HARD KNOX (7 page)

chapter twelve

(knox)

*NOW*

I broke off on a side road. The car
did the same, the tires squealing. I throttled my ride, gaining some speed. I
wasn’t going to get away. I just wanted to get to a well-lit parking lot so I
could put up a fucking fight. All I knew right then was that there better have
been more than one guy after me. I was in the mood to fight and a little spark
of the urge to kill was going through me.

There was a lot of heat coming my
way from my decision to have the guys put their cuts back on. Hell, maybe that’s
why this car was after me. The Reap had been a little bit underground and
quiet. To those in town, they believed we were disbanded by authorities. That
was only because the news could run footage of my old man getting thrown into
prison.

Fuck that.

I darted to the left and entered a
factory parking lot. The steel stacks were like arthritic fingers sticking up
into the night. The one side of the building had a few big ‘ol spotlights and
that’s where I stopped riding.

I lit up a smoke and watched the
car as it came to a skidding halt.

The backdoors opened and two men in
suits came out. They drew weapons and rushed right at me. I just stood there
like I didn’t have a care in the world. Normally in a situation like that, they’d
stand there with their guns and someone else would come out of the car and we’d
have a discussion.

Not tonight.

The guy on my left got close and
swung his gun at me. He hit me so hard in the jaw, I spit my cigarette across
the lot. The second guy then hit me in the back. I felt like every rib of mine
shattered. I was then on my hands and knees.

Well then
… no hello?

I turned and swung a fist at the
guy’s knee. I heard something pop and he tried to stand back, stumbling. I
grabbed for my ride and pulled myself up. If these guys were real about
shooting me, they would have by then. But they weren’t going to shoot me. This
was more than me being dead.

The first guy went after me again,
slamming fist and gun against my back.

I threw an elbow, hitting him in
the cheek.

The second guy came at me again,
driving his gun into my gut, stealing my breath. They then quickly each grabbed
an arm and I was being held.

That’s when the passenger door
opened and out came Porter.

Of course it was Porter.

He walked toward me with attitude.

He had the clean cut, good boy look
about him complete with perfectly slicked back black hair, an expensive suit,
an even more expensive watch, and shoes that clicked against the pavement like
a counter counting down the steps until I was dead.

The thing was… I could die but a
guy like Porter wasn’t going to kill me. Not a fucking chance in hell. I’d
fight until one of the goons holding my arms would kill me.

“Look what we have here,” Porter
said.

“What the fuck do you want?” I
asked.

“I guess we have business,
Knoxville. I mean, you did go after one of my guys. Took him outside. Put him
against a building that I’m involved with.”

“Danny? This is about that fat
prick?” I smiled. “He owed my band money. I don’t tolerate that shit.”

“Good choice of words,” Porter
said. “
I don
’t tolerate that shit
. That’s good. It shows we have
something in common. Well, besides Ana, right?”

He started to laugh.

I felt the hot lava of jealousy
kick up inside me.

Ana was supposed to escape this
fucking town, not jump into the arms of some dickhead like Porter.

“Let’s go back to toleration,” Porter
said. “I don’t tolerate what you did.”

With that said, Porter threw a
punch to my gut. He grabbed my jaw and put my face forward. I then took another
punch, this one to the jaw. I pulled at my arms, but the goons had a hell of a
grip.

“That’s a good start,” Porter said.
“I see you’re wearing that leather jacket, huh? Does that mean something? Or
are you revisiting old memories?”

I coughed and spit a hunk of blood
right to Porter’s shoe.

He nodded and swung again, hitting
me on the other side of the jaw.

“I’ll tell you this, Knoxville… if
the Reaper’s Bastards think they’re going to just push through this town into
my city, you’re going to regret it.”

“Fuck yourself,” I said. “You don’t
know what you’re up against.”

“Neither do you. But I am in a good
mood. I took care of a family problem and it was nice to do. So I’m going to
pass on my goodhearted feelings. I’m going to let you walk away tonight. And I’m
even going to let you have Ana… eventually. When I’m done with her. Right now,
she still has use to me.”

The rage boiled over. I couldn’t
image some man putting his hands on Ana. She was my girl. She was my love. I
was the one who was supposed to take care of her and protect her. Keeping her
at a distance was supposed to help her, not cause all this.

I jumped forward and managed to
break away from the two goons. My right hand went forward and I was two inches
from hitting Porter. And, damn, if I had hit him, he would have gone up in the
air.

Before I could get to him, the two
goons were back at me. This time they both worked me, pummeling me to the
ground.

Porter eventually called them off.

He left me with a stern warning -
stay
away from Ana.

I watched the car drive away and I
climbed to my feet. I had taken worse beatings, but not by much though. Figures
the first night I’d put my leather cut back on I’d get into a brawl.

I lit up a fresh smoke and smiled.

Stay away from Ana
…

I took a deep drag and climbed on
my motorcycle.

My life changed right then.
Everything I believed in was left there on the ground with my blood.

“Stay away from Ana,” I whispered
to myself.

I started my motorcycle and took
off.

Nothing then would ever keep me
from Ana.

Well, except one thing - death.

chapter thirteen

(ana)

*NOW*

My only real friend in life was
Megan. She understood what I went through growing up because her mother ended
up in the same boat. Her father actually had an affair that spanned the
country, along with a second family. When her father chose that second family
it sent her mother into a spiral. Her mother then craved married men, trying to
find a way to get to married women. It was a vicious cycle that left Megan
leaving her mother and never talking to her again.

She was also connected into
the
family
like I was. One of the guys who ran the finances - Mickey - was her
boyfriend. He was tall, skinny, looked weak, but I heard rumors he loved to
kill people. That alone made him terrifying.

I sat on the corner of my bed,
worried that the light was going to hit my face the wrong way and make my
makeup look like shit. Not that Megan would judge me for what Porter did, I
just didn’t want to have that conversation.

I was mad at myself for it
happening. I was mad at myself even more that I was still there, in my
apartment, knowing Porter could show up whenever he wanted to.

She cradled a glass of wine but
barely drank any of it. Which was good because if she drank too much then she’d
have to stay over. Call me mean but I wanted to be left alone. My mind wouldn’t
stop racing, no matter what I did.

“You ever wish you could get away
from it?” Megan asked out of nowhere.

“What do you mean?”

“Just leave. Start over.”

“What would that get?”

“Hope,” Megan said. “I mean, it
sounds silly… but imagine just finding a little town. And there’s a little
diner. Right? You get a job there. You find a cramped apartment. But you make
it work. And then it’s all… simple.”

It was like she was reading my
heart.

I smiled. “Too many movies, Megan.
I don’t think it works that way.”

“What keeps you here then?” she
asked me.

My answer was easy -
Knox
.
But I wouldn’t admit that to her.

“I don’t know,” I lied. “So much
happened to me at once. And then my mother getting sick, getting worse, and
dying… I feel like I haven’t caught my breath yet.”

“Yes!” Megan cried out. “That’s it.
Catching your breath. Every time I turn around, Mickey has something else going
on. I find stacks of money in my closet. I find guns in the drawers. It’s just
so…”

Megan shook her head.

Chances were even if I was with
Knox, that would be my reality. The town and city were run with crooks and
outlaws.

“Maybe things will change,” I said.
“I mean, look what happened with Danny and the club, right? They caught that
guy stealing and stopped it.”

“They killed him,” Megan said.

“I know. But once all that stuff is
straightened out… maybe it’ll be easier.”

“Maybe it won’t,” Megan said.

She stood and sipped more wine. We
then walked out to the kitchen where she put her wineglass down.

There were a few awkward minutes of
silence. So much so that I wondered if Megan was sent to kill me or something.
Or sent to get information about me. Or to see if I’d tell her what Porter had
done so she could tell him and he could hurt me again.

“Shit,” Megan said. She gripped the
edge of the counter. “I came here for a reason.”

“Okay. What is it?”

Megan walked to her bag and I
braced myself.

She didn’t take out a gun or a
knife.

She took out a box with two
pregnancy tests in it.

When I saw the box I let out a
gasp. Her eyes filled with tears and I hurried to hug her.

“It’s bad,” she said. “It’s so bad.”

“What is?”

“It’s not with Mickey,” she said.

I backed away and put her at arm
’
s length. That was a big
problem.

Megan told me a story of how
someone else put some moves on her when Mickey was out of town. They’d been
having an affair for a year now. She said she felt like a whore and like her
mother. Now she was late and she feared the worst. I felt like a terrible
person when I said maybe Mickey wouldn’t find out. Then she made it very clear
that it would be obvious that baby wasn’t his. Like a fool I asked how and
Megan pointed to her skin. Her Italian skin looked like it had a light tan all
the time, along with Mickey’s. Apparently that guy she’d been sleeping with had
much darker skin. And he wasn’t part of
the family
.

In other words, Megan would be a
marked woman.

I watched her walk to the bathroom
and I made a decision right then.

Tonight
… I was cashing
out of this life
…

Megan let out a scream and I lunged
for the bathroom. She had her mouth covered and was jumping up and down.

The pregnancy test was negative.

I couldn’t bring myself to remind
her that it could have been early. That in another week or so it could be
positive. That the tests were always as
early accurate
as the box said.

But I let her have her moment.

She hugged me tight and we both
ended up jumping.

“It’s stress,” she said. “You know?
Just stress.”

It was like she was trying to
convince herself.

“Okay. Just calm down. Try to take
it easy and focus, Megan. If you don’t get your…”

“I’ll be fine,” she said.

She looked like a weight had been
lifted off her shoulders.

Next thing I knew she was grabbing
her bag, downing the entire glass of wine, and saying she had to go.

She kissed my cheek and said, “Please
keep this between us. Promise me, Ana.”

“Of course,” I said. “Megan, if you’re
not happy, then do something. Don’t jump bed to bed. If you get yourself too
deep…”

Megan reached up and wiped at my
eye. It hurt a little and I winced. “Look in the mirror, Ana. Okay? If you’re
not happy… then you do something.”

She left me standing there with a
lump in my throat.

For the record, two days later, she
got her period and her dirty secret remained intact for a long time.

Megan also left the second
pregnancy test on the table. I hurried to hide it in the bathroom, not knowing
I would need it sooner than I ever thought possible.

I went to my bedroom and got my
shoebox of cash. I sat there and counted up every last dollar and dime, coming
up with a figure that was way too short, but just enough to make the dream
tempting.

I looked around the room and knew I
could pack up a couple bags and just go.

So that’s what I did.

I was out. I was done.

Yeah, the memories of moving into
town played through my mind. Climbing out of the truck and seeing Knox for the
first time. Him helping us move everything into the apartment. The way he
talked to his friend about me - on day one - showing me that he had interest.
Not to mention all the wild times…

But I was done.

No more taking hits from anyone. No
more Knox just popping up when he felt like it to check on me. My heart had
been twisted up so tight it was dangling by a small thread.

I had my bags on my shoulders, the
money all tucked away. My keys were in my hand and I mentally thought about how
I’d call my landlady to ditch the apartment. Oh well to her. I had to protect
myself. I had to save myself. I didn’t want to end up like Megan, you know?

I got to the door and opened it,
freedom just a foot away.

Yeah, freedom was just a foot away…
but not the kind I was hoping to find.

The freedom in front of me right
then came with a name.

And I spoke it.

“Knox.
”

He ripped the bags off my shoulders
and moved into my apartment like he owned the place. He slammed the door shut
and locked all the locks, including the chain which I never used before. There
was blood on his face and I knew it was his. He looked like he’d been roughed
up pretty bad. The anger flowed across his face but his eyes were a completely
different story.

I realized he was wearing his
leather cut again. I hadn’t seen him in a Reaper’s Bastards MC cut in a while.

What the fuck is going on?

I couldn’t find the words to ask
him that.

His hands grabbed my hips and he
walked me back. I’ll admit it - there were dozens of fantasies I had about Knox
and a good chunk of them started just like this. Him showing up and just
ravaging me.

I kept walking back until I hit the
dining room table. His hands moved to the back of my legs and he lifted me up,
putting me on the table. He pulled at me, bringing our bodies together. Through
his jeans I felt him.
I. Felt. Him.
His huge cock getting bigger by the
second. The fucking apartment was so hot and steamy I expected the smoke alarms
to start beeping.

One hand slipped around to my back
and he came forward to kiss me. A sensible person would have stopped Knox from
kissing me, but there was no sense with him. He scrambled my brain, my heart,
and everything else in my body. He activated needs that I never knew I had.

We started to kiss and the
intention was very clear.

He was here to fuck me.

His left hand grabbed at the bottom
of my shirt and his hand explored. I felt his strong, outlaw fingers cup over
my breast, squeezing, sending a warm pulse down through my core right to
between my legs.

His other hand touched my face,
gently stroking my cheek as he kissed me harder. Of course, it was the wrong
side of my face and, of course, he started to press harder.

I fought the urge to jump back from
the pain but I couldn’t control it.

The second I winced and pulled
away, our moment was done.

Knox eased back and looked right at
my face.

I saw his eyes go wide and I knew
he knew.

Fuck.

“Why are you wearing so much
makeup?” he asked.

I just stared.

“And your bags… you were taking
off?”

“Yeah. I have cash. Not enough, but
I…”

“Why?” he growled at me.

Knox was still between my legs. He
should have been tearing my clothes off. His mouth should have been kissing
anywhere he wanted to kiss on me.

“Darlin’, tell me what you’re
thinking,” Knox said to me.

“Tell me first,” I whispered. “What
happened to your face?”

“I had a talk with Porter.”

“No,” I said. I reached for the
cuts. “Knox…”

“It’s all good,” he said.

“Why are you wearing your leather
cut again?”

“Simple. I’m meant to fucking wear
this. This is who I am. The Reap has not died and never will die. I’m an outlaw
with a bad heart, Ana, but you’re the only one who makes my heart feel right.
That’s why I’m here. I’m done fucking around. I’m done playing games. There’s a
lot I have to say to you but right now, I’m alone with you. I’m fucking finally
alone with you the way I’ve always dreamed to be.”

Jesus
… fuck me
… Knox
…

My entire body quivered.

I touched the end of the table and
tried to lower my head.

All I wanted to do was disappear.
The temptation was too great though. Most women would love to indulge a little
with temptation, but with Knox, there was no indulging.
It was addicting.

Knox touched my jaw and made it so
I couldn’t avoid looking at him.

“Your face,” he whispered. “Go
clean that shit off. I want to see.”

“No,” I said. “Knox, no.”

“Goddammit, darlin’, I’m not giving
you a choice here. You’re going to take your pretty ass into that bathroom and
clean your face off. Right now.”

The anger was still on his face. I
saw it changing to something else.

I was staring into the eyes of my
protector though. That’s what Knox had always been for me. The truth was that
he’d come to see me. He’d obviously taken a beating from Porter, which I knew
had to be an unfair fight because I’d seen Knox fight so many times already. He
wouldn’t have lost to a guy like Porter one on one.

He wanted the truth? He wanted to
see?

“Fine,” I said. “Move.”

I jumped off the table. I felt my
panties pull against my body and swallowed hard. I was dripping. The mess was
completely unfair because I was then untouched.

I walked into the bathroom and saw
Knox lingering behind me.

The weird part was that as I washed
my face clean, it wasn’t just the makeup coming off. It was like I was somehow
taking off a mask I’d been wearing for years. A mask that tried to keep myself
at a safe distance from Knox. But what had that gotten me?

Nothing.

I was lonely, desperate, and I wasn’t
happy.

I wiped my face and stared at
myself. The bruise was clearing up, just like it always did.

I knew when I left the bathroom and
let Knox see my face, nothing would be the same again. I started to shake. I
teared up.

I
’d never loved someone
like I loved Knox
… and admitting it and embracing it was the hardest
thing to do
…