Chapter 38

Knox

After I managed to convince my mom I wasn't going to drop dead, I took off trying to find Lake. It's stupid that her not being in my sight makes me panic, thinking she'll be taken from me again. I know we have a lot to talk about but right now, all I want is just to hold her until my mind can finally catch up with the fact that she is really back, my Lake is back for good!

"She's in the cabin." I halt at the sound of his voice. Xander steps out of the shadows and comes toward me with his hands stuffed in his pockets and guilt stricken look plastered across his face. The rules of the Re Della Strada state that another family member can never be harmed by one of our own and he broke that code when he hurt Lake and by default killed our baby. I can never forgive him for that.

"Why?" That one word holds so much fucking weight.

Xan takes a shuddering breath and drops his gaze to his feet. "I was in love with your sister, Knox." I recoil.

"What?" He slowly lifts his gaze back to mine and I see it in his eyes. "You son of a bitch," I snarl taking a step toward him, only for Taylan to appear out of thin fucking air to get between us and push me back.

"It's not what you think," Xan snaps.

"Then explain it, motherfucker!" I shout.

"I loved her." Pain laces his words. "Waverly meant to me what Lakeland means to you, she loved me too."

I shake my head denying what he says. "My sister would have told me?—"

"She tried!" he screams, cutting me off. "She tried to tell you so many fucking times but you just brushed her off every time she tried to talk to you. I even told you that I loved her and you laughed, smacked me on the back and said good one, fucker." I scrunch my face not recalling that happening. "Unlike you, we had to hide our true fucking feelings because neither of us wanted to risk you hating us for falling in love."

"She's my little sister and you were screwing her behind my back?" I roar, my anger is burning hot inside me now.

"It was never like that with her! Why do you think I never joined in on your three way with Lakeland?" He doesn't give me a chance to answer. "Unlike Taylan, I wasn't available like him because I was in love with your sister. Wave knew about it and said I could if I wanted to and acted like she didn't care but I knew she was full of shit. I would never hurt her, Knox. I fucking ran to her that night when she called. I begged her, I fucking begged her to come with me and I would send you back for Lake but she was so fucking stubborn and wouldn't leave without her best friend. I got Lake out and they took off but Percy and Gio followed them. I got there too late." His voice catches on the end part and his eyes fill with anguish.

"What happened, Xander?' I grit out through clenched teeth. I feel my mom come up beside me and look around to see some of my men have stopped to watch the showdown between us.

"I saw Lakeland get out of the car and heard…" He growls and tugs on the strands of his hair as he tries to get the words out. "I heard her scream, that fucking sound haunts me every night when I close my eyes. I blacked out and before I knew what was happening, my foot was on the gas and then I mowed Lake down." Taylan presses against my chest harder, sensing my need to break Xander in half rising with each word. "I jumped in after the car and tried to find her, I couldn't see anything it was too fucking dark. I don't know how long I searched for her, I just remember the cops dragging me out of the river and then we were home and telling you what happened."

"You saw my baby?" my mom chokes out. Xan darts his gaze to my mom. He may be angry with me but he would never disrespect my mom. He stands taller and nods. "You went in after her?"

"Yes."

"Thank you," Mom chokes out, shocking us all.

"Huh?" Xan rasps out.

"You tried to save my baby girl and for that I will never be able to repay you, Son. You could have died that night as well." All emotion is wiped from Xander's face as he looks at my mom.

"I did die that night, Mom. My heart fractured and stopped beating when hers did. I loved your daughter so fucking much. Fuck, I still love her."

I scoff earning a glare from my former best friend.

"Knox, please don't—" I cut my mom off before she could continue to beg me to spare Xander's life. I shove Taylan away as I step forward, leaving an inch of space between me and Xander.

"Alexander Grayson." His features harden at the use of his full name as he braces for his punishment. "You broke the code of the Re Della Strada by hurting a member of our family and taking the life of my unborn child from me." Saying that shit burns my chest, it fucking hurts like a bitch. "Punishment is death."

"Knox."

"No, Brother." I ignore mom and Taylan and continue.

"But given who you were to me and what you tried to do for… my sister." I take a deep breath and fight through the onslaught of emotions that rage inside me. My heart breaks over the loss of my child and the years I missed with Lake but it also fucking breaks me knowing this is the last time I will ever see one of my brothers. "I hereby banish you from the family." Gasps sound out around us. "You are hereby stripped of all titles and rank. You are to leave my country and never return or you will be met with death at my hands and my hands alone." Unshed tears gather in his eyes, he swallows audibly and nods. A lump forms in my throat hating that this is how things are ending with us but I can't forgive him for what he did, he lied to me and hid the fucking truth for years.

"I'll prove to you that I am worthy of your forgiveness. I'll show you, even if it takes me the rest of my life, I'll prove it to you because I am not dying without my family by my side." He snaps his arm out and grips the back of my head pulling me to him where he presses his forehead against mine. "I won't give up. I broke your trust and fucked up badly, Brother, but I'll make this right somehow. I swear it on my life, I will fix us." I don't let it show but I fucking hope he is right but right now, I can't think of anything aside from needing him away from me before I shoot him and have to live with the guilt of killing my brother.

He releases me and brushes past to go to my mom and Taylan. I stay as I am with my back to him. It takes him a few minutes before he returns to stand before me, his face is void of all emotions and his mask is firmly in place. I look him over one last time cementing his appearance to memory.

"This will be the last time I speak to you, if there is ever another time you hear my voice it will be the last thing you hear before I send you to join my sister." His jaw locks but he remains silent. "Take a car, you have twenty-four hours to cross the border and get the fuck out of my territory. If you are caught after that, you will be executed like a traitor." He eyes me for a second before a whoosh of air escapes him and he nods.

"Understood." He turns and walks away but before he can get too far I call out to him. "Yeah?" he says as he looks back over his shoulder at me.

"Go get em killer." A glint enters his eyes as the corner of his mouth lifts in a smirk before he stalks off.

Entering the cabin I go in search of Lake, needing her to distract me from what just happened but I can't find her. I head upstairs and push open the master bedroom door and I'm greeted by the sound of the shower running from the adjoining bathroom. I don't think as I strip off in the doorway, closing the door quietly behind me and locking it so we aren't interrupted. I slink across the room and nudge the door open. Immediately, steam hits me in the face, and as I wait for it to clear, I drink in the sight of her. Her back's to me and her perfect ass is only displayed through the glass doors. Fuck, the sight of her naked with droplets of water trailing down her flawless skin has my cock hard and ready to be buried inside that tight, wet little cunt.

Without making a sound, I cross the room, grip the handle and slowly open the door, then slip inside. Before she can react, I plaster myself against her back and have her throat in one hand and the other gripping her waist. She doesn't fight, she just leans her head back against my shoulder and looks up at me with a lustful look in her eyes.

"Make me forget about what happened tonight." Bending down I nip at the soft skin between her neck and shoulder, drawing small moans from her. I shift and suck the lobe of her ear into my mouth before releasing it with a pop as I brush my lips over her ear when I speak.

"I'll never allow you to forget another thing, but I'll make you feel so fucking good that you won't even think about what happened tonight while I'm buried so deep inside you that you have no fucking idea where you begin and I end." Her eyes close as a moan tumbles free.

"I remember how it feels when you show me how much you love me." She lazily blinks her eyes open to meet my gaze, her blue eyes are filled with heat and longing. "Refresh my memory on how it feels when you show me what it's like to be owned by Knox Bronson." My breathing turns ragged, she is definitely fucking back. Lake's always known how to taunt me and have me eating out of the palm of her fucking hand like a starved dog. Spinning her around, I push her back against the wall, loving the sound of the hiss that escapes her as she arches her back off the cold wall. I don't have it in me to go slow, I need to be inside her more than I need my next breath.

Gripping the backs of her thighs I lift her. She locks her legs around me as I capture her lips. She opens for me instantly, swirling my tongue around hers I moan at the taste of her. She wraps her arms around my neck and pulls me in closer so there isn't a sliver of space between us. I grind against her, teasing us both, I do it once more before she breaks the kiss, panting and breathless.

"Knox, I need you. Don't make me beg I've waited too long for this." I smirk at her neediness.

"Baby, I just fucked you?—"

Her eyes narrow. "No. You fucked wannabe me and now you have the real thing back and I want to be reminded what it feels like to have my man's cock deep inside me. Don't play hard to get, baby. You got to pull me around by my hair before, but you and I both know if you tried that shit now, you would be the one crying yourself to sleep on the hardwood floor." I cringe at the reminder of how much of a cunt I was to her.

I shift and guide my cock to her entrance as I hold her gaze and slowly push inside her as I speak. "I didn't mean to hurt you?—"

"Yes, you did," she rasps out before moaning. "You were hurt. I get it but we're past that now so don't bring it up again." I pause halfway inside her and scowl at the little shit.

"You brought it up!"

A fiery look enters her eyes and I fight the smile from breaking free. I've longed to see that look in her eyes for weeks now. "Are you trying to start a fight?" Knowing how to win this without saying a word, I slam the rest of the way inside her, relishing in the scream that tears out of her. I don't give her a chance to recover before I pull almost all the way out of her before thrusting back inside her, moaning when I feel her greedy little cunt quiver around my cock.

"You take my dick like a good girl don't you, baby?" I praise as she locks her ankles and braces her hands on my shoulders, then begins to bounce up and down on my cock. The feeling of her fucking me is the best fucking high I have ever felt but the sight of her perky tits in my face pulls a feral growl from me. As I lean forward and capture one of her nipples in my mouth, she throws her head back and cries out when I bite down on the hardened peak.

"Oh fuck, just like that, Knox." I switch sides and bite down harder on the other side as I grip the globes of her ass and slam her down onto my cock. "Fuck yes, don't stop, please. I need to come on your cock." I pull back, meeting her hazy gaze.

"Come on, baby, come all over your fucking cock, show me how much you missed it," I grit out as I slam inside her ruthlessly without a pause, keeping my tempo the same.

"Yes, it's mine," she screams out just as her pussy walls clamp down on my cock. "Knox!" My name is shouted like a prayer from her sinful lips as her orgasm rips through her. Unable to stop myself, I come a second after her but instead of roaring out my release, I capture her lips in a heated kiss. She swallows my groans and rides me, drawing out my high as I empty everything I have inside her.

I break the kiss and bury my face in the crook of her neck as we both try to catch our breath. She runs her fingers through my hair absentmindedly, I fucking love it when she plays with my hair. We stay like this for a long time, not wanting to let each other go but I know everyone is waiting on us and it's that reason alone that I reluctantly release her with a peck to her lips and smack to her ass, earning a squeal from her.

"Hurry up, we need to get out of here." She pushes her lips to the side not liking my demanding tone, so I ease the sting with a promise. "The quicker we get home, the quicker we get to spend the whole day in bed." She pouts, earning a raised brow from me.

"Only one day?"

I snort. "How about I finger fuck you in the backseat on the ride home." Her eyes turn glassy as she pictures what I'll do to her in her mind. "But, if you make a sound and Taylan or my mom catch onto what we're doing, I"ll leave you on edge and you'll be sucking my cock the moment we get back home. Deal?" A sly smirk tugs at the corners of her mouth as she slowly trails a finger down my chest. I tense knowing she is up to something. The moment she grips my cock in her hand I jolt. "Lakeland," I warn her through gritted teeth when she pumps me.

She bats her lashes and smiles up at me trying to act innocent. "I think you need to punish me now since your best friend just walked in on you fucking me like a savage a minute ago." Fucking Taylan picked the damn lock! Before I can say a word or do anything, she drops to her knees and peers up at me through her lashes as she wraps those fucking perfect lips around my shaft. Throwing my head back, I groan. Fuck yes, I missed this shit. I fist my hand in her hair and hold her in place as I thrust my hips.

"Hands behind your back," I bark. She eagerly obeys and opens her mouth wider to take me further inside. "You like that cock in your mouth don't you, kitten?"

"Hmmmm." Her moan sends vibrations up my cock and I shudder, fuck she sucks my cock so good.

"You want to touch that pussy, baby?" Her eyes light up with need.

"Hmmm," she moans as she bobs her head up and down on my cock. Gripping her hair I halt her movements. She flicks her gaze to mine.

"You don't get to come until I say, now suck that fucking cock and make me come, then I'll finger that greedy little cunt in the backseat while Tay watches me do it the rearview mirror." At the mention of Taylan watching me finger fuck her, she moans and her eyes roll backward. I would bet good fucking money that her cunt it dripping fucking wet and clamping down on air.