by E. M. Moore
“Act cool?” I ask, skin still buzzing. “No way, I’m telling him you ate me out while Oscar egged you on.”
Brawler turns a fiery glare toward me, but my answering smile tells him I’m just joking. I would never say anything. Obviously. Though, Magnum isn’t an idiot. He’ll know why we disappeared.
“You go out first,” Oscar says. “We’ll follow you. Don’t go too far.”
I peck each one on the cheek and step beyond the curtain. I look left and find no one, then look right, realizing that’s the way we came up. I move a couple of steps until a woman stumbles out of one of the sectioned off areas. She falls on her ass and laughs. She’s older, but she’s got everything you need, which is painfully obvious with her breasts hanging out and the G-string she’s sporting. “Come back,” a male singsongs from behind the black curtain. “I got the good stuff.”
I peer down at her then, noting the glazed look in her dark eyes. She has dark hair and wrinkles around her temples. I imagine she would’ve been very pretty at one point in her life, but it’s obvious she’s on something and has been for a while. She has that rode hard, put away wet look. She blinks up at me. “Do I know you?”
I reach my hand out to help her up. “I don’t think so.”
She leans on me as she struggles to get to her feet. It’s the crazy high heels she’s wearing. She’s not very steady on them at all, which I guess is realistic if you were doped up out of your mind and trying to walk on what are essentially short stilts.
“You okay?” I ask her. I peer toward the curtain, hoping whoever’s in there isn’t taking advantage of her. I don’t know if this woman would even be able to help herself if he was. She’s too far gone.
“I know,” she says, her eyes shimmering. “I don’t know you, but I had a mask just like that.”
Warm hands surround me from behind. They still for a moment and then grip my hip. Brawler curses under his breath, but I don’t understand anything is wrong until Oscar’s choked voice hits me. “What the fuck?”
The woman peers from me to Brawler to Oscar and then back to me.
“Come on, babe. I’m ready, and I got just what you ordered. A little blow for a little blow. Come back here and let me feel those pretty little lips.”
The woman’s face tilts. “That’s my mask.” She lunges for my face, scratching her nails down my forehead until she clumsily steals the mask right off my head, the elastic snapping in the back. “Bitch.”
“Don’t fucking touch her,” Oscar hisses as Brawler pulls me back. He’s trying to push past us, but Brawler shoves his hand out.
“She stole my mask. She stole from us, baby.”
Us?
Oh shit. I gasp as the revelation hits. Oscar finally gets around Brawler, and his mom clings to him, nakedness and all. The vein in his neck looks like it’s about to thrum right out of his skin.
He pushes her away. “You’re fucking high.”
“Bitch,” a male voice growls. The curtain to the side of us opens. Brawler steps in front of me, but I get a good enough look to peer over his shoulder. She’s not the only girl the guy has in there. There’s two already passed out on the floor. White powder lines grace the top of a table under a soft lamp. The guy, who must be in his late thirties to early forties, grips Oscar’s mom’s arm and yanks her back into the room. “Mine first,” he says, slicing a deadly look to Oscar and Brawler.
My stomach heaves. He thinks Oscar wants a shot with his mom.
“Give me half an hour.”
Oscar roars. I want to go to him, but Magnum appears at the top of the steps, pulling Oscar back. He says something into his ear, and Oscar yanks out of his hold, then turns and flies down the stairs behind them. It takes Magnum all of a few seconds to glimpse the scene and know what’s going on. Oscar’s mom is exchanging sex for drugs.
The guy closes the curtain behind him and the women as if nothing happened. He probably can’t think straight either. I come out from behind Brawler and Magnum curses.
“We can’t leave her there,” I hiss, pointing toward the closed curtain. My heart aches for Oscar to have seen that. Plus, that guy didn’t seem nice. What if he hurts her?
“We don’t have a choice.” He frowns at my now maskless face.
“Fuck that. That fucker—”
“Shh,” Magnum demands. “Put your hair in front of your face.” He guides my head to Brawler’s chest. “Pretend you’re sick. Don’t let go of her,” he orders Brawler.
We walk past more rooms. Some of them don’t even have the decency to pull the curtains completely closed. Oscar’s mom’s room isn’t the only one that is laced with drugs. Two women at the end of the hall come stumbling out of a room. Their eyes tell me everything I need to know. They’re high, too. They probably don’t even know where they are.
Brawler hides me until we’re all the way out to the car, and I’m safely inside. I wait until Magnum gets in. “We need to find Oscar.”
“We need to get you home,” Magnum says.
“Fuck that. You saw what Oscar just saw. He’s going to be fucked in the head. Please,” I beg, desperate now. I can’t imagine what he’s feeling.
Brawler sighs. He kisses me on the temple. “I’ll go find Oscar. Promise.” He pushes the door open and gets one foot outside.
“No, wait,” I say, trying to get out with him.
“Kyla,” Brawler says, piercing me with a look. “I’ve got this. I won’t let anything happen to him, okay? We’ll both call you later.”
He slams the door, and my stomach drops. Mag turns around in the seat. “Did they see you?”
I shrug. His mom definitely saw me, but I doubt she knows who I am. “They were so high; I doubt it matters.” I hold my head in my hands, worry paralyzing me.
Magnum pushes his door open. He gets out, and I glance up when the door to my left opens. He beckons me out, and I follow. He takes me around the back of the car and makes me get in the front seat. Then, he closes the door behind me and gets in on the other side again. After taking a deep breath, he places his hand over mine on the seat. “It’s going to be okay.”
I meet his gaze. His eyes track over my forehead. He reaches out, fingers trailing over the stinging skin there. “She ripped the mask off my face,” I tell him.
Magnum frowns. “Let’s get you home. Johnny called while you were with them, so you need to call him back.”
I slump back in the seat. Magnum rubs circles into my hand with the pad of his thumb as he drives me back to the tower. I can’t believe I thought I’d have a nice night out with my boyfriends. Nothing good ever happens in the Heights.
27
My phone rings while I’m in the shower. I hurry to shut the water off and then dive for it. Magnum told me Johnny called once already. I can’t not answer a second time.
“Johnny?” I ask as soon as I pick it up. My heart is in my throat. It’s all the events of today. I’m stressed. Worried. Furious.
He chuckles. “Hey, babe. I called earlier.” His voice doesn’t betray whether he’s trying to check up on me or not. It’s just conversational.
“I saw.” I swallow, hoping I can say this convincingly. “I was training. I must not have heard it.”
“Training this late?”
I close my eyes and pinch the bridge of my nose. “Just making sure I give everyone the best fight.” Here’s to hoping he doesn’t check with Finn and Jax. Or if he does, they’ve seen enough to just go ahead and agree that I was there. We haven’t come out and had any sort of discussion with them, but they know who I’m dating. Hopefully, their alliance is to me and not the Crew.
“That’s my girl.” His words poke me in the chest. Not an hour ago, Oscar had referred to me as ‘our girl’, and even though I was in the heights of pleasure, those words made me warm and fuzzy. In fact, they only added to my excitement. “You okay? You seem out of breath.”
“I was taking a shower, but I didn’t want to miss you. You know how I like to take showers after
training,” I say, only trying to drive the point home that he shouldn’t be suspicious. At the same time, I feel like shit for doing it because he has every reason to be suspicious. It’s becoming clearer I’m going to hurt Johnny in more ways than one.
He moans. “Mmm, I miss you.”
“Me too. Tomorrow,” I say. I have two minds about him coming back. I’ve enjoyed the freedom while he’s been gone, but I miss him too. If Johnny were in any other city. If he were born to any other parent, God, he’d be fucking perfect. It’s not fair.
“Actually,” Johnny says, disappointment lacing his voice. “That’s what I called to tell you. I won’t be coming home tomorrow after all.”
I grit my teeth as my heart sinks. “No?”
“I’m sorry, Kyla. We thought we’d be done, but something else came up.”
“But the dinner?”
“We’ll reschedule.”
I sigh, aware Johnny can hear my true disappointment. None of this is an act. I rub the side of my face. My wet hair drips down my back. I usually squeeze it out when I get out of the shower, but I didn’t get the chance. I grab a towel and wrap it around myself before I pad toward my bedroom and lie down on the soft bed.
“You okay?”
“Just bummed,” I tell him.
“Me too. It helps to think about you though.” He takes a deep breath and lets it out. “I want to put your mind at ease about something. I know I fucked up once. I let my privilege work its way into our relationship in the beginning, but I want to let you know the only woman I’m interested in is you. Dad thinks I’m crazy, but he’s respected my wishes.” His voice goes quiet. “I got thinking that you might be worried about that. You know, while I’m gone that I might do something.”
The thought had crossed my mind, and I’m relieved to hear his words. At the same time, I’m holding back from him too. When I finally tell him about Brawler and Oscar, I hope he doesn’t… Well, I hope he doesn’t kill us. If he’s into me as much as he says he is, I’d hope he’d understand. I’d hope he’d give it a chance. Us. Them. Everything.
But I’m asking a lot because this is probably going to be after I murder his father, so he won’t give a rat’s ass about what I’m doing with Brawler and Oscar. He’ll hate me for taking something from him.
I wish I’d been able to keep feelings out of this relationship. I really do.
Instead of answering him, I change the subject. We talk for a few more minutes about what we’ve been doing. I make up a few more lies about training and school and then he tells me he’s heading to bed because he has an early morning meeting.
I stay on my bed, my phone clutched in my hands after I end the call. Guilt hits me full force in the chest, but I close my eyes, reminding myself that these are small prices to pay to execute my plan.
My phone rings again, and I’m surprised until I bring it up and realize it’s Brawler on the other end. My fingers shake as I answer. “What’s going on?” I ask right away.
“Hey,” he says. “I got Oscar. We’re at his place.”
“Is he okay?”
“He’s…” A cracking sound reverberates through the phone. “He’s mad.”
“Can you put him on the phone?”
“I’ll try,” he says. “He’s in the middle of destroying the place though.” They talk in the background. Brawler has to tell him a few times that I want to talk to him before he actually hears what he’s saying.
The line goes dead for a moment, but then Oscar comes on. His breathing fills the connection, so I know he’s there. He’s just not saying anything. “Hey,” I say.
“My mom,” he says, like he’s explaining who the woman was.
“I know.”
“Did she hurt you?”
“A few scratches.” If Johnny comes home before they’re healed, I’ll shrug them off as training injuries.
“She didn’t mean it.”
“I know. She was high.”
“That fucker, Gregory,” Oscar growls.
My stomach pitches. “You know him?”
“Easy on the phone,” Brawler warns in the background.
Oscar ignores him. “Yeah, I know him. K won’t be fucking happy when I tell him what’s going on in that fucking place.”
Dread forms a knot in my stomach. “What do you mean?”
Oscar fills me in on his suspicions, including Dunnegan’s right-hand man—the one his mom was with—plying women with drugs for sex. In their place of business.
My throat goes dry. “She wasn’t the only woman I saw like that there, Oscar. Not even tonight. When Johnny and I went before, he had to speak to Dunnegan about a few girls who were high. He didn’t want them working when they were like that.”
Oscar laughs like he’s going insane. “This fucker thought he could do this while they were gone. I’m going to nail his ass.”
“Wait, wait, wait,” I say. “You don’t think any of this is sanctioned by the Crew?”
“No,” he huffs. “Gregory should have been scared shitless that I found him, but one, he was toasted. Two, he probably thinks I’m going to be his little bitch. I’m not. Fuck him. He probably didn’t even realize that was my mom he was with, but I’m going to make him pay.”
My mind starts to whirl. Johnny keeps a good eye on these businesses. If what Oscar is saying is true, he’ll want to know about this, but we can’t just bring him something so small. What if it’s a one-off? I bite my lip. I know what I want to say to Oscar, but I don’t want him to think I don’t care either. “I need to talk to you about this. Meet tomorrow? Don’t do anything about it until I’ve spoken to you. Okay?”
“What’s going on, Princess?” he asks, more alert now.
“Just trust me, okay? Can you do that?”
“You know I do. I’m so fucking sorry you had to see that today.”
“I know, but hey, remember, the objective is to get the fuck out of here, right?” I ask, giving him something happy to focus on. My goals have changed, I realize. I’m taking Big Daddy K out. That plan hasn’t gone anywhere. In addition to that, though, we’re all leaving the Heights, so we can get out of this hellhole.
“Right,” he breathes out.
Tomorrow, I’ll tell him we can use this information we have on Candy’s to our advantage. Tomorrow, I’ll tell him that if we find out Candy’s is really doing something against K’s wishes, we’ll get that much closer to the inside of the Crew. The closer we get to Big Daddy K, the sooner I can end this, and then the sooner we can get out of this shithole. They’ve all told me I should leave, and I plan on it. I’m not going without them though.
Right now, we don’t need suspicions of what’s going on. We need evidence.
We have to go back.
28
As planned, Brawler sets me up with an impromptu fight the next day. He got Johnny to agree by saying some girl was running her mouth about how she was going to kick my ass. Whatever he told Johnny, Johnny agreed.
Which was all we needed.
I can’t go undercover to Candy’s again without the pretense of the costume party, and I can’t go as me without word getting back to Johnny.
I make quick work of my opponent. One of these days, I’ll draw a fight out. Despite the fact that it’s a last-minute fight, they have to turn people away at the door again. The atmosphere holds the same thirst for blood it always does, which is why the crowd doesn’t care if I annihilate my opponent or not. They just want to see someone suffer, and I give that to them.
Though everything else is the same, I’m different. I’m edgy for a whole slew of reasons that have nothing to do with it being a fight night and have everything to do with figuring out what’s going on at Candy’s. Oscar’s quiet, and I want to help him. In the same token though, I’m pissed someone would do this to Johnny. He and Dunnegan acted like good buddies. Imagine if Dunnegan is playing him.
No one fucking plays the people I care about. If Dunnegan is doing something behind the Crew’s back,
I’ll be the first to step up and spill my guts, so he gets what’s coming to them. Not to mention that they’re using distraught, desperate women to carry this out. Oscar’s mom is broken. It doesn’t make her a bad person. It makes her a person in need of help. And here we are, treating her like the scum of the earth, exploiting her weaknesses to use her.
The thought makes me sick.
The crowd surrounds me the minute Brawler calls the fight. I may have dislocated a knuckle or two on my right hand, but it’s the least of my worries. I play the part, acting like the cocky winner, accepting my Uppercut Princess robe with a cocksure smile. Usually, fighting makes me feel alive, and maybe it’s because of that that everything feels so urgent right now. I don’t want to sleep on this another day. I just keep picturing the glazed, lost look on Oscar’s mom’s face. I don’t know her. Not really. But I know Oscar. I know the type of person he is underneath all the layers of hurt and bravado. He’s a good person, and it killed him to see someone he loved like that.
Magnum takes Johnny’s place, ushering me into the back where I can shower and change to start what tonight was really all about. Right before I hit the locker room door, Brawler announces that we’re headed to Candy’s tonight. We figure the more bodies there, the better. We’d stick out less and have more opportunity to snoop around to see what’s going on.
Magnum shuts the door behind us and flips the lock. “Nice fight,” he says.
I wish I could remember. I only have bits and pieces, mainly the scared look on the girl’s face when I pounced on her. We definitely threw her to the wolves, but Oscar didn’t just make up the part about her bashing me. Apparently, he’d heard a rumor, so we went with it, whether it was true or not.
I shrug the purple robe off. To my right, there’s a bag with the outfit I’m wearing tonight. I’m shaking. Usually, the fights help calm me, but since that wasn’t the main point of tonight, I still have all this expectation built up inside me.
Magnum’s hands settle on my shoulders, and he starts to massage them. “Relax a little.”