Page 51 of A Smile Full of Lies
I couldn’t take another second of it — the way his gaze pinned me like I was the axis his whole world spun on, the certainty in his voice when he said people like me outweighed companies, legacies, reputations. My skin felt too tight, my heart ricocheting against my ribs. I needed to breathe. To think. To not drown in him.
So I blurted the first thing that came to mind.
“Why do you even go by Knox instead of Philip?”
His eyes narrowed just slightly, as if he saw straight through me. Still, he answered.
“Because I’ve never liked my first name.”
That should’ve been the end of it, but the blunt honesty snagged me. I curled tighter around my mug.
“Why not?”
He leaned back against the counter, arms crossing over his bare chest, voice low and almost mocking.
“Because my mother named me after her favorite Disney prince.” He paused, and it was deliberate… weighted. “Philip. Can you picture me in a fucking crown and tights, Ros?”
A startled laugh broke from me, shaky around the edges. The image was ridiculous and yet, God help me, Icouldpicture it, which only made the heat in my cheeks worse.
“That’s not the worst mental image I’ve ever had.”
But Knox didn’t laugh with me. His gaze held mine, sharp and unflinching.
“That’s not who I am, sweetheart. Never have been, never will be.”
The words sat heavy between us, daring me to argue.
Chapter
Fourteen
KNOX
She satacross from me like she didn’t know I was watching her.
Like she didn’t feel the weight of my gaze with every sip of coffee, every shift of her fingers around the mug. Like her hands weren’t still trembling, just a little, even though she was trying to hide it.
But I noticed. I noticed everything.
The faint circles of exhaustion under her eyes from lack of sleep. The tension in her jaw. The way her legs were pulled up beneath her like she wasn’t sure whether to bolt or stay.
She didn’t run though. She stayed.
I leaned back against the counter, letting the mug rest against my palm, watching her from under my lashes like she was something I’d hunted and caught, and now my pretty prey didn’t know what to do with her cage.
I didn’t say a word… not yet.
She needed this moment. To breathe. To come down. To realize she was still safe even after watching me tear a man’s career — and a whole company — to pieces in her name.
She’d understand… eventually. This was how I protected what was mine. Quietly. Absolutely.
She tucked her hair behind one ear and glanced up at me, unsure.
I didn’t smile. Instead, I just drank my coffee and let her sit in it.
She didn’t know yet. Not really. That the worst part of all this wasn’t the shut-down. Wasn’t even the obsession.
It was that I’d already planned her next step, and she hadn’t even unwrapped it yet.
