Page 75 of Knox

“Sit,” I ordered.

Without hesitation, Caroline sat on my lap, straddling my legs to face me and resting her arms on my shoulders. I kissed her.

She knew Walter best. She knew how he thought, how he planned, how he acted. She was the Devils’ unintentional inside man. And I trusted her. So much that I’d risk my own life if she told me to. Needed me to.

This wasn’t about right or wrong. It wasn’t even about trust anymore. It was about justice.

When I looked in her eyes, I didn’t see a traitor—I saw fire. Willpower. Brutality wrapped in something goddamn beautiful. I saw a woman who could gut me or stand beside me in the same breath.

And I wanted her on my side. Not because of who she used to be.

Because of who she was now.

The question was, would I risk the lives of my brothers?

I drew back, resting my forehead against hers.

“Tell me this plan of yours.”

CHAPTER 26

CAROLINE

I didn’t get nervous about things. I walked through fires in heels and got what I wanted with wit, cunning, and threats—and the armor of my father and the might of the Wolverines.

Without that now?

I cursed my fluttering stomach like I could intimidate it into settling. Maybe I could have convinced myself into thinking it was the apple that didn’t agree with me or something—any stupid excuse to wear new and improved armor of confidence and badassery.

It had been a whole week since Gabriel’s death and our arrival at the hotel. We spent one third planning, one third eating out for meals, and one third of the time, Knox was eating me out. By the third night, we were kicked out of our room and moved to another after numerous complaints about the noise—bed springs, moans, curses, slap of skin on skin… It was a miracle they didn’t ban us for life.

It took me that long to understand what life could be like outside of MCs. Staying up till three in the morning fucking a man who kissed me like it was medicine to my broken heart. Lounging by the pool in a skimpy bikini Knox bought, grinning every time Knox growled at any guy who looked at me a second too long. Going to a bar in the evenings, sipping girly drinks and grinding my ass against Knox’s hard crotch on the crowded dance floor. Shopping for new pantsuits and then suddenly carrying civilian clothes that Knox dropped into my arms to the changing rooms.

“Flannel and jeans,” I said disbelievingly.

He grinned crookedly. “Yup. No more business casual, woman. You’re not going to an interview for some depressing corporate job. You’re gonna learn what comfy means.”

“Oh, you’re a fashion expert now?” I snorted.

“Far from it, baby girl,” he said, ushering me to the back of the store. “But it’s the first step to the new you.”

The new me?

I searched Knox’s eyes, finding only a cocky kind of sweetness.

Then I lifted my chin and gave him a small smile.

“The new me.”

When I looked in the changing room’s mirror, I didn’t see Walter Bates’s negotiator. I didn’t see a battered captive who was tied to a chair in a warehouse. I didn’t see a disgraced heir wearing musty, bloodied men’s clothes.

I saw a woman wearing everyday clothing with her hair down and bruises faded. I twisted this way and that, getting used to the sight of casualness. I feared I would look like a country bum, but no. I looked good.

A new Caroline Bates.

I went out to model for Knox. His face lit up, and it made my heart flip in my chest.

“Suits you perfect, baby girl. Let’s get one in every color.”

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