glare moves to me. “You’re probably wondering why Johnny’s being punished.”
I lick my lips, but keep my mouth shut. I’m playing so many games here that admitting to the wrong one could be catastrophic.
Johnny opens his mouth, but K lifts his hand to stop him. “I want the little whore to speak, son.”
I bite the inside of my cheek. It’s obvious now. He’s somehow found out we’ve had sex. I flick my gaze to Magnum, but he’s not giving anything away. We were so careful. Magnum’s been checking our rooms with his bug device. Our phones. Everything.
“I love your son,” I say, pressing my lips together to come up with the right words. I don’t want to have to beg this fucker, but if it gets Johnny out of any more punishment, then I’ll do it. I’ll fucking get on my hands and knees at his feet. “We didn’t mean to go against what you said, but I—”
K’s laugh swallows up all the air in the room. “You didn’t mean to? So, he fell, and his dick slid into your cunt? Is that what you’re telling me happened, Kyla?”
“No,” I say through clenched teeth. It’s not as if I have to have the “when two people fall in love with each other” talk with him, do I? “I love Johnny, and I wanted to share that with him. We didn’t do it to disobey you. We did it because we care about one another.”
“But I told you not to. In fact, I even think I moved you out of his room and sent him a bitch, so he could get over you.”
I nod, even though I’d love to castrate the fucker for referring to women as bitches and because of the overall power he thinks he has over us. “You did, and we kept our distance for a while.”
He slams his hand down on the wood armrest. “But not long enough!”
“Dad,” Johnny says. “I’ll take the punishment. Please just let Kyla go back to her room.”
“Go back to her room? Her room? The one I gave her. The one where we saved her from that fucking shithole she was living in, and this is how she repays us? Is that the one you’re talking about, son?”
Is he for fucking real? I was perfectly fine at my fucking shithole apartment.
“You said you wanted her here, so she could be kept safe, and we did that for her. But what do we find? Blatant disrespect.”
“It was me,” Johnny says. “I talked her into it. I practically held her down because I’m sick like that. You know, like how we play with the whores, Dad. We take what we want. I wanted her pussy, and I took it.”
The venom in his voice sends ice through my veins. He doesn’t mean those awful words. He’s just trying to get me out of this mess. I appreciate the sentiment, but I’m not the one tied up with blood running from my face.
“As much as I wish that was true, I know you wouldn’t do that to your precious Kyla. Since she showed up, you’ve gone soft.” K stands, striding toward Johnny.
“Move,” Johnny whispers, and even though I want to stay there and stand my ground, Magnum reaches out to pull me to the side just as K punches Johnny in the face with a closed fist.
Johnny’s head whiplashes back. He stretches his jaw out and then looks forward again, meeting his father’s gaze. Indignation roars inside me, but I gulp it down. Sometimes, the hardest thing we have to do is sit back and watch.
“Since she showed up, you’ve cared more about her than the Crew. What have I always taught you?”
“Crew before everything,” Johnny says, voice slurring.
“Exactly!” K gets in his son’s face, his pallor as red as a firestorm. “Everyone is the property of the Crew. I am. You are. She is. She’s not yours, Johnny. She’s all of ours.”
K turns toward me. I meet his gaze with a stony one myself. He takes a step toward me and reaches out, placing his hand on my tit. He squeezes until it’s painful.
“Don’t you touch her!” Johnny roars.
K laughs, his hand fondling now. “I’m going to have to beat that possessive streak out of you.”
He gives my nipple a pinch right through my shirt and acid fills my stomach. In a flash though, he uses the same hand to punch Johnny again.
Magnum’s hands bite into my hips. He steadies me, rooting me to the