HARD KNOX(42)

“Oh, Knoxville, that’s where you’re wrong,” Vinny said. “Every word we speak is a decision. Everything we touch, taste, f*ck, hit, kill… it’s all a decision. Now you’ve made your decision. I respect that. Your father made his decision, didn’t he?”

“Yeah, he did. He’s not here, but I am. I want an open line of communication between us, Vinny. I’m not going through your thugs. I want to contact you if there’s a problem. The same for me.”

“Don’t worry, Knoxville, if I have a problem, you’ll know about it.” Vinny paused and puckered his lips. He then slowly reached out the window, offering me his hand. “I offer you my respect. As long as you understand my position.”

I felt something shift in me. I could see it in Vinny’s eyes that while there was respect, there was a great sense of hatred brewing between us. That was good though. Hatred made respect thicker, stronger.

I took his hand and shook it.

“I always keep my word,” I said. “I’m sorry it’s come to this. The Reap should have never slowed after my old man got popped. His life sentence isn’t going to be a life sentence for the MC.”

I wasn’t sure if Vinny gave a shit about what I had said, but it felt good to say.

The window then went up and the meeting was over.

I walked back to Ari and took my gun and knife back.

Anthony and Tony stood with their arms crossed.

I got back on my ride and sat there, taking it all in. The black cars cruised away and Ari walked his motorcycle next to mine.

“What are you thinking, brother?” he asked me.

“I’m thinking this isn’t over,” I said. “Too much weird shit is happening.”

“You don’t trust him?”

“Fuck no. I just hope the message was clear.” I looked at Ari. “My old man put his ass on the line to do this.”

“Should I give Uncle Jakey a call?” he asked. “We can arrange something.”

I stared at the horizon. I felt a deep burning inside me. It was hard to explain. The world was changing, again. My world was changing. I couldn’t explain the feeling because I never felt it before.

Then my cell rang and Ana was on the other end.

She changed my life again.

I then understood the feeling.





twenty-six



(ana)



THEN



Lightening lit up the bedroom as we sat on the bed next to each other. Less than a second later came a crack of thunder that shook the house. I was tucked tight into Knox’s arm. He loved storms like this. I didn’t understand it. We already lost power, which I hated. But Knox was happy. He was such a weirdo sometimes, but I loved him.

“I hate this stuff,” I said.

“Darlin’, you’re shaking.”

“I don’t do storms.”

“What do you want to talk about?”

“I don’t know,” I said. “Tell me about your day.”

“You really want that?” Knox asked. He grinned, knowing half the time I didn’t want to know and the other half he couldn’t tell me.

“Fine.”

Knox took my hand and opened it. He started to trace lines down my fingers and circles at my palm. It sent a tingling feeling through my entire body. It made my toes curl and made my panties soaked. Seriously. It was almost aggravating how attracted to Knox I was.

He traced my hand a couple times before I pulled away.

Another crack of thunder rolled through the sky.

“Hey, it’s okay,” he said. “A storm is good. It cleans things up. The rain. The air gets cooler. It keeps us off the streets. I have a night off.”

“That’s one way to look at it.”

Knox laughed. “What are you going to do, Ana, find a town that never gets thunderstorms?”

“Exactly,” I said. “With a white house. Two stories. A point at the top with one attic window. A wrap around porch. A red door. Red shutters. A white fence. And a black mailbox at the end of the driveway.”

“Nice,” Knox said. “Two car garage with a basketball hoop attached to it?”

“Of course,” I said. “I thought that was implied.”

“So a house that big means you’d have some kids running around, right?”

“Sure,” I said.

Another flash of lightening. Another crack of thunder.

I swallowed hard. I was going into some touchy waters here with Knox.

“Where do you think this town is?” he asked.

“I don’t know, Knox. I’m just playing…”

He touched my face. “Darlin’, I f*cking love and hate hearing that shit. You know why?”

“Why, Knox?”

“I love hearing it because of the way your eyes light up. The way you smile. I know it’s completely genuine. But I hate it because I can’t give you that life, darlin’. I’m here. I have to be in this town and I have to stay with the Reap.”

I knew that already. It pained me to think about. Would I leave this town? Would I never end up with Knox for the rest of my life? Those were questions that I tried to avoid facing. It wasn’t easy to do though.

They were storms in my mind that wouldn’t go away.