Page 35 of What Comes Around

It was useless.

Another man attempted to speak to him and was cut off mid-sentence.

Soon it became obvious to everyone.

Knox Sinclair was not in the mood.

By the time dessert arrived, most of the table had learned to give him space.

When dinner ended and chairs shifted back, conversation loosened into polite clusters.

I turned slightly and found a man standing only a few steps away, already watching me.

“Will you join us for a nightcap?” he asked our group, though his attention remained entirely on me.

Knox answered before anyone else could.

“Not tonight. We have a six a.m. flight.”

I blinked. We didn’t. Ours was at ten, but I said nothing.

We gathered and moved toward the elevators together. Inside, Marcus broke the silence.

“You okay, Knox? You’ve been in a mood all evening.”

Knox exhaled sharply. “I’m tired,” he said flatly. “Of fake people. Of everyone wanting something.”

No one argued.

Chapter 12: Leo who?

The day after I got back to Chicago, I was standing in my kitchen in soft pajamas, coffee in one hand, phone in the other, when Amy’s message popped up.

“OMG.”

A second later a TikTok link followed.

I opened it.

The video was already at 2.7 million views.

Leo Hartman stood behind a press table with the championship belt slung over his shoulder, his face bruised, lip split, eyes still bright with adrenaline and victory.

“Yeah, the fight was brutal,” he was saying. “But I had good motivation.”

The reporter smiled. “Oh? A special someone?”

Leo smirked.

“There’s this girl. Ashley. Met her in Vegas.”

“Ashley who?” someone asked.

He laughed. “That’s the problem. I don’t even know her last name.”

The reporters laughed.

“But I do know she works for Knox Sinclair.”