Unknown: What NOTE are you talking about?
My stomach dropped.
Me: For the last time, stop texting.
Unknown: I just got confirmation that a man laid hands on you. Repeatedly. If you think I’m going to let that go, you don’t know me at all.
I swallowed hard, my mouth suddenly dry.
This was bad. This was very, very bad. I could picture Knox in his cell right now, those gorgeous eyes going cold the way they did when he was truly angry. A little spark lighting the end of a dynamite fuse.
The smart thing to do would be to stop responding. Disengage. Let him cool off overnight.
But while I didn’t know Knox well, I knew enough. He wouldn’t cool off. He’d stew in that cell until morning, replaying every word I’d said, and by the time I saw him in the infirmary, he might have done something stupid. Picked a fight. Thrown a punch. Gotten himself into trouble.
I needed to talk him down.
And that was the thing that made me pause. The realization that I knew he would be stewing. That I’d known, before I evenconsciously thought about it, that he would care. That my pain would become his pain simply because he’d decided I was worth protecting.
Me: You can rest assured that I’m safe. Silas is far, far away.
A lie.
Unknown: What’s his last name?
Me: Why?
Unknown: Answer the question.
Me: Even if you wanted revenge, you’re in prison. There’s nothing you could do about it.
Honestly, that was the only thing keeping me from a full-blown panic attack. Knox couldn’t exactly hop in a car and hunt Silas down. He was locked behind bars.
Unknown: Call it morbid curiosity.
Me: I’m not giving you his name. Period. And with all due respect, I never intended to tell you any of this. It’s personal. Private. I said those things because I thought I was talking to someone else.
Unknown: The abusive asshole who left marks on your body.
I took a breath. Then typed the hardest part.
Me: This is none of your business, Knox.
The three dots appeared.
I waited, my heart pounding against my ribs like it was trying to escape.
Whatever he said next would determine everything. Whether I’d be able to look him in the eye again. Whether this fragile, inexplicable thing between us would survive me accidentally dumping my trauma at his feet.
The message came through.
And the air left my lungs.
Unknown: Everything about you is my business now.
24
HARPER
