Page 120 of Knight

“Why?” The question slips out before I can stop it. “I mean … Why are you doing this?”

Bishop hesitates, head tilting as he looks at me. “Because if he’s too stubborn to look out for you, someone else has to. Until he comes to his senses, anyway.”

I nod, swallowing the lump in my throat. “Thank you.”

He moves toward the door, then pauses with his hand on the knob.

"Eva." His voice is soft. "What Knight did this morning? Pushing you away? You have to understand that it’s not about you. It’s about him. About what he’s afraid to become."

"And what's that?"

"Human." The simple word carries volumes of meaning. "Vulnerable. Someone who has something to lose."

The door closes behind him, and it’s just me and Michael in the apartment. The coffee maker gurgles to life in the kitchen, its rhythmic sputter filling the silence. I sink onto the couch, my legs giving out beneath me. The phone rests on the table, a silent reminder of everything I’ve been pulled into.

Outside the window, life goes on. Cars honk. People walk their dogs. Kids laugh as they chase each other down the sidewalk. They’re blissfully unaware of how close the world came to crumbling beneath their feet. Of the sacrifices made to keep them safe.

The morning sun creeps across the floor, painting the apartment in familiar patterns. But nothing is right anymore. Everything has been knocked two degrees off-center, just enough to make nothing fit the way it used to.

I pick up the phone, running my fingers over its smooth surface. I appreciate what Bishop was trying to do, but I know I’ll never use it.

Michael steps into the living room, a mug of coffee in each hand. “There’s no milk, so you’ll have to have it black. You okay?”

I don’t answer right away. Instead, I place the phone back on the table and meet his gaze.

“Not yet. But I will be.”

His expression softens, and he nods, sinking into the chair across from me.

I’ll figure it out eventually. How to live with this new version of my life. How to forgive myself for believing in something that was never real. And maybe, someday, how to forgive Knight for making the choice to end us before we even began.

CHAPTER SIXTY-SEVEN

Knight

Three days have passedsince I sent Eva away, and my healing wounds are a constant reminder of everything that went wrong.

Bishop’s parting words echo in my ears, full of concern and irritation. He didn’t want me coming back here, believing I should recover under their watch. Rook was even less subtle, slamming a hand against the doorframe as I left. Unlike my brothers, Victor felt no such need to pull his punches. Instead of leaving me to return to my apartment alone, he insists on coming with me.

“You didn’t have to come inside.”

“I’m aware, and I’ll be leaving for the airport once I’m certain you’re not going to do something stupid like bleed out on your apartment floor.”

“I won’t.”

“And if you do, no one will know for at least two days. By which point, you’ll be dead and stinking out that fortress you call an apartment.”

“I have protocols in place for if anything happens to me.”

He snorts. “Of course you do. Knight, what you did …”

“Whatyoudid you mean?”

“Fair. But if you hadn’t persisted, both Michael and I could be dead now.”

I glance over at him. “You’re welcome. Don’t fuck up my computers again.”

He laughs again. I initiate the access codes to call my elevator.

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