Worth It (Forbidden Men, #6)(111)

When she pulled away, she was brushing tears out of her eyes as she smiled at him.

“I’m so sorry I’m being such a weirdo. I just...I just really needed to hug you.”

“Okay...” he said slowly.

Mason took her hand and drew her close, and she leaned against him as if seeking his support.

Knox and I exchanged a confused glance.

But seriously. What the hell?

“I suppose I should explain to you who I am,” Reese added. “In high school, I went out with a boy named Jeremy Walden.”

I gasped and whirled to her. “Say what? Eww.”

“I know.” She rolled her eyes and blushed. “It’s still mortifying to admit, but he was the older, popular guy in my high school and—wait. Did you know Jeremy? How did you know Jeremy?”

“He was my father’s lawyer’s son.”

“Oh, wow. Then that would mean...” She moved a finger between Knox and me. “Weird.”

“I know. Small world, huh?”

“Really, incredibly small world.”

I nodded. “Yeah. And I still can’t believe you went out with that sleazeball. He always, always, gave me the creeps.” And Mason was like a million times the better choice in boyfriends. How the heck had she dated two such polar opposite men?

Looking ashamed, she pressed tighter against Mason, who wrapped an arm around her waist. “You don’t have to tell me what an idiot I was. I finally realized it...too late. We dated a few years until I finally broke it off with him. But he started to stalk me and terrorize me until...he tried to kill me.”

Lifting her hair, she turned her head to show us a white scar slashed across the back of her neck. “Got me right here with his knife.”

Knox lifted his hand to his own scar on his face. “Yeah, he did have a problem with slashing, didn’t he? Never did learn you were supposed to stab.”

I shuddered, and Reese seemed similarly shaken. “He got you too, huh?” she murmured empathetically. “Bastard.”

“Wait, I’m confused.” Shaking my hands, I stepped forward. “How can you be that girl? The news said Jeremy’s ex-girlfriend was named—”

“Teresa Nolan?” Reese sent me a small smile. “I changed my name and moved halfway across the country to Florida to escape him. But...he found me there.”

“And shot some other girl while he was there,” I murmured, remembering what I’d heard on the news when Jeremy had been arrested.

“Eva,” Reese said, making my mouth drop open in shock. “But obviously, she turned out okay.”

“Shit,” I heard myself murmur, because, well...shit. This was not what I was expecting to hear when I’d come here today.

Knox also seemed dazed from all the news. “Well, that explains why Pick told me he owed me one.”

“Exactly.” Reese blew out a deep breath. “You killed the guy who shot his woman.”

I studied Knox’s face as she said that, and he blanched badly.

“And I don’t have nightmares any longer because of you,” Reese went on. “I used to obsess and get so paranoid, and with good reason, since he always found me no matter how far I ran or where I hid. I didn’t think even prison could keep him away.”

“She would wake up, gasping for breath and crying,” Mason said, rubbing Reese’s back. “But after he died, all that went away. You gave her peace of mind.”

Knox nodded, but he still didn’t look well. He reached out as if he needed a wall or something to support him, so I took his hand. He jumped at the contact and sent me a sharp glance, but a second later, he tightened his grip.

“I wasn’t sure if I wanted to meet you when I first learned you were working at Forbidden.” Reese rubbed her arms as if she were cold. “I mean, you literally took my nightmares away, but...” She shook her head. “I still didn’t know anything about you. I didn’t know if you were like him or—”

“I understand,” Knox said quietly.

“But then I listened to Eva describe you and Mason talk about you, and I heard about what you did for Zoey, and Asher, and Felicity. Eva even told me about some of the history between you two that Pick had told her... So I decided maybe I could face you enough to thank you. But then...then my mother came to visit a few days ago, and after what she told me and gave me, I knew I owed it to you to have this meeting.”

“What did your mother tell you?” I asked.

Reese blew out a breath and sent Knox a cautious glance. “Do you know why you were released from prison?”

Knox’s eyebrows furrowed. “I was let out on parole.”

She shook her head. “No. You’re not out on parole. Is that what they told you?”

I could feel the confusion ooze off him as he stared at Reese. “Well...no. They just told me I was being released that day, but I had over twenty years left. Wouldn’t it have to be...?”

“They f*cked up. They f*cked up bad. So you’re out, completely, free and clear. My mom,” she paused to roll her eyes, “has kind of been obsessed with Jeremy’s family ever since he was arrested. She hated the way they protected him for so long. So when all this went down, she had an inside track.”

“When what went down?” I asked, shaking my head.