sitting right. They’ve pledged their allegiance to me, so it’s only fair.
I slip away from Brawler and kneel at Mag’s feet. He edges the cup of cocoa he got for me closer, like that’s the reason I’m sitting here. I ignore it for the time being even though it smells divine. I haven’t had hot chocolate in exactly six weeks.
“You’re with us, right?” I ask.
Magnum’s brows furrow.
“Me. Us,” I tell him, motioning toward Oscar and Brawler. “Not the Crew.”
“More than you know,” he says, lips thinning.
I press my tongue against my teeth as I contemplate how to say this. This is one giant fucking leap, but since I’m getting real with everyone here, it needs to be done. I can’t leave Magnum out of the loop. It’s not right. I wouldn’t even do it to Johnny if I knew he wouldn’t just go ape shit and kill us all.
“Oh shit,” Oscar says, already knowing what I’m going to say. I don’t dare look at him.
Magnum peeks a look over his shoulder at him before turning back to me. “Is this the secret you told me about?”
I nod. “I just need to make sure you’re with me.”
I stare into his eyes while Oscar says, “Maybe you should teach him the secret handshake, Princess.”
I glare at Oscar because this is fucking serious, but he’s always unapologetic about his actions. Instead of returning my look, he rolls his hand over like I should get to talking. It’s good if he thinks we can trust him.
“I’m with you,” Mag says, ignoring Oscar’s jibe as well. He cups my chin and forces me to look at him again. He’s so ruggedly handsome. His facial hair ages him into hot older man territory, even though he’s technically not that much older than me.
I wait until his words coat me. I let them fill me up until I feel the rightness of it, and then I’m not scared to tell him. Licking my lips, I say, “Big Daddy K murdered my parents when I was twelve, and I’m going to kill him for it.”
Mag blinks. Then, he pulls me up to straddle his lap, placing his hands on my cheeks like I didn’t just announce I was going to murder his boss. He stares into my eyes for a long while before saying, “Thank you for telling me your secret.”
“Why does the new guy get to hold her?” Oscar whispers.
“Shut the fuck up, Drego,” Brawler barks back, clearly exasperated.
Oscar shrugs, but I turn my full attention back to Magnum because he took that admission like a champ. I raise an eyebrow. “That’s it?”
“That’s it,” he says. “I knew it had to be serious since you refused to leave the Heights.” He drops his hands to my shoulders, squeezing me briefly.
I eye him, waiting for the moment where he tells me it can’t be done. Or that it’s too dangerous, but Magnum doesn’t utter any of those words. He just turns me around in his lap so I can lean over and grab the cocoa he made me.
I look around, watching each of them take the moment in with a quiet confidence, and it warms my heart. This moment had been scaring the shit out of me for the longest time, but now that we’re here—together—a little piece of the other side comes into view, making me crave it even more.
One day, we’re all going to be out of the Heights, and I’m going to love every single second of it.
6
It turns out the thing Magnum used to scan Oscar and Brawler’s cell phones is a device used to detect bugs—listening and recording technology. Apparently, he’s been using it all along, checking my apartment since the moment I got it, as well as the cars we use.
I have a lot to learn about this life. It never dawned on me anyone might want to hear what I’m saying or see what I’m doing unless it was to get to Johnny and the Crew.
Magnum’s relinquished his hold on me. I’m sitting on the floor in front of him, legs crossed at the ankles. Brawler’s in front of me, our feet rubbing against one another while Oscar eye fucks me from his spot on the couch. I swear every time I catch him looking, it’s as if he’s undressing and doing naughty, naughty things to me.
Magnum runs his hand through my hair. “It’s not just other people I was worried about,” he says, continuing our conversation on what’s been going