Page 15 of Knight

“Hungry?”

“I don’t think I have an appetite.”

Christian hops off the counter, opening the medicine cabinet. He rattles through. “Maybe there’s something in here for upset stomachs.” He’s trying to be of some help and after what happened back in Sebastien’s office, I’m grateful. “It’s kind of weird going through a dead guy’s … Woah.”

His shirt is almost dry when something hits the floor with a clank. My brows furrow, leaning over to see a golden key fall under the sink. He reaches for it before I ask, “What’s that?” Considering the drawer locked in Sebastien’s office, my eyes zone in on it. Maybe Jesus heard my cries after all.

“Not like we can ask Sebastien.” Christian winces at his morbid joke. “Man, I feel like it still hasn’t registered with everyone that he’s gone. I don’t know how King’s going to come back from this. I know they weren’t close but … oh, here.”Christian sets the key on the counter before he hands me a bottle of pills. I exchange his shirt for it and watch his muscular arms disappear as he throws it on. He smiles in the mirror as I chew on the minty tablet. “Nice, you can hardly tell. Thanks.”

I want to tell him it’s no problem but my mind is elsewhere again. Is this the key to the drawer in the office? The office where Damien just dropped that huge bombshell? The one I can’t ignore? “Do you think I killed him?” The question slips out.

“Woah, what?” Christian stops buttoning his shirt to look up at me, tears already blurring my vision. Taking a deep breath, I try to hold it in but it comes out as a choke. “Killed who?” Christian’s arm is on my shoulders, his spicy cologne filling my nose. “Sebastien? Jo, that’s crazy. Hey …”

I’m wrapped in his arms as I let a tear flow onto his bare chest. I can hear his heart beating, quickening as I settle into his hold. I feel like I want to hide in here forever but he tilts my chin up, his green gaze meeting mine. “Do you think you killed Sebastien?”

“I … ” I look down at his chest but he tilts my chin up again. “I don’t fucking know. I mean, obviously not, but could I have?”

He reaches for the fluffy towel, dabbing under my eyes, his palm on one side of my cheek. I feel like a scared, fucked up little girl and I hate that I feel weak.

“Jo, I don’t know what went on that morning, or what caused all that to happen but I know Sebastien King better than you ever did and,” he pauses, glancing away. Does he know the way he treated Damien? “I know you didn’t kill him. You wouldn’t do that. That’s insane.”

Looking up I meet his eyes, he folds his lips like he’s stopping himself from saying anything else. I’m not stupid, I know seeing me with Damien gets under his skin. I know that’s why things got weird between us. But right now, I need to know that I’m wanted. Cared for. Because after what Damien said to me, I don’t know what to think.

Christian takes my hands in his. They’re warm, a little rougher than Damien’s. Taking a step back his eyes bounce around my face. My cheeks feel puffy and red, my hair and makeup a mess, but he’s looking at me like a new car. “Jo, I—”

BANG!

“What the fuck are you doing, Perez?” Damien’s voice is a boom. An angry boom. And if I know Damien, he’s about to raise hell.

Four

Damien is an angry, royal mess.

He has what looks like a fresh bottle of whiskey in his hand, leaning against the door.

“Cleaning up my mess?” he asks, blazer falling off revealing a hard, muscular shoulder. “You were always one for my sloppy seconds.”

Christian pipes up, his hands out. “King, chill, we were just—”

“About to fuck the school slut in my dead dad’s bathroom?”

Shithead.

Christian takes a step forward, shirt still open. “Dude, I said chill out.”

“And I told the whore to leave!” Damien pushes off the doorframe. He’s about to get in my face, that fire in my stomach.

Christian pushes against his chest, sending him stumbling back, coming between us. “I get that you’re upset, but dude …”

“Get the fuck out of my way, Perez!” Christian doesn’t budge and Damien scoffs, “Yeah? Why am I not surprised you’re giving up on me for some stretched out pussy?”

I don’t realize I’m gripping to the counter until my nail cracks. “Fuck you, Damien!” I spit.

“You did. Remember?” He looks around his friend, glaring at me with those stone-like eyes. “In my car. Around the school. Hell, you said it, even in the dead man’s bed. Did you want to fuck him too? Was that your original plan?”

“Shit,” Isaac’s voice comes from behind him and when Damien turns around, I realize there’s a crowd at the bedroom door.

The two men Marion spoke to earlier stand at the front of the crowd, their brows low, arms folded. Other men around them look similar, some with red cheeks, others whispering to each other. The girls Damien came with stand beside Isaac, a bunch of people in fancy attire standing behind them.

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