Page 2 of Possessed By Knox
I’ve erased everything that would remind Abby of the sister she knew four years ago. Inside and out, I’m a different person now.
She’ll probably want nothing to do with me.
I force in deep breaths and focus on my driving, noting that I’m closer to my destination than I thought. My heart starts racing again as I approach the building that houses the Steel Rebels.
I park in front, the car’s engine sighing in a sudden silence. The ten stories loom above me and I sit back, unmoving, staring up at the building with a sense of dread, heavy and suffocating.
I must be out of my goddamned mind to show up at the Steel Rebels’ clubhouse alone. If it were so easy to get my sisterout of this place, my parents would have managed to do so long before they thought to reach out to me.
Deep breaths, Ruth. Slow and deep.
I close my eyes, but it does little to calm my frayed nerves, so I open them once more to stare at the building. A few men are standing outside, leaning against the wall, smoking and chatting. Their leather jackets and visible tattoos nearly intimidate me into driving off, but the thought of my sister with these people, hurt and abused, steels my nerves a little.
Jaw clenched, I grab my purse and check that my taser is still in there before pushing open the car door. I straighten my spine, my gaze fixed on the building’s entrance. I can feel eyes tracking my every move, but I don’t glance in their direction, refusing to be intimidated into running off. No one stops me, and as I reach the entrance, theheavy door swings out toward me [KB5]as a man steps outside. I slip past him and duck inside, before the heavy door closes behind me with a soft thud and I’m immediately enveloped in shadows.
The air is thick with the scent of leather, stale beer, and something else.
Something dangerous.
It takes me a moment for my eyes to adjust to the dim lighting. Christ, it’s so dark in here. How the hell do these people tell what time of the day it is?
There’s loud music playing—not the ear-blasting kind one would expect from men who ride motorcycles and wear tattoos like their second skin—but loud music nonetheless. I move through the entrance, my senses on high alert, and slowly take in what looks like a bar. My gaze sweeps across the room, taking in the rough-hewn tables, the worn leather of the booths, and the low murmur of conversation. I feel eyes on me, but no one makes a move to approach, so I’m looking around for someone to speak to when I see…him.
He’s across the room from me, a solitary figure in the dim lighting, and my breath catches. My jaw nearly falls to the floor as I take in the mountain of a man standing behind the bar…watching me. Everything and everyone fades as I return his stare.
Christ, the man is incredibly huge, with a face that I imagine makes women fawn over him. He’s breathtaking, with the dim lighting dancing over his face and highlighting the sharp angles of his cheekbones and the curve of his jaw. His eyes are dark pools that seem to draw me in, even with the distance between us. His hair is a shade of brown or red, impossible to tell in the low light, but it frames his face perfectly.
I start toward him and his lips curve into a smirk, a flash of white against the dimness, and that stops me. A playful expression like that shouldn’t belong to a man of his size. Yet, it somehow suits him. It gives him a mischievous look, with a hint of something dangerous that sends warning bells ringing in my head.
Shit. For a moment, I forgot what it is that brought me here.
Focus, Ruth.
I steel myself, my resolve hardening like a shield as I walk across the room, my boots tapping against the floor. My heart is beating rapidly against my ribs and seems to pick up pace when I stop in front of him, but I’m determined to keep a calm front.
“Well, well. What do we have here?” the giant rumbles in a soothing drawl, dark eyes glinting in the dim light as he leans forward. “You’re not the usual type I serve in this fine establishment. Lost,little bird[KB6]?”
My eyes narrow to slits even as my mouth falls in a flat line. “Oh, I assure you. I’m exactly where I intend to be.” I lift my chin, meeting his gaze and hoping my nerves don’t show in myeyes. “Unless, of course, you’re suggesting I’m not good enough for this place?”
I let the words hang in the air between us, challenging a man twice my size and at least a decade older than me. I hold my ground, refusing to let his gaze intimidate me. I expect him to get angry or defensive, but instead I watch as his grin widens and a predatory gleam enters his eyes. The silence stretches and I resist the urge to shuffle my feet as a weird tension sets between us.
Finally, he speaks, tilting his head to the side as if considering something. “Of course not, our doors are open for everyone.” Somehow I doubt that, but I don’t call him out on it. “Wait, you remind me of someone…” He pauses, his gaze sweeping over me. “But then, there’s no way I could forget a face as pretty as yours.”
The words are smooth, almost careless, and a shiver runs down my spine—something hot that spreads all the way to my front and sinks into the spot between my legs. For a second, just one brief second, I allow my gaze to drift to that firm mouth with its honeyed words before quickly jumping back to his eyes.
Christ, I must be out of my mind to be swayed by such a cliché approach. I’ve heard the whole “Do I know you from somewhere?” speech too many times from college guys hoping to get in my panties. Sure, none of those guys had a voice as deep or smooth as his, but I’m not about to fall for this.
“I’m here for my sister,” I say firmly, swallowing the unbidden need to lean in closer to the man until I can tell what color his eyes really are. It’s maddening the effect this stranger has on me, and worse, I can’t control it. “My sister…I know you guys kidnapped her.”
“Kidnapped?” He chuckles, and damn it, even that sound is hot.
“Is it money you want?” I hiss, pushing forward, and that’s a mistake as it puts our faces closer together. But pulling back would only make me look scared, and I’ll be damned if I show any weakness in a den of wolves. “I can get the money for you, but I’m not leaving this place without my sister.”
“And your sister is?”
“Abby Chester.”
“Ah,” he muses, amusement dancing in those eyes that I’m beginning to notice are a stunning hazel green. They’re like the lush foliage of a hidden forest with flecks that shift and change with light, sometimes appearing more green and sometimes more brown. “I think you are confused[KB7]after all, little bird.”
