Chapter 9 Knox
KNOX
“And we meet again,” I said with a grin.
“I have some information for you, and you’re not going to like it,” Monroe said.
“What’s up, beautiful?” I asked.
“Call me that again and I’ll remove your lips from your face. The prosecution in your case isn’t working alone.”
“The hell does that mean?” I asked.
“Gabriel Potter is working with the assistant U.S. attorney to build a RICO case against your club.”
“The fuck?”
“You have to tell me everything, Knox. This is serious. The assistant U.S. attorney is a bull in the courtroom. He knows how to sway a jury and cherry-pick them to suit his own needs. It’s psychological warfare with him, and the only thing we can do is bring as many facts to the table as we can.”
“The hell they wanting me to do?” I asked. “And how the fuck, are you gonna get me outta here?”
“First off, you need to shut that mouth. I’m not the one you’re upset with,” she said.
“Well you’re the only one here for me to yell at, so I’m gonna yell.”
“Calm your voice or I’ll get that guard to haul you off.”
“You like watching a man being jerked around?” I asked.
Her eyes connected with mine as a grin spread across my cheeks.
She looked hot today. Tight black pants and a free-flowing blouse.
A suit jacket buttoned to accentuate that delicate waist she had and eyeliner that made her emerald eyes pop.
Her hair was tied back into a low bun on her neck.
Perfect for me to grab onto while those pouty lips of hers sucked my cock.
“If you insist on imagining me in whatever positions you’ve got going on in your mind, you’ll rot in here,” Monroe said.
I felt my grin falter as a smirk spread across her face.
“I like a woman with instinct,” I said.
“You better like a woman who gets you out of jail. Because right now, I’m all you’ve got,” she said.
“Whatcha need from me?” I asked.
“Everything you can give me, and you can’t hold back. Why the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act is being used against you and your club. What you guys have gotten yourselves into? People who could vouch for your character in case we had to bring them onto a stand.”
“You don’t already know this shit?” I asked. “Haven’t done your research.”
“I want to hear it from you.”
“Why?”
“Because I’m still learning how to figure out when you're lying to me and when you’re telling the truth,” she said.
“The hell you wanna learn that anyway?”
“Because trust works both ways in this game.”
“This ain’t a game.”
“We have to play it like it is. Now you can tell me what I need to know, or you can stay here under threat,” she said.
I drew in a deep breath as I settled back into my chair.
“People think we launder money,” I said.
“What channels do they think you use?” she asked.
“They think we filter the money through the stores we own in town to clean it before we use it.”
“Do they think you filter money through any other avenues outside of the town?”
“They think we also hold it in our lodge in the woods surrounding the town ‘til the heat dies down off it.”
“What else do people think you and your club are capable of?” she asked.
Her eyes were intense on mine, and I felt my walls slowly sliding down. There was no judgment in her eyes like there was the last time we talked. There was no heat in her voice or any kind of disgust in her eyes.
Something had changed, and I wanted to know what.
“If I tell you, you gotta tell me,” I said. “Information goes both ways.”
“Then tell me what I want,” Monroe said.
“Promise to answer my questions?”
She clenched her jaw as I darted my tongue out to lick my lips.
I saw her eyes drop to my lips for a split second and my cock started to lurch to life.
Oh, she wanted this. The way her eyes sparkled when she looked at me and the way she leaned forward on the table.
Trying to get closer to me even though we had to be on opposite sides of the table.
I bet I could slip my fingers between her legs without the guards even noticing if she let me sit beside her.
“Promise,” Monroe said.
“People think we work with some badass families. They think we hide and clean their money for a price or some shit. I don’t know. It’s weird,” I said.
“Anything else people think?” she asked.
“Nah. That’s all I hear ‘round town. But it’s all bogus.”
“Of course,” she said. “Always is.”
“Far as people who can vouch for me, I got a whole club ready to step up to the plate,” I said.
“I need people outside of your club.”
“Do you count?” I asked with a grin.
“I don’t know your character.”
“I could make you familiar with it, if ya wanted”
I watched her cheeks taint with a very lustful blush as she sat up and cleared her throat.
“Do you have anyone you associate with outside of the club that could vouch for your character? You know, the kind of man you are?” Monroe asked.
“Nope. Sorry.”
“What about your mother?”
“Haven’t spoken to her in years,” I said.
“I take it you haven’t with your sister either?” she asked.
It was the way she asked the question that threw my guard back up.
My eyes hardened onto her as she studied me intently.
Her eyes were dancing along my body, registering my every reaction to her statement as I tried to clear my mind.
The last thing I needed was someone else finding out the truth about Canyon.
I wasn’t gonna let someone drag her or my mother up to a stand to try and defend me.
It would only make them targets.
“You’re hiding something from me,” Monroe said.
“I told you everything I know,” I said.
“Not everything,” she said. “I know when people are hiding things.”
“You had a lot hidden from you during your life?” I asked.
“I’m the one asking the questions.”
“And you promised to answer mine once I was done. Now I’m done, and it’s time for you to hold up your end of the bargain.”
“You aren’t done. I know you’re hiding something. What are you hiding from me, Knox?”
“Plenty,” I said. “But it ain’t got nothing to do with this case.”
I almost snarled at her. The hell did this woman think I was gonna do?
I sure as hell wasn’t gonna tell her every little damn thing about my club.
And if she thought I was gonna fucking tell her the truth about my family, then she could go throw herself off a damn cliff.
I didn’t care how tight she thought her pussy was, there wasn’t a woman in the world worth having if it meant I had to spew that knowledge to her.
I already had one rat bastard talking about my life already. I didn’t need another.
“I take deals and promises very seriously, Mr. Knox,” Monroe said.
“I like it when you call me that,” I said with a grin.
“Until you can answer my questions in full, my end of your fun little bargain won’t be held up,” she said.
“So, you aren’t gonna be a good little girl and answer my questions?”
“No. I’m going to be your good little lawyer and get you out of this mess. Then I’ll throw you to the government and see what they can do with you. I’m sure it won’t look very good to your club if you’re in the hands of the assistant U.S. attorney, even if you don’t intend on saying anything.”
“Rose won’t allow that,” I said.
“Rose isn’t here,” she said. “It’s only you and me. Trust, respect, and honor works both ways. You want it from me? You give it yourself.”
The fire in her eyes was unmistakable. She was a force to be reckoned with, and I wanted her on my side.
I watched her get up from the table, her body gliding across the floor in the flat shoes she was in.
Her legs were strong and her shoulders were rolled back, and the confidence she walked with was tantalizing.
I bet she was headstrong like that in bed, too.
“Miss Williams?” I asked.
I heard her stop walking as I craned my head back to see her.
“I take family seriously. If it ain’t important to the case, I won’t tell you about them. Get used to that,” I said.
Then Monroe turned on her heels and was out the door in a flash.