Page 32 of Claimed By my Stepbrother
“Mom!” I gasp, hurrying over to her. “Reading isn’t good for your head right now. Maybe coloring for a while?” She nods, and I grab a book of mandala designs and colored pencils.
Leaving her to her coloring, I go into Knox’s bedroom—our bedroom now—to wait for him to return home.
After pacing in our room, I go downstairs to wait in the living room, trying to distract myself with a random romcom on TV. Unable to concentrate on anything but Knox, I begin to pace in the living room.
I look up when I hear the front door open and rush over to Knox when he comes inside. I stop just before I leap into his arms, noticing several large, dark reddish-brown areas that definitely don’t match the teal fabric of his shirt.
“Is… is he—” I can hardly get the words out as he gives me confirmation with a nod.
“Satan’s new fuck toy? Yeah, and he’s about to start his first day,” he jokes macabrely.
“Come here, and give me a kiss, babygirl.” I stand up on my tip toes and bring my lips to his.
“I want you to see what I did to him, so you know how much he suffered for hurting our mothers. For hurting you.”
“Thank you. I think I need to see him to get closure. Knox, I wanted to take his life so badly,” I admit without shame.
“He’s gone now, but the guys need to get rid of his body.”
“How are they going to do that?”
“Would you believe me if I told you sharks?”
“It’s Vegas. I would believe you if you said tigers.”
“Yeah, it’s just that tigers don’t always digest the bones and teeth. With the sharks, it’s just one less thing to deal with.”
“Right. Occupational hazard. Let me just go tell Mom I’m leaving for a little while,” I say, not wanting her to worry.
“I’ll call Bennie and have him come sit with her while we’re gone,” Knox offers, already typing out a message before I turn around.
When I return, he takes my hand in his and leads me out the door. “Speaking of hazards, I want you to meet the guys when we go see Rowan’s remains.” I just nod, following behind him, ready to face any element of this life at his side.
As we step out of the elevator, we make our way to their office headquarters. Knox brings me to Rowan’s corpse lying in a pool of blood, and I don’t know what comes over me, but I end up kicking him several times in the ribs before I calm down and step back with my fists balled up with anger.
I turn around as I hear a group of men entering the room. A tall man, close to my age, stands in front, dressed in khaki pants and a bright cyan polo shirt. “Whoo! Ding dong, the bitch is dead,” he announces triumphantly, giving Knox a chin check. He gives me a friendly smile, an aura of mischievousness dancing around in his steely eyes. Knox introduces him as Preppy before he points out the rest of the guys.
“Hey, Sirena, It’s great to meet you. Now, I can tell you what you’re getting into with this guy because you should know there’s no one like him. You will never be bored around him. Like when he went to the DMV for the first time and they asked him ‘body type?’ he said, ‘muscular…I guess.’ He’s also the most loyal person I know. Anyone who’s ever fucked with me for being intelligent regretted it because Knox encouraged them to stop—violently.”
“Oh, what about that time we went to Starbucks for the first time? He thought they wanted him to name his coffee, so he came up with Brews Banner. Knox is also the kind of guy that does stuff for you that you can’t. When I was locked up, he always brought my mom flowers on her birthday and Mother’s Day,” Nutso chimes in, and a wave of guilt crashes through me from seeing him again.
“Oh, oh, I got a good one,” the man called G Child chimes in. “So, this one time we were flying to California and -”
“That’s enough, guys. No need to bore her with stories of my heroism,” Knox says loud enough to be heard over the guys eager to spill his secrets to me.
His uncle Calyx shakes his head at G Child. “He does a lot of good stuff, too. Rowan’s ex-wives probably wouldn’t be alive if it wasn’t for Knox. He helped them, so they could get back on their feet,” he reveals with a proud smile.
“Yeah, Knox is the best. When my ex, Gina, cheated on me, he sent her lover a stripper who happened to have gonorrhea,” G child shares his recollection with a fond expression.
“I think that’s enough out of you,” Bennie enunciates followed by a soft rattle from his throat. “Calyx and Knox pick me up every Sunday to keep me company at church even though neither of them are religious,” he adds. It’s really nice to see how much his family has his back.
“Now, that’s how you hype our boy up,” G Child discloses to Nutso tauntingly.
“Go fuck a cactus, G Child,” Vito hisses.
“Alright. Alright. Enough, already. It’s time to clean house. Get this chum out of here,” Knox orders, his tone brooking no argument. The guys split up and get to work as Knox and I return to the penthouse to sleep, putting this hellish day behind us.
Chapter seventeen
