Tipping The Scales: Knox (Mate Craze)(21)

His shoulders tensed. Liam was a sore subject with him. Was it because of his father or grandfather, whichever the case may be, or was it something else? My guess was it was more that Lian was a meanie-head jerk-face mixed with whatever mess I stumbled upon.

“What. About. Liam.” Possessive. His voice was possessive. The words could mean pretty much anything, but I had zero doubt that it was anything but possessiveness that guided Knox at the moment. How? I would process that later, but I was certain. And for the love of law, why did that have my heart in such a flutter?

“He was messing with files before he gave them to me.” That had him squirming. The weird possessiveness of earlier was there, but his inability to school his emotions felt like a win. It was clear, I had hit a nerve.

“And do you know what those files said?”

“That Liam is a piece of shit not doing the job he was hired for?” Well that answered that. He knew or else he wouldn’t have been like that. Suck. Part of me really hoped he was in the dark so that he could help me.

“If he was hired to hide the fact that your family was part of the murder case, then he is doing a splenderific job.” I crossed my arms in front of myself, to show my… heck, I don’t know what, but I did it slowly and deliberately as if proving a point.

“My family?” He leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees and his chin in his hands. His relaxed pose was anything but. The disappointment of knowing that he was part of this hurt far worse than it should have. He was just a guy. A guy I didn’t even know and one that was deceptive.

“Your father was one of the intake officers at the scene.” I stopped my tapping foot, a nervous habit I tried numerous times to unsuccessfully break.

“My grandfather was the police chief, not sure what that has to do with anything.”

Grandfather. Of course. I jumped straight to father because it fit my narrative forgetting that this happened before I was even born. Maybe he wasn’t hiding anything.

“It has to do with Liam trying to hide that from me.”

He gave a subtle nod of agreement.

“Do you know why?”

“Because he’s a shit.” He rose from his seat and I copied the gesture. He was either pulling a power move or he was about to walk out of the room and neither worked for me.

“Or because you know more about the case than you want me to know.” He turned to leave the room and I grabbed his shoulder to stop him.

“I’m sticking with my first answer, he’s a shit,” he mumbled, his body still not facing mine. At least he didn’t pull away from my touch. A touch I needed to not focus on because if I allowed myself down that rabbit hole, I would end up wrapping my arms around him like some floozy.

“I think you’re hiding something.” I tugged on his shoulder, to force him to either face me or turn around. I wasn’t sure which was better. Walking away would increase my anger and cause some hurt, but if his proximity was already causing flutters, feeling his breath on my face was going to undo me. “I saw it flicker through your eyes.”

With that he turned around. We were a mere six inches away and my breath hitched at the same time his did. At least I wasn’t the only one affected by whatever the heck this was brewing between us. I felt his indecision at our closeness, and before he could back away, I leaned in slightly. By goodness he smelled amazing. I was going to see his earing if it killed me. Part of me hoped it was a piece he made in a gauge I wouldn’t dare try while pursuing a career in law. As my head tilted sideway, I gasped. It wasn’t an earring. It looked like he had some piercing on his face, but that didn’t make sense. My hand reached up on its own accord, trying to touch the glimmering jewel, or whatever the heck it was. “Wait, what’s that on your face?” He grasped my hand, pulling it down between us as he tilted his head to obscure my view. “It wasn’t there before.”

“It’s nothing.” He dropped my hand and took a step back. “You should go now.”

“It’s not nothing.” If it was nothing, he wouldn’t be walking away from me. He would be allowing me to see the thing that illuminated his face.

Shit, was it a gang symbol? I went through all the school warnings about gangs, but never thought I would come face to face with a gang member, especially not in a rural town like this. Of course I didn’t, because my idea was stupid. Knox was not a gang member. How did I end up there?

“Go. Now.” His words slammed into me. And when I say slammed, I mean slammed. I felt them like a wave and it caused me to stick my heels in further. If his jewelry had him more on edge than me accusing his family of something related to a crime, I had to know why. I shook my head adamantly.

“No,” I whispered, the strong woman in my head not presenting herself as I had intended. His reaction to that one word, that barely audible two letter word was nothing like I expected. His eyes lit by what I could only assume was desire, and I, like any chicken would, scampered out the door.





9





Knox





No, I wouldn’t let her leave like this.

Kallie’s feet were still making tracks in the dirt on the way to my truck when I caught up to her and with one hand on her waist, spun her, turning her to face me.

“You can see it?” I asked her, pointing to the scale on my face, on my neck right below my ear.