Knight makes a sound that might be laughter.
I tilt my head. “That’s your line?”
“Yes.”
“Not the crime work?”
“You’re all criminals,” he says. “I’ve made peace with it. The PDA is where I draw the line.”
River strolls up at exactly the right time.
“I heard that,” she says sweetly.
Gage mutters, “God help me.”
River hooks her arm through his. “You love us.”
“I tolerate you.”
She beams. “That’s basically romance coming from you.”
Later, when the room thins out, Knight and I end up near the coffee bar. He’s helping me fix my comms earpiece like it’s a sacred ritual. His fingers are gentle. Precise.
He glances up at me. “You good?”
“Mm-hmm.”
“That’s not an answer.”
I smile. “It’s aLarkanswer.”
He shakes his head, the corner of his mouth lifting. “You’re worried about this op.”
I exhale quietly. “Trafficking is different.”
His expression goes hard in the way that means his soul just put on armor. “Yeah.”
“I can handle violent men. I can handle hits and bounties and mob clubs with bad lighting.”
“Also yes.”
“But a girl being sold…” My voice tightens. “That kind of evil doesn’t just deserve consequences. It deserves extinction.”
Knight cups the back of my neck, thumb brushing my skin. “It will get consequences,” he says. The words are simple. But I believe him the way you believe gravity.
“Also,” I add quietly, “Ozzy looks like he’s already halfway attached.”
Knight follows my gaze to where Ozzy is talking to Rae, serious and diligent in a way that might be the rarest Ozzy form.
“I noticed.”
“He’s going to pretend this is purely tactical.”
“He will fail,” Knight says dryly.
I snort. “Yep.”
He leans closer, voice lower. “You’re going to want to go in.”
