Page 83 of Whiskey Run Heroes

“Fuck... Knox, I’m telling you if my sister-in-law moves to Tennessee, I’m going to lose my shit. Anna wants her home, in Arizona.”

“I’m not going to keep her from her family,” I tell him point blank. I’ve thought about it all night in between worrying what I’m going to do about Nick coming. I know that Kali and I are meant to be together. There’s nothing or no one that is going to stop that from happening.

“I’ll see you soon,” Nico says, and I can hear the anger in his voice. He knows without me even telling him that there’s something going on with me and Kali, but I can’t make myself care. At this point, I want everyone to know she’s mine.

As soon as Nico hangs up, I call in the guys.

Kali

I wakeup to the sounds of a full house. I get dressed quickly and walk out into the living room. I can see a few of the guys look at me in surprise, and no doubt they’re wondering why I’m coming out of Knox’s bedroom. But most of them are trained on what Knox is saying.

“We need to go over the plan one more time before we break up and go to our assignments.”

“I’d love to hear the plan,” I say, not bothering to hide my frustration.

Knox leaves the center of the room and comes to stand by me. The rest of the men keep talking, and Knox leans in, puts his arm around my shoulder, and kisses my forehead. “You okay? I mean, you feel okay?”

I blush. My body is sore in places I didn’t even know could get sore. “Yeah, I’m fine.”

His smile is intimate as he takes in my low tone and pink cheeks. He squeezes me again and talks soothingly to me. “Nickis due to arrive in town soon. We left a trail that should lead him to the hotel in Jasper, and they are going to set a trap and snatch him up there. All you have to do is stay back and remain safe.”

He’s protective of me, and a tremble goes down my back that he wants to protect me, but I still feel guilty about it. “Knox, that doesn’t seem right. Everyone is putting themselves in danger, and I’m supposed to sit back and what, watch television or something?”

“This is what we do, baby. This is what we’re trained to do. Trust me, compared to some missions we’ve been on, this is a walk in the park.”

I look at him doubtfully. I’m hoping he’s not underestimating Nick. If he’s anything like his brothers, then I know he’s not coming without a plan. But I trust Knox. “Okay.”

He must hear the way my voice wavers. “Kali, you’re headstrong, and I know this is hard for you, but this is what’s best. I can’t let anything happen to you.”

I blink and stare back at him. “Because you promised Nico?”

His eyes widen. He searches my face and must not like what he sees in my eyes because he grabs my hand and pulls me back into the bedroom. As soon as the door is shut, he leans me against it, sliding his knee between my legs and caging me in with his hands planted on the door by my face. “Is that what you think? I’m doing this as a favor to Nico?”

I shrug. I don’t know what to think. I know why he came and got me, as a favor to Nico. “I’m not sure what to think.”

“I’m doing this because I just found you and I can’t lose you. I’m doing this because I don’t ever want you to be scared again, Kali. I’m doing this because I want to be with you.”

I nod. Hope is flaring in my chest because I want to believe there’s a future with Knox, but I’m too scared to believe it’s true. He leans in and kisses me, but it’s not the same kiss as last night. This is a kiss from a man trying to prove something. I arch myback, and the feel of his hard chest pressed against my sensitive nipples brings out a whimper. He pulls back, breathless and dazed looking. “When this is over, you and I are going to have a long talk about the future, Kali.”

I nod, speechless.

“Now get ready. We’re going over it one more time, then the guys are heading out.”

11

KNOX

I walk away from Kali and back out to the living room. I ignore the questioning looks and get back to the task at hand. Hopefully by the end of the day, this is going to be over, and Kali and I can have that talk.

I go over the plan in my head over and over, trying to see if we’re missing anything. I know it’s a good plan. It is the safest, fastest, most effective one that will land Nick back in prison and keep Kali safe.

The team is split into smaller teams to go and execute the plan. Every person is important to the operation. I would normally run lead on this type of mission, but Bear is taking over on this one. The guys seem to think I’m too involved, and I can’t really argue with that fact. There’s no doubt if I see Nick that I won’t be able to control myself. He’ll be a dead man just like his brothers.

Kali joins us just as everyone is about to leave. She’s standing beside me, and it’s hard watching my brothers go on a mission that I know I should be a part of. I wrap my hand around hers, and she starts to walk away. She looks back and gives me a sign, telling me to wait a minute. I reluctantly release her and watchas she stops Bear. He turns, no doubt surprised by Kali stopping him.

“I just want to tell you thank you for this. I’m sorry that I got all of you involved in this. Please be safe. Take care of yourself... and your team.”

Before Bear can respond, Kali wraps her arms around his stomach and hugs tight. I freeze for just a minute. Bear barely says a word to anyone, and he’s definitely not one for affection. Except with Samantha but it took a lot for her to break his barriers too. I know he’d never physically hurt Kali, but I’m worried he may unintentionally hurt her with his words. I stride toward them, ready to pull Kali off him when he holds his hand up to stop me. He pats his hand awkwardly on Kali’s back. “We’ll be fine. Thank you.”

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