Total pages in book: 41
Estimated words: 38800 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 194(@200wpm)___ 155(@250wpm)___ 129(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 38800 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 194(@200wpm)___ 155(@250wpm)___ 129(@300wpm)
His jaw was set, but there were still tears in his eyes he refused to let fall. He took us all three in. Then opened his mouth. Before he could speak, however, Aneshya wiggled out of mine and Luke’s embrace and threw herself at him.
“I want my grandpa back, Knox!” She was sobbing as she wrapped her arms and legs around him, crying into his neck.
“I know, honey. I do too.” Knox’s voice was gruff. He held the child tightly to him, rubbing her back with one hand while the other was clamped around her waist.
I’m not sure who moved first, but the next thing I knew, we were all in Knox’s arms. Even Luke sniffled while me and Aneshya cried openly.
We stood like that for several minutes and I was struck at how it felt like we were a family. This was what Grover wanted. For Knox to be the missing member in our family instead of Danny. I had to admit, Knox felt like more of a mate than Danny ever had.
It struck me then. The entire thirteen-year relationship I had with Danny wasn’t really a relationship. Not like I thought it had been. Looking back, the place I’d called home had been a place for Danny to visit a few days at a time before returning to his real home.
I also realized that it wasn’t so much the place that was a home, but the people living there. For me that was Luke and Aneshya, Grover, and now Knox. Knox hadn’t been living at the house with us, but he was there every single day. Early morning to late into the night. He took care of us. Made sure we had everything we needed. And it wasn’t something he asked, either. He was like Grover had been. He saw we needed something he made it happen.
“Knox.” A man I hadn’t met stood outside the bedroom door with Mace.
“Gonna need a minute, Ringo.”
“I know, brother. I’m sorry. But there’s someone here you need to see.”
“Bleedin’ Christ,” Knox swore, but he didn’t move from our embrace.
“It’s important or I wouldn’t bother you.”
Knox gave us all one last tight squeeze -- the man really was huge -- before leaning down to kiss my lips gently. “I won’t be long.”
“It’s all right, Knox. Take your time.”
He gave me a steady look. “I’ll be right back.”
When I nodded, he followed Ringo out the door.
* * *
Knox
This was all too much. Not only had I lost my father just when I’d come back into his life, but, more importantly, the kids and Evelyn had lost him. I had so much emotion roiling inside me I wasn’t sure what to do with it all. Chief among them was rage.
“Who the fuck is it?” I snapped. Ringo was our enforcer. He hadn’t come with Wolf, Mace, Leather, and Falcon. Which meant the boys had called in reinforcements when I hadn’t thought to do so. Ringo raised an eyebrow at me. I took a deep breath and let it out, trying to calm myself. “Sorry, brother.”
“It’s all right. I know you’ve got a lot to process.” He moved us farther away from the bedroom before stopping just outside the living room. Where my dad’s body still lay. “It’s your brother.”
My gaze snapped to Ringo’s. “What the fuck is he doing here?” I growled, my anger spiking.
Ringo shrugged. “You’ll have to ask him that yourself. All we did was prevent him from entering the house, which he’s pissed as hell about.”
As if on cue, I could hear Danny’s raised voice carrying from outside through the house. I couldn’t make out his words, but it was obvious he wasn’t happy.
“Motherfucker.” Not the best idea to take my anger out on my brother, but it was probably going to happen that way.
Ringo grabbed my arm when I started to stomp through the living room to confront my brother. “Wait, Knox. There’s something else.” I turned to face the enforcer, giving him my full attention. “He was asking about Evelyn. He thought she’d been the one shot.”
“She very well could have been.” I shuddered to think about that. The rage nearly overwhelmed me. “If I hadn’t been there…”
“You were, Knox.” Ringo squeezed my arm again, hard enough to bruise. “You were there, and you protected her, shielded her with your own body. You didn’t hesitate. That’s what Wolf said. She’s your woman and we all know what that means. We also know how that can affect you in this kind of situation. It’d be the same for Rocket or Bullet. Hell, Lemon would go scorched earth if something happened to Rocket, so I get it. But you need to use your head.”
“What are you trying to say, Ringo?”
“I got here just a few minutes before Danny did. We haven’t called the police or EMS or even the fuckin’ coroner. He said he’d heard Evelyn had been killed. Evelyn. By name.”