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Knox talks and I fiddle with my shirt. Anything to keep my fingers busy, to keep them from reaching out to him. To stop myself from pulling him closer and just dropping my exhaustion into his arms.
“Everything was fine. Until my twin brother turned eighteen. I told my dad Nic needed me. He needed my help. He needed money. A lot of fucking money. He was in trouble. But my father has a view on life. Trouble will always be there. And Nic, he was the kind of trouble we didn’t want to always be there.”
He holds my gaze, searching for something behind my eyes. I watch him just as closely. A sleek dangerous boy with so many emotions bottled up inside him.
“So you…killed him?” I barely hear the words come out of me. Am I even sure he heard me speak?
Everyone’s afraid of Knox. People always keep their distance. A result of that nasty rumor that went around school. A rumor. That’s what I truly thought it was. Just a fake facade he used to intimidate people as if being so ridiculously rich didn’t already do that on its own.
It’s not a rumor, not a lie, or mask that hides the true Knox. He truly is what they say he is.
His eyes are deep depths of lostness, his face angling away from my stare. His whole body leans away from the words that hang in the cool air between us.
Knox Reyes is suddenly not a dangerous boy at all. He’s a murderous man. He’s deadly.
And he’s trying to save me.
Twenty
Dee
My bag is full. Knox’s adoptive father being my actual birth father only makes me leaving a tad more confusing. Ultimately, I decide it’s still best for me to go. Knox was right all along; I don’t belong here with them.
I have skills that surpass living this spoiled cushy life. That’s the excuse I keep telling myself. I want to live this life. Maybe even with Landon, Reed, and Knox at my side.
It’s just not in the cards for us.
The entire walk home from the bus stop I talked myself in and out of leaving on repeat. Knox is a killer and also my adoptive brother. Which only slightly freaks me out. We aren’t blood, I tell myself as I relive the aching pleasure that still has some sort of pulsing echo between my legs. My mind is a dirty reel of that moment. Then the moment after where my life twisted into some messed up soap opera.
The textured strap of my duffle bag digs into my hand as I walk down the stairs into the kitchen. Knox’s back is to me as he stares out the window of the foyer. A scratching sound repeats over and over again as he picks at the edge of the chair.
It’s a telling habit I’ve found.
I’ve never seen him so nervous.
He does a double take when he hears me drop the bag at the bottom of the stairway. His gaze against my body warms my skin as he looks me over head to toe.
Do I expect him to kiss me goodbye? He wouldn’t do that. His face is as unreadable as ever.
“You’re still leaving?”
“Yeah, I’m not sure I’m prepared to kill some long-lost family member that might pop into my life at some point.” I laugh at my failing attempt at humor.
God, who the hell brings murder up as a joke?
Knox raises an eyebrow his next word firm and certain. “Good.”
He stands and every slow step he takes drums through my heart. Until he’s right in front of me. Looking down on me like he’s memorizing the sadness I know is in my eyes.
A warm hand brushes over my hip, skims along the flesh of my stomach before he lifts his palm to my neck. The sweeping brush of his thumb against my windpipe sends tinging want all through me. He’s close. So close.
But he never leans in to make that space between our lips disappear.
It’s just one last tormenting moment.
It’s likely the best goodbye I’ll get out of him. I can’t bring myself to look for Landon or Reed or ask where they are. It hurts too much. And besides, what’s left to say?
My chin tips up and his gaze follows my defiant movement as I brush my lips lightly against his. It’s sparking want. Tainted desire. Perfect lust. I’ll kiss him the way I always wanted to.
