“Asshole.”
“Lawyer.”
Despite everything, I almost smiled. “I stood by your side, but I judged you for what you did. And I thought I’d never do the same thing.” Hell, he was the one who’d point-blank asked me if I’d ever take a life, and I’d said no. But I’d changed. I held his gaze. “But now I get it. The things we do to protect the people we love … there’s no line we won’t cross.”
Something flickered across Knox’s face. So fast, I almost missed it. Most people probably saw the tattooed body, the muscles earned from years of nothing but time and a prison gym, his six-foot-four frame that made every chair in this place look like doll furniture. They saw intimidating as hell.
I saw the cracks.
The slight tension around his eyes. The barely perceptible tightening of his shoulders.
Deep down, Knox was in agony. Living in purgatory, right here on Earth, waiting for his life to begin again.
And then there washer. The daughter he never talked about.
“We need to get you out of here.” I kept my voice steady, measured. “Reunite you with your daughter.”
His entire body went rigid. The air between us crystallized.
“Ryker—”
“And reunite you with the Sinners and Saints once and for all.”
For a heartbeat, his mask slipped. I saw it then: pain sharp enough to cut, hope fragile enough to shatter. Then it was gone, locked behind that impenetrable poker face.
“So”—his voice was too casual, too controlled—“you have to watch your back now? Any charges coming your way?”
Subject change. Noted.
“No. The DA ruled it self-defense.” I let him have his deflection. For now. “His lock-picking set with his prints all over it. Bruises on Faith where he’d attacked her.” I paused, still feeling rage for those bruises even though the man who put them there no longer had a pulse. “Her neighbor heard the screams. Too much evidence for them to pursue charges.”
“Good.” Knox nodded once, decisive. “Then you did the right thing. Don’t lose sleep over it.”
“Is that what you do?” I asked quietly. “Not lose sleep over it?”
His smile was sharp enough to draw blood. “Bold of you to assume I sleep.”
“Time’s up!” The guard’s voice boomed across the room, making the crying kid from earlier wail even louder.
Knox stood. He towered over the table, over me, over pretty much everyone in the damn room. The blonde behind him practically swooned.
Jesus Christ.
“Take care of her, Ryker,” he said.
“I will.”
As the guards led him away, they kept one hand on his elbow, like they could actually stop him if he decided to walk in a different direction.
And all I could think was, Soon, brother. I’m going to prove what really happened that night. And when I do, I’m bringing you home.
Even if I have to burn the whole system down to do it.
61
RYKER
Blake’s glare could have warmed an iceberg.
