I didn’t even want to think about it, maddened to the point of insanity. Small hands made their way around my bicep, tugging at me, and I realized how clamped up I was.
She touched my face. “He’s why you threatened me.” That realization she discovered now too, cringing with damp eyes. “Oh my God, Knight.”
I brought chaos into this girl’s life, none of it deserved. I shook my head. “I fucked up, Greer. I fucked up, and I hurt you.”
“No—”
I removed her hands. “I fucking did, and I don’t even have the words. All that terrible shit I did to you…”
Her hands touched me again, and I didn’t fucking deserve it, none of this. She should run the far fuck away, who I was a monster just like every other demon that plagued the town I came from. I could add my grandpa to that list now, a true devil in sheep’s clothing. He may have had his own reasons, but the end far from hell justified the means. He was just as cruel, just as sick as everyone else.
Greer’s fingers curled against my jaw, and I actually shuddered, taking her hand. I kissed it. “I’m so fucking sorry.”
“Just stop. Stop, okay? Look at me.”
I did, cringing. “How can you even look at me right now?” Because she was and not in the terror she should. There was so much sympathy in her eyes, empathy even. She was being understanding when she fucking shouldn’t.
She let go of me after that, but only to jerk her pant leg above her ankle. On her pale skin was a scar, the gruesome remains of a bite mark in a location I was well aware of. Old Man Peabody’s dog had bitten her there, another way I’d failed her. I let her get fucking bitten that day. I should have taken care of that dog sooner.
“I have to admit,” she said, chewing her lip a little. “Back then, I didn’t understand. It’s still hard for me.” She let go and touched my jaw. “But now, I need to.”
Her mouth touched mine, and I couldn’t breathe, my arm gripping around her and bringing her close. She shouldn’t let me kiss her. She shouldn’t let me have any of this, but I pulled her into my lap, teasing her mouth open with my tongue.
She sighed as her arms fell around me, her heat giving my body life. My phone rang, and I wanted to ignore it, to have this and not let her go, but I knew I couldn’t.
I eased her away. “It might be my lawyers about my mom,” I said, pulling it out. “They’re trying to get me through all this red tape with my grandpa.”
They were trying to get me her, and not only did Greer understand that, she waited for me to look at my phone. I saw Nigel, my grandpa’s driver, and was instantly livid. My nostril’s flared.
Greer frowned. “Who is it?”
“My grandpa’s driver,” I said before taking a breath and swiping to take the call. “Nigel, you can tell my grandpa—”
“I’m at the hospital with him, sir.”
I sat up. “Hospital?”
Greer looked at me, frowning again. She moved closer, but I didn’t move, the phone firmly planted against my ear.
“Yes, sir,” Nigel continued, his voice gruff, strained. “And I wish I could bring you better news, but…”
I heard the pumping blood in my ears, my eyes staring at nothing but everything as I waited for him to speak. He did, and I just about allowed the phone to leave my hand.
“You know how his heart was,” he continued, emotion in the man’s voice. “I got him here quick, sir, but… it was just too late.”
“Knight, what’s going on?”
I faced Greer, Nigel still speaking to me. I could say nothing to her. I could say nothing to him. He was telling me my grandpa had died.
He was telling me my grandpa had had a heart attack.
Chapter Twenty-Five
Greer
Life had a way of handing us things beyond our control sometimes, and in Knight’s case, that ended up being what allowed Knight’s mom to both be taken and returned to him in the end. A lot of that red tape his grandpa put him through to keep his mom away ended up dissolving, though tragically considering the circumstances. His grandpa had fought him to the end, and that may have been the very thing that had triggered his heart attack, something Knight not only dealt with but had been the bigger person in the end. He handled all the arrangements, was there for his grandpa even in death and even with divided attention. His mom was priority now that he’d finally gained power of attorney over her, but even still, he gave his grandpa a proper send off.
Like I said, way bigger than probably most would have been.
His grandpa’s “protection” had been under the form of pain and suffering, a heavy hand, and Knight not only rose above it, but did all he could to correct. His mom was out of that nursing home the next day, flown up state for the best care and his doctors. He took care of her, was by her side even while balancing school and his grandpa’s funeral. He got everything done, and when
