Loveless Knight (Sins of Knight Mafia Trilogy 3)

“Yes?” She spun around, dropping the towel on the floor. My entire body reacted. My fingertips fired with the urge to pull her against me and absorb every drop of water on her body.

She lifted a lingerie set from the bed she had laid out before the shower. It was almost painful to watch her cover her body. I couldn’t remember what I was supposed to say about Kimble. I thought about taking her to bed. Pulling her under me. Kissing her until she fell asleep in my arms.

“What about him?” she prodded.

I shoved my hands in my pockets. “I called him.”

“You did?” She stopped dressing with one arm in a sleeve.

“I didn’t know where you were. I’d run around the block ten times. I called him.” I didn’t know if I was admitting my weakness or showing I’d put her ahead of anything, even my pride.

“Is he coming back?” she asked. “What did he say?”

“Nothing. I hung up when you walked off the elevator. He knows you’re back, so he probably thinks it was a false alarm.”

She shook her head. “I need him here. He has to run point on this.”

I groaned. “Where is he?”

Her eyes flashed. “Working on something.”

“But he’s not in the city?”

She tugged on the shirt, covering her navel. “No. What are you implying? Or suggesting? It’s not the first time you’ve hinted at it today.”

“Nothing at all. But he’s not here right now and we have to do this on our own.” I pushed down the arguments against Kimble. Two kidnappings in the past four years and he was out of town when both happened. Did Kennedy think it was coincidence? Shit. Did I sound like a conspiracy theorist? Regardless, I wasn’t going to start a fight with her.

“I’m calling him. He should be here. There’s no one I trust more to handle it.” She pulled out her phone. There was nothing I could do to stop her.

5

Kennedy

I had been burned. The man standing in front of me had been the one to light the match and reduce me to a pile of ash. I had learned the lessons. Felt the pain. Cried all the tears. Risen like a phoenix and flown straight toward the sun again.

So how could I need Knight now? I was scared to need him. Scared more than I could ever put into words. So instead of leaning all in on him, I did what I always did. I called Kimble.

I had to keep moving. Keep thinking. Keep looking until Crew was home.

“What’s going on?” Kimble answered the phone with a question.

“Thank God.” I was relieved he answered without letting it ring a second time. I turned to avoid the look on Knight’s face. “How quickly can you get back to New Orleans?” I wandered into the bathroom and picked up another towel and rubbed it over my hair. I looked at the circles under my eyes. They hadn’t been there this morning.

This morning was another world. Another time. It was when I stood here letting myself daydream. I was steeped in bliss this morning. I was wrapped in afterglow. It was in my eyes. They actually sparkled. I had seen it in the mirror.

I stood at the counter and thought ridiculous thoughts. Thoughts about the girl I was at 22. How much that girl thought she loved Knight. How she didn’t think she would survive our bad ending. That girl couldn’t forgive her father. She couldn’t bear to remember her mother. She built an empire out of revenge and certainty. She stockpiled money and power. The two things everyone else wanted.

It was almost as if I had been given those five years back. Being with Knight had given that to me. Were we allowed to be happy? Had we finally escaped the curse of our fathers? Had the suffering of being apart been soothed and rubbed away? Or was today the reminder that we could never escape?

“Are you okay?” Kimble interrupted. “Are you safe?”

I touched my cheek, reminding myself I was here. “Yes.” I cleared my throat, flashing back to the kidnapping. “But Crew’s not. He was taken at his car. I don’t know who has him. I need you here. Not in—” I wasn’t sure how far Kimble had traveled to look into Knight’s history. My stomach lurched.

“How long ago?” he asked.

I blinked at his abrupt tone. “A couple hours I guess.”

“And no ransom notices?”