Page 11 of Sunrise

“It was nothing. I just… panicked.”

“Did someone hurt you?”

She shakes her head.

Instead of asking what made her panic, Knox brings her in for a hug. “It’s okay,” he says, stroking her hair. “People panic all the time. I once saw Dmitri freak over a spider. He screamed like a little girl.”

Sophie chuckles and pushes back to look at him. “He’s not afraid of spiders.”

“Fine. It was me.” Knox flashes her one of his best smiles. “Freaky ass fuckers. Nothing natural should have eight legs.” He shivers dramatically, and Sophie smacks his arm.

But she laughs.

And that’s one of the many reasons I love this man. He’s able to shake us out of our heads and make things better, even when he doesn’t always understand what’s wrong with us.

He escorts her out of the kitchen and to the table that’s reserved for his family—us—and I follow like a lost puppy. A third wheel.

They take a seat while I second-guess everything about tonight. “I should probably go.”

Sophie asked to be brought to Knox and now that I’ve accomplished that, I need to go back to theclub and do a little digging into the couple that scared her.

“Don’t leave us,” she says. Her eyes lift to mine, pleadingly.

No man in his right mind would leave a woman like this.

“Are you okay if I stay?” I ask Knox.

“Sit your ass down, Vault.” He slides over to make room for me, then grabs Sophie’s hand and leans into her. For all the venom he has for me, he’s got nothing but sugar for her. “What can we do for you, Soph?” His thumb runs along the tops of her knuckles in a soothing way. He’s patient with her. Gentle. I remember when he used to be that way with me.

Until I fucked everything up.

And now I’ve done it again.

Sophie shakes her head. “Can we just forget about it? It’s nothing. I mean it. I just didn’t feel right and panicked. I’m sorry I caused so much drama.”

I lean forward and Knox’s thigh brushes against mine. “Don’t ever apologize for doing what you think is right for yourself.”

“Vault’s right. No I’m sorries up in here.” He looks over at me. “What did Ry and D do?”

“No clue. My priority was Sophie. We left and came straight to you.”

He stares at me for a heartbeat, his gaze softening a little. “Good.”

We relax into an easy, neutral conversation, and Knox cracks a few terrible jokes. I let him take the reins, steering the night however it needs to go until Sophie is back to her normal, calm self. Before long, she’s laughing loudly and whatever happened in theMonarch no longer clings to her.

Finally, I’m able to take a full breath. I’ve been wound up tighter than a drum all goddamn day because I was so nervous about tonight. This day has lasted seventy million hours, and it’s not even midnight. When was the last time I actually slept?

“Do you guys want something to eat?” Knox snaps his fingers to get the server’s attention. “Vault, you want a steak?”

“Yeah. I’m starving.”

“Three steaks, medium. Roasted vegetables for her. Potatoes for me and him.” Knox snags the server before he goes. “Tell Tristan if he burns the fucking garlic, I will same day ship him to Jesus.”

“Yes, Sir.”

Knox watches him walk straight to the kitchen before gifting me a second of his attention.

I arch my eyebrow. “You’re a violent boss.”

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