Chad was none of those things. And I was fully aware of that when we were together.
“I don’t know Chad.” He stares at me like I just slapped him in the face.
“You’re only saying that because things worked out differently.”
Slowly, I shake my head. “I’m not.”
He grits his teeth and leans in again, stern faced. “Irefuseto believe that, Isla. I refuse.”
“Then we’re done here.”
“No. If our friendship means anything to you, you’ll come with me. Come back to New York with me and leave that asshole. Be withme.”
It’s like he just doesn’t get it. “Chad, I?—”
The words die on my tongue as the roar of a motorcycle tears through the air like a wild animal.
A motorcyclist in a black biker jacket pulls up fast to the curb across from us, the Harley rumbling beneath him.
He parks and cuts the engine, then drags off his helmet.
Every thought I had dies when piercing blue eyes meet mine, and my stomach plunges through the earth.
Knox.
It’s Knox.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Isla
With his gazestill locked on mine, Knox gets off the bike, the vintage design nothing like the one he has back home. It gives him a darker edge, matching the storm gathering in his eyes.
Finally, his gaze snaps to Chad, and his steps quicken.
Chad straightens with a stony stare, gearing up to argue with Knox. “Knox Vale, you?—”
He doesn’t get to finish.
Knox lunges forward and silences him with a fist to the face that sends him flying backward in his chair.
I gasp, jumping to my feet.
“You fucking son of a bitch,” Knox growls, stalking toward Chad as he scrambles to get off the ground. “I told you to stay away from my girl.”
My mouth drops open. He looks… unhinged. Like he’s left the real world entirely.
Before Chad can get up, Knox grabs him by the throat with both hands and hoists him off the ground.
Straightaway, I see the resurrected linebacker college football fans used to call the Monster.
Chad has nothing on Knox.
Knox is all muscle and rage, while Chad is skater-boy-thin and hopelessly outmatched.
He was probably relying on Knox being the respectable businessman, not this beast ripping through the street ready to tear him apart.
“Let go of me, you crazy motherfucker!” Chad shouts.
