Page 24 of Possessed By Knox
“Don’t say a word,” I say, reading spark of humor in his eyes correctly. Okay, so maybe I should have taken it a bit slower. For a moment there, I forgot that the man is built like a freaking electrical pole, and my inexperience didn’t warrant any of what I just did. I quickly grab the button-up shirt he tore open last night and slip into it before digging in the pile of clothes for my phone. “I’ll take this in the other room.”
If he thinks that’s strange, he doesn’t say a word as he leans against the bed to watch me leave. I close the door behind me and walk to the living room, creating some distance between us before I take my mother’s call.
“Ruth, I was so worried about you[KB32]!” Her voice breaks through the speaker. “Why have you not been picking up my calls?”
“Mom—”
“Someone told me that they saw you in town yesterday, and I didn’t want to believe that my own daughter would comeback to Chicago after so many years and not bother to stop at her parents’ house.”
“I’ve been staying with Abby. We’re talking about moving—”
“Did you find her? Oh, my poor baby. What have those savages done to her?”
“What about the savage you introduced her to?” I snap, surprising us both. For years, I’ve been the doormat of the family, but they crossed a line by treating Abby the same way. I could stand it. I can withstand anything that comes my way, because I’ve been prepped my entire life to take every storm with a brave face. Abby is different. She’s innocent. Fragile. A little spoiled, but totally unprepared for what my parents did to her. “I’m not letting Abby come back to you guys. She’s happy and well taken care of here, and if she decides to leave, then I’ll take her in.”
Long beats of silence pass, and for a moment I think she’s hung up, but when I look at my screen I find the call is still connected. I start to hang up myself when her voice cuts through the speaker.
“I never thought my own daughters would be so ungrateful,” she hisses. “I birthed, nursed, and raised you two, and this is the thanks I get?”
“Mom—”
“Tell your sister that if she doesn’t come home before the end of this week, then we’re cutting her off for good!” There’s venom in her voice, but she’s not done. “You could run off to hide in Springfield because you managed to secure finances, but Abby needs us. We pay her tuition, and we will cancel her trust fund. Then we’ll see how she’ll pay for college. Will you take care of that as well? How long do you think it’ll take before she hates you for encouraging her to stay away from home? She’s not you. She needs her family. She needs us for support!”
I want to fight her words, but deep down, I know she’s right. I’m in no position to take care of Abby on my own, and the burden of paying for her own tuition and losing her trust fund would be too great for her. She would figure it out on her own, eventually, but what if this thing she has with Ransom doesn’t work out?
Then she’ll have nothing.
And yet, the thought of encouraging my sister to go back to that home and risk being put in a position to be hurt and abused again chips at my soul. I remember the women at the shelter, with their torn lips and bruised eyes. With their sad smiles and frail bodies.
“Don’t do this,” I say weakly, reverting to the girl I was before I left. “What good will Abby do you? Just leave her alone and…I’ll do whatever it is you want.” I can tell she wasn’t expecting those words, as the phone goes silent again. I decide to push my point. “She’s just twenty and is going to be a teacher, but I’m…I have a few internship possibilities lined up for after graduation, at some prominent engineering firms.” I’m grasping at straws. I had no intention of ever going back to my parents, but it’s a necessary sacrifice. I let my sister down once, and this is my chance to make it up to her.
“Engineering,” she muses, and I can almost hear the smile in her voice. “And you will date the man we pick for you?”
“Mom—”
“Nothing like that criminal your sister got herself entangled with,” she sneers. “I’ll find you a nice, respectable man. You’ll come home, and Abby will have the money she needs for school, and I expect you to move back here after graduation or I’m taking everything back.”
“Yes, Mom.”
When the call ends, I stare at my phone, fighting the desperate urge to chuck it against the wall and sob like a baby. But that would only draw Knox’s attention and…he can’t know.
I force in deep breaths in a practiced move I used when I was younger, shoving down my emotions before walking back to the bedroom. Knox is lying on his back with his arms under his head and eyes closed. He looks so perfect. I want to climb into bed and cuddle up with him, but I’m afraid I won’t be able to leave if I do.
Sensing my presence, his eyes snap open and stay on mine. “Everything okay?”
I force a smile. Christ, I can still feel him inside me. “Yeah,” I say casually. “I need to go see Abby. She needs my help with something. Girl stuff.”
He nods and I step into his bathroom to clean up. I don’t allow the tears to fall, even as the shower rains down on me. I make it quick, and find him in the bedroom where I left him. “Can I borrow a hoodie, or something? You tore my shirt to shreds last night.”
He smirks. “Sure.”
I dig around in his closet for a hoodie, grabbing a thick black one. He watches me as I get dressed, and I start to leave when something stops me—an emotion so strong and heavy it nearly chokes me. I turn around to face him, steeling myself so I don’t let the tears fall.
“By the way, I think I lost the bet,” I tell him. His grin widens, and I shake my head when he starts to get up. “Don’t, I need to leave. I won’t if you start touching me.”
“Well then, come back to me soon.”
I don’t answer, just turn around to leave. The emotions stay clogged in my throat as I walk to Ransom’s apartment to get my things. Abby lets me in with a knowing smile on herface, but she must read something on mine because her smile immediately drops.
