hear any excuses though.
Magnum gestures with his chin. “Here. Let’s go into your place.”
He shuts his door, and we walk across the hall. The bag in the corner is still softly swaying back and forth with minimal sound, which is perfect. “I guess I should have Brawler set something up. Maybe some easy opponents just to get me in there.”
Mag strides over to the bag, admiring his handiwork. “That’s a good idea. I can’t imagine the money the Crew has lost over the last several weeks. The fights and Candy’s were their big moneymakers. Since Gregory ran off and Dunnegan—”
“Got a bullet in his head?”
He nods. “Got a bullet put into his head, they had to shut Candy’s down. Johnny will come back and get it on its feet again in no time, but I’m sure K’s not happy with how everything turned out.”
I hit the bag with my left hand. “Did you notice Johnny’s black eye?”
Mag side-eyes me. “I did.”
“Big Daddy?”
Mag holds the bag for me, and I throw a couple of punches with my left. “If I had to guess? Yes. He hasn’t hit him in a while though.”
I stop, my hand falling to my side. “He’s hit him before?”
“In school. I remember him coming to school sometimes with some bruising, but it hasn’t happened since...” Mag trails off and blows out a breath. “...I think since he started training under K.”
“I fucking hate him,” I growl. The thought he would beat his own son is worrisome. Johnny’s supposed to be his number one. He’s grooming him for his position, right? Why would he make an enemy out of him?
Because he’s not, I realize. At least not in his mind. He’s making him fall in line. He’s making him into the perfect little protege he wants him to be.
It’s disgusting.
Mag doesn’t say anything, and I raise a suspicious eyebrow at him. He didn’t bat an eye when I told him I wanted to kill Big Daddy K, but he hasn’t spoken out against them either. I know he’s with me, but why do I feel like there’s another story in here somewhere?
“Why are you looking at me like that?”
I shake my head. “You haven’t said much about what I told you yesterday.”
“What do you want me to say?”
“It’s kind of a big deal,” I say, feeling him out. “I told you I wanted to take out the biggest leader in the gang world. Someone you’ve sworn to protect.”
Mag lets go of the heavy bag and comes around, standing in front of me. “Death threats are commonplace in the Heights. My whole job is based on someone planning to kill someone else or keeping someone who’s at a high risk of getting taken out safe. You telling me that yesterday was just another day in my life.”
“It’s so fucked up,” I blurt. Even now, I can’t believe the shit that goes through my head sometimes. And the shit that’s been going through my head started six years ago, but a lot of these guys have been dealing with this stuff since they were little kids. They didn’t grow up right in it like Johnny did, but they were around it. How many families sitting in the Heights right now know that a high schooler was shot dead today? How many of those families have little kids and just shrugged it off because stuff like this happens all the time?
This just reinforces my decision that I need to end K sooner rather than later. I don’t care. I’ll kidnap Johnny in the process, get him out of the Heights, and then tell him what I did to his life. At least he’ll be out of here.
I sigh because it’ll never work out that way. I need to save Johnny, then kill his father. Since I won’t leave without him, that’s the steps now. Even if I had an opportunity to kill Big Daddy K tomorrow, I can’t take it. Not until Johnny is completely on my side.
“When the time comes, will you help me take him out?”
Mag could be a wealth of information regarding K’s whereabouts. Not only that, the Crew trusts him wholeheartedly. They’ve staked their lives on him. He could be a tremendous help in this.
“You want me to help you kill someone?”
The tone in his voice makes me look up. Hesitation sits in the corners of his eyes, festering. “Yeah.” I wrap my arms around myself. “I do.”
“There’s one problem with that, Angel.”
My heart lurches at his pet name. I’ve never been someone’s angel before. He’s told me I might be Johnny’s saving grace, but angel is so much more... I don’t know. The name tugs at my heartstrings.
“What’s that?”
He licks his lips, and I watch him, mesmerized. Magnum is still mostly an enigma to me. I know I’m attracted to him. I know he’s a good person, and the feelings that bubble up inside me when we’re together are the same heartfelt feelings that rise to the surface when I’m around the others, so I know what I feel for him is legit despite not knowing much of his past.
He cups my face. “I’ve killed people before, Kyla. I know what that’s like. I know what each one does to a part of my soul, and I don’t want that for you.”
His words should melt me. They should turn me into goo at his feet, but all he’s succeeded in doing is pissing me off. “I will kill Big Daddy K.” No one is taking that from me. I’ve set my life on this path. It was my choice. My decision.