Page 78

I steel my stomach as I always do as the guard next to the door swings the doors open for us. He eyes me, and I wonder how fast word got around that Johnny and I broke up. Judging by the way Johnny holds my hand, everyone can see that wasn’t the case.
The smell of sweet pasta sauce greets us as we walk in. K moves his gaze to our entrance, peering at our little trio as we make our way to the table. He makes no outward acknowledgment that I’m here, though there was a slight widening of his eyes when he first saw me.
Good. Asshole. I like to think that things can still surprise him, even with him being the almighty figure in the Heights.
He wipes his mouth and hands casually with an ivory cloth napkin and sets it aside. He leans back in his chair, his half-eaten spaghetti in front of him. “Well, this is...interesting.” He darts his gaze between Johnny and me, a smirk playing over his lips. “I see you have Miss Kyla back. Care to tell me what’s going on?”
One of the chefs emerges from the back and walks up to K. She gives him a curtsy, and I have to refrain from rolling my eyes. “Sir, should I get Mr. Rocket and his girlfriend a plate?”
K steeples his fingers in front of his chest, bouncing his pointer fingers off one another. His gaze turns to slits, staring at us as if he’s trying to figure us out already. “Yes, please do. I’m sure this will be an entertaining story.”
The woman nods gracefully and then disappears again.
Johnny and I take our seats at the table. Johnny immediately leans forward, placing his elbows on the silver table. “Did you receive my texts?”
“I did,” he says, smiling. His gleaming white teeth remind me of shark’s incisors. “Excellent job, Son. I knew you could do it.”
Johnny turns an adoring look to me. At first, I refuse to peer into his eyes because I think the look he’s giving me will be fake, but when I peek at him, his eyes are soft and genuine. A warmer blue than his usually icy eyes stare back at me. “We have Kyla to thank for that.”
K’s brows wrinkle in confusion. “Really.” He barks out a laugh, leaning further back in his chair like he’s getting ready for a movie to start playing and he’s looking for the most comfortable spot. The whole thing seems forced and disingenuous. My stomach rolls over, but I tighten my stomach muscles and force a smile to my face. K shifts his gaze between us. “I’m looking forward to hearing this because the last I was aware, Kyla decided she didn’t want the Crew life. She ran away, or so you said.”
Johnny leans back now too, mirroring his father’s position. “It was all part of a plan Mag and I concocted to get Gregory.” Johnny’s devilish smile comes out to play, which is uber sexy and disconcerting at the same time. “We’re pretty sure we have a leak in the Crew, right?” Johnny says, laying it on thick. “I thought I’d put it out there that Kyla and I were no longer a thing so we could use her as bait.”
K’s gaze flicks to me. “I’m intrigued.”
“Earlier, we took Kyla to the club, hoping it would draw Gregory’s goons out. We mic’d her up, tracked her, and everything. Gregory did exactly what we thought he would do. He sent his guys to pick her up, and when they did, we coerced…” he says with a grin. “…his guy into telling us where he’s been hiding out. The rest I’m sure you can guess from the photos I sent.”
“Quite a devious plan,” K says, looking proud and astonished at the same time. He scratches his jaw. “Couldn’t have worked it better myself.”
Johnny beams under his scrutiny.
“How many guys did he have there with him?”
“A dozen.”
“And?”
“Being taken care of,” Johnny says. “We called in the clean up team for them as well as the driver and the guy who picked Kyla up at the club.”
“All ex-Crew guys?”
“Yep, all of them. As far as I’m aware.”
The cook returns from the back with a rolling cart. She brings over steaming plates of pasta and places them in front of Johnny and me. The food actually smells delicious, but I couldn’t trust K any less than I already do.
Johnny takes a few bites while I move the pasta around with my fork.
“The dinner not to your liking?” K asks. He lifts a brow at my plate.
I smile at him. “I’ve just had a long day, I guess. I don’t really have an appetite.”
“Who could blame you? Being used as bait. Storming a rival gang member’s lair,” he says flippantly. “So, all this about you not having the stomach for a Crew life was just...a story?”
Johnny clears his throat, using the cloth napkin the cook left next to his plate to wipe his face. “We wanted to keep the plan a secret because of the number of guys we’ve had defect lately. We thought it would work perfectly, and it did.”
“So, Kyla’s in?” K asks, keeping his glare firmly on me. “She’s all on board?”
I twirl a piece of pasta around my fork and eat it slowly before answering. “I’m all in.”