Despite the fact that I don’t like those words coming out of his mouth, they make me smirk. “Yeah?”
He peeks toward the door and then leans in conspiratorially. “I’ve never seen him go against his father’s wishes like he does for you.”
I swallow hard. This conversation is suddenly taking a turn for the worse. “Yeah, and he’s got the bruises to prove it,” I say before I can stop myself.
Jiko blows a breath out of his nostrils, making them flare. “Par for the course.”
“Well, that’s a pretty fucked up game then, isn’t it?”
“You don’t know the half of it,” Jiko says, his ominous tone stoking apprehension inside me.
Darkness overrides his features. Shadows dance over his face, making the red tints I saw in his hair at the dinner where Dunnegan got shot stand out even more.
Jiko’s handsome. They both come from the same type of families, and if what Jiko is insinuating is true, he’s probably gone through the same shit Johnny has. It’s not shocking Johnny found a friend in him, if that’s what they are.
Johnny’s told me he’s cool, so maybe I should let my guard down around him. Paranoia in the Heights, however, is something that jumps out at you and clings like a bitch in heat. It’s hard to trust anyone around here.
Johnny comes out carrying the chair, winking at me as he settles it beside the couch. My heart fills just watching him.
I shake my paranoia away. I’ve already proved to myself there are good people here. I just wonder at the end of all of this, which way the scale will tip? Good or evil?
23
Johnny watches as I say goodbye to Magnum. Jiko left first, claiming he wanted to get to bed early for tomorrow. He actually hadn’t been all that bad during dinner…or afterward. Brawler left after him. Hesitation slowed his movements to the door like he didn’t want to leave me, but he had to get home to see his mother. He rarely misses a dinner with her, so he knew she would be worried he wasn’t there. Oscar left just five minutes ago, staying and—I don’t think it was my imagination—actually enjoying a conversation with Johnny.
Mag stayed just long enough for he and Johnny to talk about Detective Reynolds and how he’d followed us to the gym.
I close the door behind Mag’s retreating form, catching a glimpse of the way his pants hug his ass. Sue me. The guys are hot, so yes, I’m going to catch my fill when I can.
I spin, leaning against the door to look back at the dark prince before casually locking the deadbolt.
“You look happy,” Johnny muses. He darts his tongue out to run across his lips in an almost mesmerizing way. “I wasn’t sure you’d look like that again after we got you back.”
“Is that why you’re going along with my crazy ideas?” I throw out. “Or did you actually have fun tonight?”
Honestly, the night couldn’t have gone better. We all sat around the table chatting like normal human beings. Johnny and Mag even talked about their younger days, even though talk of the Crew life came to a grinding halt. The particular story they were telling involved Brawler’s brother, so both guys were hesitant to finish it in front of him.
“I have fun anywhere you are.”
I stride forward, pushing my palm against his chest. “Talk to me,” I tell him, eyes begging him the whole time. I reach up to undo his tie, loosening it and pulling the fabric out of his collar before unbuttoning the first few buttons of his shirt. I don’t understand how he can wear a suit almost all the time.
“You just want to know all my secrets...”
“Is that so bad?” I challenge.
He nips at my lip, dragging it through his teeth before it pops back to me.
Fuck. I hadn’t meant this to go in a sexual direction. Honestly. Not that I fucking mind. “Don’t distract me,” I chastise. He grins. I take a step back, peering at him suspiciously. “You were trying to distract me?”
“To be fair, you’re easily distracted around me.”
I give him a teasing swat. “There’s your arrogance. I can’t say that I missed it.”
“You fucking love it,” he says, letting me back him up until he hits the leather couch. He sits and pulls me after him onto his lap.
I situate myself on top, playfully grinding over him—accidentally on purpose—until he’s squirming beneath me and nursing a semi. “You and Jiko seem to get along well. We can trust him?”
Johnny settles his hands on my hips, stopping my movements. “Yeah, we can trust him. My dad and his dad have been friends for a long time. He’s my oldest friend, even though he lives far away. He also has to deal with the same stuff I do, you know?”
I nod. “I wasn’t sure if we could talk freely around him,” I confess. “When we were talking about Brawler, I didn’t know if we could discuss our plan for how the fight should go down.”
“That’s easy,” Johnny says with a quick lift of his shoulders. “You’re going to kick his ass.”
I swallow, my throat suddenly tight. Considering I’d come to the exact opposite conclusion, I don’t know how to react. “What happens if he loses?”
“None of your concern. He brought it upon himself when he decided he wanted to fast-track it into the Crew.”
I stare into Johnny’s ice-blue eyes. Despite the words coming out of his mouth, I detect a hint of hesitation on his side. He has to think of Manning when he sees Brawler. He’s just saying all this for me because Johnny would literally give up everything for me. “It is my concern,” I say. “Brawler’s not going to get hurt because of me.”
Johnny’s jaw ticks, and he moves me off him. He stands, hands perching on his hips as he glares down at me. “So, you’re willing to let him beat the shit out of you, so he can get his way? That’s what you’re saying?” A chill creeps through me. It’s the sudden lack of him that’s the problem. Couple that with the daggers that are now being sliced through me, and I sit on the couch like a chastised child while he continues. “It’s not happening, Kyla. Brawler’s not going to touch you, and if he tries, I’ll—”
I stop him before he can make that threat. I don’t want to hear it, and I don’t want him to put it out there either. He’s better than that. We’re better than that. “Your father did this. Not Brawler.”
He gives me a look like he’s telling me to get real. “My father’s running the Crew like he always does. You think him making this fight was just a spur-of-the-moment decision? It wasn’t. He knows you’re friends. When people want into the Crew, we tear them down. We make sure they know the only family they have is the Crew family. You guys in the ring will show him what Brawler’s about. If he tries to take you out, he gets a plus sign in the Crew column. If he wusses out—if he phones it in—that’s all the information Dad needs to make his decision.” He glares at me. “The same goes for you, too. You need to fight for your own survival.”
His words harden my bones. I get to my feet, not letting him glower over me any longer. “We can figure something else out.”
Johnny shakes his head. “He won’t be satisfied until you’re both shedding blood out there. I let you have your little dinner. I didn’t kick his ass out, but from here on out, Brawler is not your friend.”