Chapter 126
“Yup,” Knox says without looking up.
I reach out, fingers brushing the smooth head sticking out of the packaging, it’s foam. Dense and thick with sculpted features: The head is anal, fath bulbous black eyes and a tiny slit for a mouth.
“What’s beneath it?” I ask, looking down.
He’s already begun tearing downward, slicing open the rest of the wrapping.
What emerges is…well.
A body.
Large. Square. The surface is spongy and cloth–wrapped, shaped like a mattress with two raised mounds on the upper area–clearly meant to resemble alien breasts. The mouth, or whatever that opening is, sits lower on the body, oval–shaped. Webbed limbs extend on both sides, forming legs that bend outward, giving the thing an awkward but strangely endearing posture.
My eyes widen as it dawns on me that this is probably mine. Who else likes aliens in this house? I don’t say anything right away.
“So,” Knox says casually, “what do you think?”
“You got me an alien SpongeBob?” I squeak.
“Huh? No. That’s a mattress. An alien mattress.”
I blink at him.
“Remember that night I crashed at your place and we talked about aliens spying on humans by acting as furniture?” he says. “I thought it was cute. So got you an alien bed. I wanted it much bigger, but Aaron messed up the bed size.”
That breaks me.
I laugh–hard. The kind of laugh that shakes my belly and makes my shoulders curl inward. I double over, clutching my stomach, trying to breathe.
Then I launch myself at him.
Knox catches me with a grunt, his arms wrapping around my back as he lifts me slightly off the ground.
“I take it that you like it?” he asks.
“Oh, it’s beautiful,” I say between laughs. “You’re like the only one who gets me gifts.”
“Really?”
“Really. Set me down. I want to see it.”
Reluctantly, he lowers me. I stand beside the alien mattress, fingers running
over its soft surface. It’s thick. Well–made. Actually taller than me.
As I inspect it, I notice a small raised area near the oval opening at the bottom. A button.
It blends into the color, hard to spot unless you’re looking.
I press it.
With a quiet whir, a large green appendage begins to rise from the oval opening.
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Chapter 126
It’s.. phallic.
1 freeze, then burst inte another wave of laughter.
“Oh, my god,” I say, almost wheezing. “Oh, my god, Knox. You did not. You gave the alien a dick?”
He’s smiling, arms crossed now as he watches.
“I told you they don’t have erections!” I manage between laughs.
“Are you sure?”
“I’m sure!”
“Well then,” he says, walking toward me and catching my wrists, pulling me into him again, “how else do they do the deed?
“What deed?”
“You know,” he murmurs, lowering his voice, “the thing where a penis goes into a vagina. And then it keeps going in, out, in, out until-”
I groan and slap my hands over my ears. “I don’t think I ever want to hear the words ‘penis‘ and ‘vagina‘ from your lips again.”
He laughs and caresses my cheek with his fingers.
“But thank you so much for the gift, Knox,” I say, quieter now. “It was very sweet of you.”
“I’m trying to soften you up for a few requests,” he says. “Don’t want your hormones getting in the way of sound judgment.”
I pull back slightly, looking up at him. “A few requests? Like what?”
Knox’s arms are still around my waist, and he doesn’t let go. Instead, he presses his lips against my forehead, lingering there for a second before speaking.
“First of all, I need you to talk to your father and tell him to lay off my business. Wouldn’t want to hurt him and then have you get mad at me.”
“My father? You met him?”
“Yesterday,” he says, finally loosening his hold enough for me to step back. “Claims he’s going to help Soraya sue me for a proper divorce settlement, which would then lead to the law probing into my finances. I’m honestly impressed by his level of determination. Soraya, of course, has backed down from that nonsense. But I can’t have your father thinking of more creative ways to get to me. Times like this, there’s usually only one solution. But he’s your father. I don’t want to have to do something bad to him.”
My brows pinch together. “Not this again. First, mother and sister. Now my father.”
“It can all be avoided if you just sit with Papa Bear and have a nice, civilized chat where you convince him to back off.”
“My mother knew he’d do this,” I mutter. “That’s why she told him. Fine. I’ll talk to him. But don’t threaten my father.”
“I was just telling you what needs to be avoided.” He leans in. “You’re the one I love. Not your father. I won’t feel a thing if I have to take one or two fingers from him, but then you’ll hate me. You get what I’m saying, right?”
The warmth in his voice sends a tiny ripple down my spine, but I keep my expression neutral. “And how about Soraya? Did you talk to her?”
“I did. She claims she has a daughter back home. And it’s the reason she ran away in the first place. Premarital sex and children out of wedlock can get you in trouble over there. She said she’ll back off and leave me in peace if I can bring her daughter over here. Something about it just seems weird. I have people looking into that already. And Mateo, And Hunter.”
I pause, absorbing that. “You think Hunter and Soraya are not telling the truth?”
Chapter 126
“You can never be too careful. Mateo was a negotiator before he became a combat soldier. It’s better to assume the worst. Besides, Hender and Szepe both have some weird chemistry going on. I don’t buy it.”
“Great. I feel like a spectator in all this. Don’t know how to help.”
“Start with Papa Bear.”
“Stop calling him that. I’ll stop by his house tomorrow,” say, but the weight in my voice is unmistakable.
“You don’t sound cheerful.”
“That’s because it’s going to be one hell of a conversation to get my father to back out of anything he’s set his mind on.”
“You’re resourceful. I’m sure you’ll come up with something” He pauses and gives me a look that’s both amused and smug, “For inspiration, you should know I had someone watch him today.”
I stare. “What?”
“It seems your mother’s car has been camping outside his house for a while.”
“My mother?” I repeat.
“Yup.”
“What’s she doing there?”
He shrugs, but I can see the shadow of a smirk. “Good question. Seeing as your father’s wife is out of town.”
My eyes go wide. “Oh, my God. Are you sure?”
“You need pictures?”
“They aren’t… doing anything, are they?”
“I don’t care. But if you need blackmail material, that should do it.”
I care. I care very much. All the switches in my body flip at once. For a brief, disorienting second, I’m not standing here as an adult–I’m back in my childhood body, staring at the front door like it would open any moment and my mother would come back home with my sister.
I clung to that hope for way too many years. The one where my parents get back together and we all live happily ever after like a Hallmark special. But now… no. Hell no. I know she cheated on him. I know she’s pregnant with Jade’s triplets and shouldn’t be around my father when his wife is not in town.
“I’m going there right now,” I say, pushing off his chest.
He holds me tighter, like he knew I’d say that. “Come now, let’s not be too hasty.”
“She’s going to break his heart again,” I snap. “I’m not going to let that happen. And did he leave Daphne? I thought Grandma was there to solve their quarrel.”
“You’re beginning to sound like your father. Stay out of their business and focus on using the information. That’s what’s important.”
I don’t answer him. I can’t. My head’s spinning with every possible version of how this plays out when I get there. No, I’m not staying out of it. That’s my father. I know how he crumbled when she left. I won’t let him be a casualty all over again or ruin Daphne and her kid’s life.
“Last but not least,” Knox says, although his voice seems faraway to me, “you need to quit your job. And I’m moving you into the club until I have handled
the Mateo issue.”
The room falls still. My heartbeat skips.
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18:49 Sat, 14 Jun
Chapter 126
And I slowly turn back toward him.
“What?”
AD
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