Page 24 of Knuckles

I leaned down, my hair creating a curtain around our faces. “Maybe I like the burn.” I nipped at his bottom lip, enjoying the way his breathing hitched. “Maybe I want to burn you too.”

The shift was sudden -- one moment I was on top, the next I was beneath him, his powerful body caging me in. “You already have,” he rasped against my throat. “Burned me to the fucking ground.”

His beard scratched deliciously against my sensitive skin as he trailed kisses down my neck to my collarbone. I arched into him, my body already responding to his touch like it had been made for him alone.

The night faded into morning with neither of us getting much sleep. Not that I was complaining. When I finally did drift off, wrapped in Knuckles’s arms, I slept better than I had in years. No nightmares, no restless tossing and turning. No waking up to a man touching or hitting me in ways I hated. Just peace.

I opened my eyes to find Knuckles dressing. His large frame moved around the small apartment with effortless efficiency. When he realized I was awake he gave me a smile filled with appreciation and welcome.

“Hey, baby.” He crossed the short distance to sit on the edge of the bed. “Why don’t you get some more sleep?” There was something in his face that warned me I should do what he said. Not because he’d be displeased, but because I didn’t want to know what he was doing. Unfortunately, the part of my brain that hated bullshit knew curiosity would get the better of me if I didn’t question him.

“Where you going, Knuckles?”

He held my gaze for long moments. I could almost see the wheels turning in his head, weighing his decision, going over words in his mind he thought might satisfy me. Finally, he gave me a curt nod before answering. “I confirmed Beth was the one who had my daughter kidnapped.”

“Pippa?” I pushed myself up, sitting back against the wall where the mattress head was shoved against it. “Her mother did that?”

“Yeah, baby. She did. She thought she could put pressure on me to give up my control of the heroin trade coming through the city headed north. Specifically, the shipments headed for Terre Haute, where me and Gunnar were housed.”

“So, she’s the dealer inside the prison?”

“Nah. She’s not that deep in. But she’s the one who ensures the drugs make it inside the prison for the inmates to buy and sell, or simply to move from one prison to the next. She has her hands in several underground highways running through Kentuckiana. Terre Haute is a little out of the immediate area, but Evansville is on the fringe.”

I nodded. “Yeah. Iron Tzars territory. I imagine Sting wouldn’t appreciate you passing the drug trade to someone he didn’t know and had no way to communicate with.”

He gave me a wide grin. “Smart girl.”

I rolled my eyes. “Please, Knuckles. Cain’s my father. You do remember that. Right?”

He winced and closed his eyes, scrubbing a hand over his face. “Yeah. Fuck.”

“You forgot. Didn’t you?” I deadpanned my expression.

“Hadn’t thought about it. Probably on purpose. Self-preservation and all that.”

“Yeah. You think Gunnar will be after your head, you haven’t seen anything yet.” When he didn’t say anything else, I prompted him. Because I was pretty sure he was hoping not to answer my previous question truthfully and completely. “So? What are you gonna do about Beth?”

“Kill her.”

I blinked at him. “I… wasn’t expecting you to cop to that.”

“I ain’t ever gonna lie to you, honey. Somehow, though, I don’t think you mind.”

“Not at all. Bitch deserves everything you want to dish out and then some. But if you think you’re going without me, you better think again.” I lifted my chin. “If you’re making me your old lady -- and that better be what you meant when you said you were claiming me -- then she’s going to be my daughter too.”

He raised an eyebrow at me. “That make your brother your son?” His brows knit together. “You’re his sister… so does that make him my brother-in-law?” The look of utter confusion on Knuckle’s face made me laugh. “Laugh now, you little punk. You’re just as confused as I am.”

“That’s also going to make Cain your fath -- OMP!” Knuckles clamped a hand over my mouth.

“Don’t you fuckin’ say it. No way that man is any relation to me.” He looked so horrified I had to smile.

“You’re afraid of my dad.”

“I know what that man is capable of. Even pushin’ seventy, he’s…”

“Terrifying?”

“A man not going to let his youngest daughter be given to just any fucker. He’s gonna be super protective and picky about who he makes your protector from here on out.”

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