Page 5 of Hear Me Roar

“You know, the usual. Her nosey ass is sniffing around for info from our meeting,” I said, lacing my fingers through his oncemore.

“Are you gonna tellher?”

“What do youthink?”

“That you have nochoice.”

I chuckled and rolled my eyes. “Exactly. Besides, it’ll be nice to get someone else’s opinion on itall.”

“True, and you know Reyna has no filter, so she’ll give it to you straight. What are you hoping to hearthough?”

“I don’t know. Maybe that I’m not crazy and that a piece of this puzzle is definitelymissing.”

Knox hummed and flipped on his signal as he rolled into the turning lane, breezily making a left onto the final street home. “Can I tell yousomething?”

I stilled for the briefest moment, the deep baritone of his voice irrationally filling my veins with dread. Something about the way he presented his query was uncomfortable and very atypical. Nevertheless, I swallowed down the lump that’d quickly formed in my throat and nodded by way ofresponse.

Giving my hand a light squeeze, he lowered the driver’s side window and slid our resident card into the reader, which in turn opened the gates to our community. “You’re not crazy, not by a long shot. Karley and I agreed some was missing, remember? But if it’s really nagging you, you still have the opportunity to findout.”

“How?” I asked, although I already had an inkling as to where this wasgoing.

“By callingMaya.”

I knewit…

“I’m not calling her,Knox.”

“Baby.” He sighed at the snip in my concession and threw the car into park. “I know you’re not her biggest fan, but aren’t you the least bit curious as to what the entire story ishere?”

“Yes, but not enough to call her. She left Bernie high and dry, and while her silence may have been forced at the hand of her husband, she still chose him over her father. I wanted to contact her strictly to carry out Bernie’s final wishes stated in the Will, and thankfully, your sister was able to help me with that. The choice is hers as to whether or not she wants to claim what her dad left for her, but my end of the deal is done. I have nothing more to discuss withher.”

“There has to be a reason she wants to talk to you though,” he persisted and I flung off my seatbelt, pushing out the passenger door onto the pavement with ahuff.

What part of no didn't he understand the first time? I had literally zero reason to reach out to this girl, other than to talk about Bernie, and I certainly didn't want to do that. Especially with her. I just wanted all of this to be over so he could finally rest in peace. Was that so much to askfor?

Knox jumped out from the driver’s seat and was locking the 4 Series as I came around the front end. I shot him a death glare that warned against pressing further and he held his hands up in surrender, falling into step beside me. His arm came around my waist, trapping me in his grip, as we walked in silence the rest of the way up to the front door of ourcondo.

“I'm sorry for pushing the topic.” His apology came softly as he shoved the key into thelock.

“I get where you're coming from, babe, believe me, I do, but there's really no need for me to callher.”

“I know. The whole panicked thing still has my head churning, Iguess.”

“Why?” I asked curiously, dropping my Chanel purse onto the small table by the door en route to ourbedroom.

He kicked off his shoes and followed behind me. “I don't know. I just keep wondering why she would sound sopanicked.”

“Maybe because she found out her daddied?”

“It could be, but for some reason, I feel like there's more to it. Karley said her statement was all over the place. That's another thing sticking with metoo.”

“She could just be remorseful.” I stopped halfway through my observation when I padded into our room and noted the mess of clothes strewn about. My blood boiled for a split-second. This man and his messes...ugh. “Or maybe it's anact.”

“Somehow, I don't thinkso.”

Swiveling around – and trying my hardest not to go mental – I laid a hand on his chest. “Let's just drop it for now, please. I'm going to have to go through this all over again when Luis and Reyna get here,and…”

Kiss.

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