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“What the hell does Knox have to do with any of this?” His lip twitches in a snarl and I tense in preparation for him to strike me again, but he doesn’t.
“The night his sister died he changed. I could control Roberto with the help of Giovani until Knox ruined it and took out his father. Keeping you alive and away from him kept our family safe, we knew he would never harm us so long as we had you. The bastard thought he hated you but he could still never bring himself to kill you because your sister made a deal with him that kept you alive. Things changed when he took the chair as the head of the family with the other Don’s. We knew marrying you off to Gio would force him out of hiding, all we had to do was wait for him to come for you and now look, this is all because he fell in love with a worthless bitch. Hurting you meant hurting him which in turn led to us getting the upper hand on his father. Once he’s gone, you will be sold to the highest bidder and finally make yourself worth something to me.”
I almost wish I hadn’t asked why he had done any of this. How could a monster like him ever share blood with me and my sister? He rears his arm back ready to strike me again and I don’t bother to lift my arms to ward off the blow. I know Knox was outnumbered and I would rather be beaten to death like Riverland than face a reality of living in a world where Knox no longer does or being sold to some sadistic fuck.
“You’re right.” The husky sound of his voice has my head jerking upward to see Knox standing there with a gun pressed to Percy’s temple. My father pales and freezes with his arm still raised. “All of this is for her. I stayed away because of a deal I made with one of my best friends but the second you broke that deal I came for what is mine.” The conviction and the way he says I am his, I feel it in my soul.
“Pull the trigger then.” Percy tries to sound unaffected but he can’t keep the quiver out of his voice.
Knox tsks him. “Now, where would the fun be in ending a piece of shit like you so quickly?” Percy pales, he begins to ramble and plead for Knox to kill him as Mase and another guard grab Percy’s arms and haul him off me, kicking and screaming. The moment he is gone, Knox drops to his knees beside me and I take in the sight of the blood covering him as he reaches for me and crushes me against his chest. I cling to him like he is my lifeline, being in his arms chases away all my fears. I feel safe, loved and protected.
I pull out of his embrace and gaze up at him. His eyes scan my injuries and darken at the sight but I don’t care about that, I need him to know how I feel. “You never had to be anything more than who you were for me to love you.” Reaching out I push to my knees and cup his cheek, loving the way he nuzzles into my touch. “I choose you, Knox, in every life I’ll always choose you!”
The heated look that enters his eyes at my words has my breath hitching and my heart racing for a whole new reason. Knox leans down and rests his forehead against mine, we breathe each other in and all the sounds around us fade to white noise and nothing else exists in this moment except for me and him.
“I’ll choose you always, Lay,” he says softly before sealing his lips to mine. This kiss isn’t like any of the others, there is no urgency or rush to it we take our time getting reacquainted with the feeling of each other. I know for him this must be too slow because he has been kissing me for weeks but this is six years in the making for me as the woman he has been kissing wasn’t the real me. Not the me who is madly in love with him and has been since I was child, he was kissing the me that had no control over falling in love with him even when he was an asshole.
“We got to move, I got a crew coming to scrub the scene now, we need to get out of here, Knox.” We pull apart at the sound of Taylan’s voice. I look up and my chest clenches at the sight of his battered face. I push to my feet and wrap my arms around him, he’s stiff for a second before he finally returns my embrace. “I knew calling you kitten would jog your memory.” I snort out a laugh and shove him back, he flinches and I feel like a bitch.
“I’m so sorry–”
He raises a hand stopping me as Knox wraps an arm around my waist. “You and I both look about the same right now, kitten.” I purse my lips and glare at him.
“You don't get to call me kitten, you get to call me Lay or Lake.” Tay and Knox both chuckle.
“It’s good to have you back, Lay.” Taylan’s words have warmth spreading through me, then I take in the scene around us and gasp.
“How?” I breathe out.
Knox picks up what I’m putting down without me having to elaborate. “Once you attacked, Roberto took a bullet for me just as Mase and the others got here and joined in on the fight, that gave us the upper hand.”
“What happened to Gio and Percy?” I spit out.
“They will be taken back home where I can take my time with them and… enjoy not having to rush.” A shiver trails down my spine at his sinister words. Knox leads me back toward the cabins. I take in the sight of all the bodies on the ground. These men gave their lives for a cause they thought to be noble but how fucking wrong were they, they fought for an evil fucking monster and they paid the price with their lives. “Hey.” Knox draws to a stop and turns me to face him, a couple of guys try to draw his attention but he waves them off keeping his focus on me. That, what he just did, not ignoring me to deal with someone else is the reason I will always choose him. He showed me for years before my accident when he professed his love that I could always count on him to be there for me. “What’s wrong?”
Stepping into him I crane my neck back and hold his gaze as I wrap my arms around his waist allowing his warmth to soak into me. “Promise me that we will always find our way back to each other, no matter what.”
His eyes soften as he leans down and kisses me. “I will always find my way back to you, kitten.” I breathe him in, needing to be close and reminding myself that this isn’t a dream and he is really here.
“Knox, I never want to miss a day with you. We lost six years together and I don’t want to lose another second. I don’t want anyone else to die so we can be together?—”
“Shhhh.” I clamp my mouth closed and fight back the tears that want to fall. “These men around us knew there was a possibility they wouldn’t return home. The men who fought for us died fighting to end a sex ring leader. With Gio and Percy gone we can now end that fucking app. The moment Karl steps a single foot out of line, I’ll be there taking his ass down. All of that aside, I would go to war with God for you any day of the week because that’s what you mean to me, Lay.”
“Knox!” At the sound of his mother’s cry, I step away from him as she comes bounding toward her son, crying. He pulls her in close and assures her he’s okay repeatedly. I shiver and rub my hands up and down my arms, trying to get some warmth into my bones. I decide to slink off back to the cabin so I can take a hot shower before we leave and get out of these wet clothes before I catch a cold.
I feel horrible for feeling happy and like a weight has been lifted off my shoulders when so many have lost their lives. I pause at the bottom of the stairs of our cabin and tilt my head back looking up at the night sky, the stars shine brightly. I spot three bright ones and I allow myself to think of them as the three women I love most—Waverly, Riverland and my mom. I hate that the three of them aren’t here with us, with me. My best friend and sister died so I could live, how the fuck do I live with the weight of their sacrifice?
Knox
After I managed to convince my mom I wasn’t going to drop dead, I took off trying to find Lake. It’s stupid that her not being in my sight makes me panic, thinking she’ll be taken from me again. I know we have a lot to talk about but right now, all I want is just to hold her until my mind can finally catch up with the fact that she is really back, my Lake is back for good!
“She’s in the cabin.” I halt at the sound of his voice. Xander steps out of the shadows and comes toward me with his hands stuffed in his pockets and guilt stricken look plastered across his face. The rules of the Re Della Strada state that another family member can never be harmed by one of our own and he broke that code when he hurt Lake and by default killed our baby. I can never forgive him for that.
“Why?” That one word holds so much fucking weight.
Xan takes a shuddering breath and drops his gaze to his feet. “I was in love with your sister, Knox.” I recoil.
“What?” He slowly lifts his gaze back to mine and I see it in his eyes. “You son of a bitch,” I snarl taking a step toward him, only for Taylan to appear out of thin fucking air to get between us and push me back.
