Worth It (Forbidden Men 6)

“You know,” I said. “After some soldiers come home from war, they’re all messed up from being so constantly in fight-mode, thinking of nothing but survival and focusing on the enemy. Maybe...maybe prison was just a different kind of battle.” Glancing at Aspen, I cringed. “He didn’t have that scar before he went in. And he killed two people while he was there. It couldn’t have been pleasant for him.”

She sent me a sympathetic look and patted my hand. “Sounds like you could be on to something.”

“Which means you need to stay away from him,” Noel said, his voice stern. “If whatever happened to him left him this unstable, then he’s a danger to himself and everyone around him.”

I frowned and opened my mouth to defend him, but then I remembered Ten’s bruise, the wildness in Knox’s eyes when he’d been terrorizing the break room. And I remembered the last words he’d said to me last night, that he couldn’t ever be with me, not that he didn’t want to be with me. That he couldn’t.

Maybe he felt the same way that Noel was suggesting, that he feared he was so unhinged he might be a danger to me.

I slumped into my chair, not sure how to overcome an obstacle like that. I remembered what Knox was like when he went into his protective mode, and he was fierce about it. If he thought he was guarding me from himself, there may never be a way to break through his stubborn resistance to convince him he didn’t need to.

“I don’t know what the hell Pick was thinking when he hired him,” Noel grumbled. “Though, okay...he picked up the work fast, faster than anyone else I’ve ever trained.”

“And he did save Zoey and the baby,” Aspen pointed out.

Noel blew out a breath. “Honestly, I don’t know what to make of the guy at all, and that makes me suspicious as fuck, so I’m going with...keep a safe distance from him. I’m talking about you when I say that.” When he pointed at me, I narrowed my eyes. “I’m serious, Felicity. You said yourself he’s different now. Don’t go thinking he’s the same boy you once knew and get yourself in trouble.”

I wasn’t even sure how to answer that. My first instinct was to say Knox would never hurt me.

But I let some of the doubt creep in. Because Noel was watching me so hard, I nodded to let him know I’d heard his warning, but I wasn’t sure yet if I was actually going to heed it.

When Noel’s cell phone rang from the counter, I was relieved for the reprieve. I wanted to think about this before deciding what I was going to do next.

“Yep, okay. Will do.” Noel hung up and turned to me. “That was Pick. He wants to see you in his office as soon as possible. And oh, he said to get your damn cell phone charged.”

“Oh, right.” I’d forgotten I had my charger back now, since Noel had taken me to Cam’s house the day before to pack my things the new girlfriend hadn’t stolen or destroyed.

Ugh, had that only been yesterday? I’d been too distracted by what had happened last night with Knox to even think about how I was down to half my possessions now. It was really too much to take in. How was a girl supposed to think properly with so much going on?

“Okay.” I slumped from my chair, glancing at the newspaper sitting on the table and remembering I had to keep searching for a new place to live, too. Oh, and I had to think up a way to repay the Gambles for the car tire they’d gotten fixed for me.

Five minutes later, I’d coaxed my temperamental car into deciding it wanted to work after all, and ten minutes after that I was pulling into a parking spot in the lot across the street from Forbidden. The place was deserted since it wouldn’t open for hours to come.

Using my key, I let myself in and strolled through the quiet club to the hall that led to Pick’s office. His door was open, so I knocked as I went in.

“Ooh, I like the new desk.” It was a lot more modern looking than the heavy oak one he’d had before, and his computer was now a laptop instead of a desktop.

He shut the laptop he’d been typing on, and sent me a tight smile. “Tink picked it out. I’m still trying to get used to it.”

“So what’s up?” I seated myself on his couch and relaxed on the plush leather cushions.

Stretching his hands over his head, he popped his neck from one side to the other. “We’ll get to that in a second. We’re still waiting for one more person to show up. How’ve you been holding up?”

“Oh…” I wasn’t too sure about that answer, so I shrugged. “Noel helped me move my things from Cam’s place yesterday, so I have…some of my stuff back, all that I’m ever going to get back, anyway. And I look for rentals every morning in the paper, but I haven’t found anything even remotely acceptable in my price range.”

He nodded, folding his hands together and resting them on the desk. “And everything else?”

With a sigh, I shook my head. “Ask me again in a month and maybe I’ll have an answer for you.” Not wanting to talk about Knox right now, I asked, “Who’re we waiting for anyway, and what exactly is this about?”

That’s when Knox appeared in the opened doorway. He stopped short when he saw me.

“Oh, God.” Popping to my feet, I gaped back in horror. Then I whirled to Pick. “Is this about last night?”

Pick lifted his eyebrows. “What happened last night?”

“Nothing,” I was quick to mutter, glad Ten wasn’t as big a gossip as I thought he was. After a quick, uncertain glance Knox’s way, I returned my attention to Pick and cleared my throat. “Why would you want to see the two of us together?”

Waving Knox the rest of the way into the room, Pick said, “Take a seat.”