AFTER JEZ AND HEATHwent to be with Gage, I was left alone with Knox in the huge hospital room. I’d never really felt awkward or tongue-tied in his presence before, but I’d also never watched him change clothes right in front of me.
Down, boy.
Maybe a concussion lowered your inhibitions or something? At least, that was going to be my excuse until someone with a white coat and a stethoscope told me differently.
Knox seemed oblivious to my discomfort as he sat down in one of the chairs across from the bed. He flinched as he settled back, and I couldn’t help wondering if he was hiding more injuries than whatever was making him limp around on his right leg.
“How much did the others tell you about what happened, when I was in the shower last night?” he asked.
Do not picture Knox in the shower.
Do not picture Knox in the shower.
Do not picture Knox in the shower.
“I know Gage saved me when the roof came down,” I said. “There was an explosion, right? I didn’t imagine that part?”
Knox nodded. “A bomb, yes. Probably Lorenzo Vozzina’s work, although that’s just a theory so far.”
I wavered between being shocked, and being decidedlynotshocked. Then something else occurred to me. “Hang on. When they were wheeling me in here last night, Bud was here. He said something about Paolo being hurt? But... if Vozzina was behind the bomb... wouldn’t that mean—”
“That he saw a way to kill multiple unrelated birds with one stone? Yeah, it would.” Knox’s normally affable expression settled into hard lines, and I couldn’t help a little shiver of reaction.
“Wow,” I said inadequately. “That’scold.”
I wasn’t sure there were any circumstances that could make me feel sorry for Paolo, after everything he’d done. It was still chilling to think about it, though.
“The Paolo situation is sitting right at the top of my to-do list.” Knox’s tone was as stony as his features. Then his face softened slightly as he met my eyes. “Well,almostat the top, anyway. Tony, I’d like you to stay with the pack, once they release you from observation. I’m not comfortable with you being alone in a low-security apartment.”
My thoughts stuttered like a needle jumping tracks on an old vinyl record. “You want me to stay in the pack house?”
“We’re not going back to that house,” Knox said, confusing me even further. “I have other properties. Aside from not wanting to be in the place where Lorenzo Vozzina will expect us to be, I also have no intention of asking Jez to live in the same house where she was held prisoner. She’s mated to my packmates, and it looks more and more as though that won’t be changing anytime soon. She doesn’t deserve a constant reminder of how things started out.”
Yeah... this conversation probably would have been easier without the concussion.
“Okay,” I said. “Sorry. This is kind of a lot to take in.”
Knox’s half-smile was grim. “I know. No need to apologize. And no one’s going to force you to pack a bag and come with us—but I hope you will. If for no other reason than the fact that Heath is going to be a basket case if he has to worry about both you and Jez at the same time.”
Something about that idea made warmth bloom in my stomach. “You think so?”
I tried to make the words sound skeptical, but I was pretty sure they just sounded hopeful.
“I don’t think. Iknow,” he shot back. “Look, you don’t need to answer right away...”
“I’ll come with you,” I said, too quickly. Because,sure? Why not upend my entire life for a relationship that was barely a few weeks old?
“Good,” Knox replied. “I’ll arrange movers to transfer anything you’d like to bring from your apartment.”
Wasn’t it supposed to be lesbians who kept U-Haul on speed dial?
“If you’re sure,” I said. Then, partly to change the subject, and partly because I was genuinely curious, I blurted, “Isn’t it weird for you, having Jez mated to the others? After, you know...” I gestured in a rapid circular motion with one hand. “...everything.”
Knox gave that a moment’s thought.
“I suppose it should be.” He rubbed his knuckles over his jaw, where black stubble was beginning to darken his skin. “But... the others may not have mentioned the fact that while it was Gage who saved you when the bomb went off, Jez was the one to save all of us in the end. She can sense Gage’s location through the bond—maybe because she’s his scent match. She can probably sense Heath’s location as well... but the point is, she and Heath ran back into the collapsing building to get to him, and rescued you before the slab of concrete hanging over both of you fell.”
I shivered, trying not to picture it.
