To the Stars (Thatch #2)(29)

I straightened and swallowed roughly when the door opened behind me, and prayed it wasn’t my mother-in-law, or one of the other women I knew.

“You didn’t tell me your last name was Doherty.”

I spun around as Knox locked the door behind him, and shook my head. “No, no! You can’t be here, please,” I begged.

“Is anyone in there?” he asked, and nodded toward the bathroom.

“I don’t know, but, Knox—”

“Low, check.”

I turned and walked quickly into the bathroom. All the stall doors were open, and no one was in front of the sinks. Walking back to the sitting room, I shook my head and moved closer to him. “No, but you don’t understand. It’s not just because this is the women’s room. Knox, if someone sees us . . . you don’t understand—”

“No. I’m pretty f*cking sure I do,” he growled, and my head jerked back. He started closing the distance between us, and I backed into the wall. “What the hell was I seeing in there, Harlow?”

“He’s my husband, Knox!” I hissed. “You knew I was married, what do you expect?”

The murderous look on his face changed to something close to disgust for a brief second. “Watching another man kiss you destroyed me, but that’s not what I’m talking about, and you know it.” He pressed his hands to the wall on either side of my head, and leaned close. “Harlow, I will kill him for hurting you.”

My mouth fell, and it was suddenly no longer a lie. I felt dizzy now. “Wh-what? I don’t . . .”

“You think I don’t know what’s right here?” he asked as his fingers gently ran over the inside of my elbow, and then my forearm. “And here? You think I didn’t see the pain on your face?”

“You need to leave, Knox,” I pled. “If anyone sees you with me, it will get back to him.”

“Low, he can’t—”

“He’s coming to look for me if I’m not back out there in ten minutes. You don’t get it.” I searched his face wildly and hoped he understood the urgency in my tone. “He can not find you with me. He can’t find out about you. Please, Knox.”

Knox didn’t blink, and didn’t move. “Why was he hurting you?”

“He wasn’t,” I insisted, and jumped when his voice boomed in the small space.

“Bullshit, Harlow!”

“Please!”

He gently grabbed the arm Collin had been torturing all night and held it out; a growl built up in his chest before he pointed at a small, two-circled bruise. “Look!” he seethed. “It’s already bruising up here, and there’s a red mark down here. Stop lying to me.”

“You don’t understand.”

“You’re right. I don’t understand this. I don’t understand why you would marry a man who would hurt you at all, let alone in public, when I would never lay a finger on you. What else does he do to you?” he demanded.

“Nothing.”

“What else does he do to you?”

“Nothing!” I cried again.

“You’re going to cover for him when I’ve already seen more than enough? You would’ve rather been with some bullshit excuse for a man who hurt you, than with me? Fuck, Harlow, all I ever wanted was to love you. To take care of you. To make you my goddamn world. Why would you choose this over me? Why would you continue to choose this over me?”

“Please leave,” I sobbed. “He’ll come after you if he finds you near me, Knox. If he suspects anything, I-I don’t know what he’ll do, but I know it won’t—” I cut off on another sob. “It won’t be good for you.”

“You’re out of your damn mind if you think I’m leaving you to deal with this by yourself.”

“You’re not; I’m fine. I promise I’m fine, but you have to leave. If he did something to you, I wouldn’t be able to live with myself. I bought myself a week from anything else with him, so please go.”

“A week?” he asked, his face twisted in disgust. “You bought yourself a f*cking week? How often does this happen?”

I nodded and choked out more sobs. “He thinks I’m pregnant. He won’t touch me as long as he thinks that.”

Knox’s face fell. “Are you?”

“No!”

Relief washed over his features for a moment, but his expression grew hard again. “What does he do to you?”

“Please stop.”

“Tell me, Harlow. I can’t help you if I don’t know.”

“He’ll kill my family if you do!” I slapped a hand over my mouth to quiet the surprised cry that left me. My eyes widened along with Knox’s.

“What?”

I shook my head slowly back and forth.

“What did you just say?”

“You need to go!” I whispered harshly, and fumbled with my clutch for my phone. Fear spread through me when I saw a text from Collin before I read it.

Collin: Stuck talking with a few people I know the mayor’s counting on for donations. How are you feeling?

I sighed in relief and tapped out my response.

Harlow: It’s starting to pass. I’ll be fine. Be out there soon.