6. Kali

6

KALI

I haven’t trusted anyone with knowing about my past trauma in a long time, but I really don’t see any way around it. I look intently at him and wait to see how he’s going to respond. It’s always one of two ways. Either they give me a look and try to be patronizing or they give me the oh, poor you look, and I can’t stand either one of them.

I’m pleased when Knox doesn’t soften his voice or begin speaking down to me. It earns him a few bonus points in my book anyway. The only way I can describe the look he’s giving me right now is mad. He’s definitely mad but trying to hold it in. He’s a total stranger, but I can’t help admitting at least to myself that I feel more at ease with him here with me.

He’s obviously thinking, no doubt turning over the problem at hand in his mind. I want him to reassure me that he won’t say anything to Nico, but instead I’m taking his distracted state to admire him. He’s built and handsome, even with the cut on his cheek.

When I look back up his body into his face, my eyes meet his, and he’s looking at me intensely. I don’t let myself look away. I stare into his soft eyes. “You’re being awfully quiet. I need to hear you say that you aren’t going to tell Nico about this,” I insist.

Knox walks over to the bed where my bag is sitting open and starts putting things inside it. He pulls the charger from the wall and packs it into the bag. He’s looking around to find anything he’s missed when I interrupt him, holding my hands up. “What are you doing?”

“We’re leaving.”

I plant myself between him and the door. “I’m not going to Arizona. I don’t care who you are, I will level you if you try and make me put my family at risk.”

His eyes run over me, taking me in. My face heats—heck, my whole body is heated as he takes one step, two steps and a one final step that lands him toe to toe with me. I lean my head back to look up at him. He’s big, he’s powerful... he can definitely overpower me. But it’s not fear that is coursing through my body; it’s arousal, plain and simple.

I bite my lip to hold in everything I’m thinking right now. I should not be attracted to this man.

He’s staring at my lips, and I think for one second he’s going to lean in and kiss me... until he shakes his head and takes a step back. “I have no doubt you could level me... none at all.” He’s breathless, making me think we’re talking about two different things.

He shoves a hand through his hair in frustration. “We’re going to my place. I’ve got a team that’s on leave who will be willing to help out. We can handle things with this twin guy locally. He won’t expect you to have backup here. Right?”

Knox puts his hand to the side of my neck and squeezes before letting me go. He gives me a cocky grin as he slides past me and carries my bag out the door.

I grab my purse and follow him out, still dazed from what just happened back there. My inexperience is telling me that I just imagined the sexual charge between us. It didn’t happen , I tell myself.

Knox

As soon as Kali catches up with me in the hallway, she takes back her bag. “I want you to know that I’m only going along with this as long as it fits with what I think is best. I’m not just going to have you dictate to me what’s going to happen. Understand?”

“Sure, but I should warn you that I promised Nico that I’d keep you safe, so with or without your help, that’s what I’m going to do.”

Kali narrows her eyes at me, but I’m not going to show her any sign of weakness, even if having her dazzling eyes trained on me is making my body get hard. My heart is already pounding. Listening to the trauma that she survived was hard, and I have an intense need to protect her. Adrenaline is coursing through my veins. Kali challenging me like this is sending the wrong message to my nether regions. She doesn’t realize how hot she looks right now.

I open the side exit and guide her out into the bright sunlight. Kali immediately goes on alert, checking all around for any sign of the guy who followed her from California.

“Take it easy.”

“Shut up,” she snaps, hugging herself.

“The way you’re looking around you might as well be waving a red flag for any predator to come and get you. Put your shoulders back and keep your head up. Open your senses and be aware of your surroundings. That doesn’t mean your head should be spinning around on your neck.”

She is listening and even smiles a little before she catches herself.

I open the truck door for her, and she gets inside. I have the biggest urge to buckle her in, but I know if I do that, her claws will come right back out. So I go around to the driver’s side and get in. I pick up my phone and start to send a text.

“Who are you texting?” she asks.

I stop and look at her. She’s blushing, and she starts to stutter. “I mean, are you texting Nico?”

For just a second, I had wondered if she was jealous. But that’s crazy. We literally just met. “I’m texting my buddy to try and find out information on Miles’s twin. Tell me all you know about him.”

“Tanner is his last name. He didn’t tell me his name, but his brothers were Victor and Miles. They were in the penitentiary in Arizona....” She shrugs. “But that’s all I know.”

I give her a smile. “That’s enough.”

I send the text and then pull out of the parking lot and head back toward my house in Whiskey Run.

“We’ve got about a forty-five-minute drive. If you want to sleep you can,” I tell her.

“I’m not tired,” she answers too quickly.

Once I pull onto the highway, she asks, “Where’d you get that mark on your face? Was it your girlfriend?”

“No, I don’t have a girlfriend, and if I did she wouldn’t be half cat lady,” I tell her. I start to explain that I got myself in sort of a rough spot the night before, which is sort of the truth, but when I look over to see if she’s buying my half-truth I find that her eyes are drooping and she’s very close to falling asleep.

She looks even more fragile now, and I find that I’m furious all over again at the idea that anyone would scare her like the asshole following her is.

Your ass is mine, bastard.