Chapter 97
Chapter 97
Soraya’s eyes are buining holes through Knox’s, more from disbelief than hurt. Then she turns to grab her purse from the couch and rummages İnslati pulls out the key ring, and tosses it toward the table.
The metal clatters against the wood.
“You know where to find me when you’ve come to your senses,” she says, stalking toward the door.
“Don’t forget the papers,” Knox calls after her.
She doesn’t answer. The door slams so hard behind her that the walls shake.
Knox finally releases me, and once the pressure of his arms fades, I turn around, brushing my shirt back into place. I don’t meet his eyes at first. I’m too busy reining myself in. Eventually, I head to a couch and sit.
“Didn’t know you were that strong,” he says after a moment. “Where have you been hiding those muscles?”
I shoot him a look. “Not funny, Knox. You need to take care of her.”
“I will. I’ve given her a deadline.”
“You know damn well she won’t sign those papers by then.”
He walks over and sits beside me, elbows on his knees, fingers laced together. “I’m trying to do this as peacefully as possible. She’s being unusually stubborn. It’s unlike her. Before you declare war, at least try to bargain.”
I sigh, sinking further into the cushions. “What
are
you planning to bargain with?”
“It’s not exactly a bargain,” he says. “But I need to fix the Finn problem.”
“The Finn problem?”
He nods, eyes on the floor. “Him hanging around her.”
“A divorce would fix it. If she’s no longer tied to you, there’s
no
reason for him to stalk her.”
“Being married to me isn’t the problem. The fact that she’s tied to me
havoc.”
“His distraction?”
“Delilah. I shouldn’t have sent her away. She’s the only one who has managed to keep Finn sane.” He glances at me. “And you, of course. But that’s not an option.”
I stare at him. “You really think Delilah’s the answer?”
“I think she’s a buffer. And right now, we need buffers.”
I shake my head. “You need to get him institutionalized. It’ll fix all our problems.”
“If I do that, my father will be in this city tomorrow. You have no idea what kind of drama that would cause from both him and my mother.”
“So they’d prefer to watch him go insane? He tried to kill himself, Knox.”
“That would have been the best solution to our problems, wouldn’t it?” he says quietly. theatrics.”
44
‘But
- no. He couldn’t even do that right. Just theatrics upon
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Istare at him. “You love to watch him like this, don’t you?”
He slides an arm over the back of the couch, casually draping it behind my neck. “If I said yes, would you think I’m a bad persont
“Oh, I know you’re a bad person. I’ve accepted that. But enjoying your brother in anguish is kinda weird, even for you.”
He pulls his phone from his pocket, his thumb gliding across the screen. He scrolls, scrolls, then taps.
“One minute I think you’re evil,” he mutters, lifting the phone to his ear. “The next, you’re not. You need to decide if you’re hard or soft. I guess I’ll ham to make his problems go away.”
“Who are you calling?” I ask.
He glances at me. “Who do you think?”
I don’t answer. Tjust sit there, heart thumping, as the phone rings once. Twice. Three times. I hope she doesn’t pick. I don’t know why–I just do. I’d rather Finn rot than get Delilah back. But Knox? He really doesn’t give a fuck.
The line clicks.
“Delilah,” Knox says, placing the phone on his lap and switching to speaker.
Her voice is instantly recognizable. Slightly husky, whiny, annoyed. The kind of voice that carries too much history in too few syllables. Just hearing it again makes my skin crawl.
“What do you want, you son of a bitch? Did you
call to gloat?”
Knox’s expression doesn’t shift. He looks almost bored, but I know better. I’m close enough to feel the tension under his skin, the way his body has subtly stiffened since dialing her number. I guess the Delilah hatred is universal.
“Gloating time’s over, Delilah,” he says. “I need a favor.”
He says it like it’s business. Like asking a woman he’d banished to another coast to return to his broken brother is just another negotiation. I’m not sure whether to be impressed or horrified.
“You must be out of your mind if you think I’ll help you, Knox.”
“Half payment now, half afterwards,” he says. “No jokes this time. I know you need the money. You’ve never worked a day in your life. Without Hunter and Finn… You get the gist.”
She scoffs. “I’ll find another source of income, thank you. I’m not falling for your schemes this time.”
I cut in before I can stop myself. The sooner I don’t have to listen to her voice anymore, the better. “You seriously need to let bygones be bygones and take the fucking money, Delilah. How else are you going to survive in Manhattan?”
I feel Knox’s eyes slide to me, curious and maybe a little surprised. He clearly didn’t expect me to jump in. But I did. Because somewhere between Soraya’s psychotic spiral and this latest mess with Finn, I’d stopped caring about who sounded cruel and who sounded noble. I’m tired of everyone pretending they aren’t playing the same ugly game.
There’s a pause on the line–heavy, silent, suspicious.
“Is that Sloane?” she finally asks.
“It’s me,” I reply. “Now are you going to listen of not? This is important. It involves you getting back with the love of your life.”
My stomach turns just saying it out loud.
“Hunter?”
Chapter 97
“The other love of your life,” Knox says without missing a beat.
“Why would I want to get back with him? He’s totally obsessed with his best friend, who’s currently with you?
“rinn will always love you,” I say. “He won’t say no to you. He’s a mess, and you might be the only thing stopping him from doing another stupid thing. He almost killed himself, Delilah.”
“Probably a prank. You should know better than to fall for that.” She sighs. “But I need the money. So hit me.”
There it is. The real reason she hasn’t hung up yet.
“Simple,” I say. “You just go back to him.”
There’s a pause again. I can practically hear her brain working, trying to spot the trap.
“Is his mother still around?”
“Why do you care?” Knox asks.
“She hates me.”
I roll my eyes. “Everyone hates you, Delilah. And you’ve managed so far to survive through it all. So deal with this. Or we’ll take our business elsewhere.”
She goes silent again. Then-
“First half now, the other half afterward?”
“Yes,” Knox says.
“The five million?”
I cough. What?
“No,” Knox replies. “Five hundred grand.”
“Four million.”
“Five hundred grand.”
“Don’t try to be smart, Knox.”
He doesn’t even blink. “Let’s just settle for one million. Five hundred now. Five hundred later.”
My mouth falls open. Literally falls open. I turn to him like he’d just suggested selling my organs. He’s negotiating in millions now? For Delilah?
She agrees, of course.
“Deal,” she says, like we’re bartering over a couch on Craigslist. “So, I just go back to him?”
“It’s not that simple,” Knox replies. “Finn needs a huge distraction. And he’s always had a softness for little munchkins.”
“Munchkins?”
The pause is brief, but Knox’s implication isn’t lost on Delilah or me.
“I’m asking you to give him a child, Delilah. All these problems will go away, trust me. I speak from very uncomfortable memories.”
My heart stops. I turn slowly, eyes dragging across the space between us until I’m staring straight at him.
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Chapter 97
His face is perfectly calm. Like he’d just suggested we buy a dog or order takeout. Like asking someone to give birth as a solution to emotional warfare is completely reasonable.
“What the heck,” I say.
“Trust me, Sloane. All you need to do is give Finn a baby to obsess over. He won’t remember you exist. He won’t even remember the mother exists. I’ve seen it before with Lydia.”
