Page 86 of Misrule
Damn his father!
“Knox?”
The sound of Roxanne’s voice startled him. He’d been waiting to hear it all day.
“I have to go, Mother.”
“You have no chemistry…”
Those were the last words he heard before he disconnected the call and rushed to the door, throwing it open and pulling her into his arms. She tasted so sweet and smelled so good.
She placed her arms around his neck and returned his kiss with the same vigor that he gave it. The feel of her left him breathless and giddy. It—
Without warning, she was jerked out of his embrace. It was so sudden both Knox and Roxanne stumbled.
“Boy, you lost your damn mind?” Roxanne yelled to Mortician, who stood in the hallway holding Roxanne’s arm and glaring at Knox.
Before Mortician answered, she elbowed him in the gut. The man didn’t flinch.
“Let me go!” she demanded.
“Let her go, Mortician,” Knox warned.
“Or what?” Mortician asked in bored tones.
“Or I’m beating your ass,” Roxanne snapped. “I’ll give you a beatdown so ferocious, you’ll wonder what the fuck happened to you. I’ll fuck you up so bad, it’ll be days before Bailey knows it’s really you.”
“I’m not that easy to bring down, Roxanne,” Mortician said flatly.
Roxanne jerked herself out of Mortician’s hold. “I was just greeting my man before I talked to him, motherfucker.”
Knox pulled her behind him and straightened to his full height, staring at Mortician with cool authority. “I resent your interference and it ends now.”
Mortician looked him up and down, then back up again before laughing in his face. “Not. Your bitch of a momma insulted Meggie, Bunny, Zoann, Roxanne, and most of fucking all,Bailey.”
Knox flushed in anger, his blood boiling with the need to call the enforcer out.
“Enough, Mortician. You willnotdisrespect my mother by calling her out of her name. You will keep your nose out of my relationship with Roxanne.” Glaring at him, Knox hoped his expression conveyed his rage. “You can’t get away with your dictatorial attitude. I take it from Outlaw because I like living, but I don’t have to take a goddamn thing from you.”
“Knox, Mortician, stop this,” Roxanne demanded, trying to scoot around Knox, but was unable to because he’d boxed her in. She stood between him and the corner of a wall.
“If I don’t stand up for my momma-in-law, who the fuck else going to do it? I’m the only goddamn man in her family, so it’s my fucking job to protect her.”
“Mortician!” Roxanne said in exasperation. “This is the 21stCentury. I can take care of my own damn self.”
“Afteryou walk down the aisle,” Mortician insisted. “He real close to his momma, Roxanne. What if she put a bug in his ear aboutnotmarrying you and he end up listening to her?”
“Knox wouldn’t do that,” Roxanne said with a certainty that filled Knox with pride. “He loves me and I love him. He proved it by asking me to marry him without even mentioning a prenup like most wealthy men would have. He knows I’m his ride or die chick.”
Folding his arms, Mortician smirked at Knox, who stood unable to move at Roxanne’s words. Did she really expect him to marry her with no legal protection in place?
“Some things not as they seem, Roxanne,” Mortician said quietly. “His momma insulted the whole fucking bunch of you, with the exception of Kendall. That type of shit go deep. Knox not just changing overnight. No matter what the fuck he say. Your ass might be dickmitized butI’msure the fuck not.”
“Move, Knox,” Roxanne ordered, shoving his shoulder.
Sighing, Knox stepped aside and allowed her space to look at each of them, first left, and then right. Her light brown eyes lingered on Knox.
He saw her tenderness, her trust, and her love. In her eyes, on her face, he saw that Roxanne truly did believe in the fairytale. That marriages lasted. They survived any and everything, even despite her previous failures.
