Chapter 22
KNOX
When I was a young kid, one of the things I loved most in life was sitting with my mother and listening to her read books.
She had this beautiful voice that always soothed the dark, violent tendencies in my soul.
Our dad died from a sudden cardiac arrest when I was five.
So it was my mom and Hugh who had raised me.
When my mom realized that I had symptoms of psychopathy—after finding me with a dead rabbit on more than one occasion—she started to read stories to me.
She hoped that they would instill a sense of empathy in me, that they would make me think of people as people when the voices in my head telling me to harm them got really loud. But it never really worked.
I sat through them because I loved my mother.
I loved how her voice got dreamy when the hero of the story treated the heroine with care and gentleness, how it got proud when he fought for the right, and how she got mad at the atrocities and injustice in the world.
Her eyes would light up when good triumphed.
Her heart would shatter when innocent people had to pay the price for evil.
Every story gave me an insight into what made my mother happy.
One story she loved to read, and I loved to hear, was the tale of Beauty and the Beast. While I always thought my mom rooted for the good men—the heroes in the stories—here, she rooted for the beast who’d kidnapped the innocent girl. “But you always hate the villains, Mom,” I’d exclaimed.
She’d only smiled at that. “Son, some heroes look like the beast. But they’re the ones who deserve the beauty.”
It was our favorite fairy tale.
And my little criminal was bringing my fairy tale back to life.
I was just as entranced by her as I was by the fairy tale when I’d first heard it.
So when she asked me to stop staring at her scarred side, I couldn't turn my eyes away. She was my fairy tale come to life. “I can’t.”
My voice was something between fury and awe, my mind battling between a raging monster and an unhinged beast. I wanted to tear apart the world to find the monster who created this version of her, who made her suffer through sheer torture and agony.
Even more than that, I wanted to tear off her clothes and worship her body. I wanted to lick her scars and drink her tears.
Her eyes glistened, and she pursed her lips, trying to free herself from under me. Her body twisted and turned, but all it did was inflame the fire pulsing in my veins, hardening my cock to the point of pain.
My eyes moved over the side of her face that someone had thrown acid on, the side of her face that she’d kept hidden from me.
The right side of her face was stretched like melted candle wax.
The pain that she’d have had to endure was unimaginable.
The patchwork of healthy skin over half of her face showed me she had undergone skin grafting.
A sharp, line of ridged skin dragged from right under her eye to the side of her jaw in a dramatic diagonal slash.
Her eye was slightly drooping, while her lip was turned into a small, permanent smirk.
A little bit of her ear was missing as well.
My blood rushed under my skin like a tsunami. The rage bubbled so hot in my veins that I was afraid my skin would start melting off my bones. Someone had dared to harm my little criminal.
“Stop looking, damn you,” she gritted, averting her eyes.
Someone had made her uncomfortable in her own skin. Someone had inflicted so much pain on my beauty, my own sense of morality was starting to burn along its sharp edges.
I hated that she looked away. I nudged the axe blade from under her chin and turned it so her eyes were pointed back at me. “Look at me.”
She glared at me in silence, her eyes shining with defiance.
I threw the axe behind me and lightly brushed my thumb along her scarred cheek. “I always thought you were the most beautiful woman I’d ever seen in my life. Your fucking eyes haunted me in my dreams. Your mischievous smile made my cock hard.”
I pushed my cock against her stomach, and she gasped at my hardness.
Now that I was seeing her scars, her true beauty shone as bright as the stars.
While some of her physical appearance wasn’t the stereotypical perfect anymore, she was the embodiment of true strength, raw power, and sheer resilience.
She made the beast inside me fucking roar for her.
That dark, ruthless part of me wanted to kidnap my beauty, hide her in my castle, and avenge her with my fist and fury.
We were…“Beauty and the Beast,” I whispered in awe.
A loud bang echoed in the room as searing pain raced down the inside of my leg.
Her eyes burned with fury as she grabbed the front of my T-shirt in her fist. “That’s for calling me a beast.”
My vision blurred, and my mind got hazy. She must’ve misunderstood me. So I leaned down over her, putting all my weight on her body. “I’m the Beast, my beauty. You’re my fairy tale.”
My words jumbled and my eyes closed, and with the thought of my little criminal, I lost consciousness.
A god-awful smell of rotten meat and the sound of loud panting near my ears had me jolting awake. My mind pushed me to move, but I felt chains wrapped around my torso.
My head snapped to the large dog with a bone in his mouth, standing over my knee. He gave a loud bark, dropping the bone in my lap, and lunged at me. I immediately arched my neck back, trying to get away from the vicious teeth of my bestie. “No, Shadow,” I snapped. “We’re friends, remember?”
His jaw snapped shut, and my racing heart calmed for a second. I kept my eyes trained on Shadow while the spot my little criminal had shot burned like a bitch. “Good boy. I know I forgot to bring the bone, but you know me. No biting. And I’ll get you your favorite bone.”
Shadow tilted his head, as if trying to read my fucking soul. The large fucker immediately turned and let loose, barking up a storm. Seems like he found my soul lacking.
Smart of my girl to leave the dog with me. The fucker didn’t give me a second to take in my surroundings and plan my exit.
The door to the room slammed open, and in walked my beauty.
My little criminal. My woman, who shot me in the fucking leg without batting an eye.
Because she thought I called her a beast. My girl was clearly very sensitive about her scars.
Noted. I could forgive her this one time for shooting me because of a misunderstanding.
But what made my blood run hot and had fury coursing through my veins was that motherfucking mask was back on, covering half of her face. How dare she hide from me?
As if she were blind to the rage pouring off my skin, she stood in front of me, her arms folded against her chest. “How do you feel, Lieutenant Steele?”
Fuck, my name on her lips made my cock fucking hard. But right now, a much stronger emotion pumped through my blood. I gritted my teeth and glared daggers at her masked face. “Lose the mask.”
“Fuck you.”
I smirked. “You’ll have to untie me first.”
Her face tilted, and she arched her eyebrow. “Do I, though?”
The mask was hiding half of her expression. “Lose the fucking mask.”
Her jaw tightened. “No.”
If I wasn’t tied up, I’d have snatched that insulting little piece and burned it to the ground. “Lose. The. Mask.”
She gritted her teeth, her hands cutting a frustrated arc in the air. “Why?” Her shout had Shadow barking as he started to run around her.
My own anger rose to the surface as I yelled back, “That’s the real you, isn’t it?”
Her entire body froze, her eyes widening and her shoulders dropping.
As if all the wind had left her angry sail.
And I knew I’d hit a very painful nerve.
I wasn’t going to apologize for it either.
Someone had splashed acid on her beautiful face.
They were the ones who should’ve had to hide their pathetic existence from the world, not my little criminal.
Hiding her scars was an insult to the battle she had won.
I won’t let her.
“Why are you here?” Her voice was a breathy sigh of exasperation.
“Remove your mask.”
With a loud growl—that was just pure adorable—she snapped off her mask. “Happy now?” she snarled. Immediately, Shadow jumped on her and licked her face, making her giggle.
That one sound. That one trickle of joy that escaped her lips. I wanted to consume it. Consume her. My heart crashed against my chest, thrashing within my ribs, needing to hear her giggle again.
I was riveted by the way her lips stretched into that smile. One side, soft as silk, another, a proof of her power. I was utterly consumed by her heart-stopping face and just as jealous of her monstrous dog that got to lick it so freely.
A growl reverberated through my chest, and my lips curled in a snarl, and I realized my eyes were glued to the damn dog.
The smile immediately dropped from her face, and my heart gave an idiotic pinch in my chest. She, once again, crossed her arms against her chest and glared daggers at me. “Now, tell me. What the fuck do you want? Why are you following me?”
I met her eyes and raised my eyebrows. “That’s how a relationship between a detective and a criminal works. Cops go after criminals.”
She laughed mockingly. “Do cops also install recording devices in a criminal’s house?”
“For intel, of course.”
“Do you also steal all your other suspects’ underwear? Come on them?”
My lips twitched at her ballsy question. “Apparently, only the pretty ones.” Only fucking hers, actually.
Our delightful banter had my cock going full mast. But my leg was starting to throb again. She must’ve injected me with pain meds because what was merely a sense of discomfort was starting to hurt like a motherfucker.
But I was used to a little pain and tried to push it to the back of my mind. Which also meant I was losing patience. Before she could ask me any further questions, I snapped, “My turn now. What’s your name? You know mine. It’s only fair you tell me yours.”
This wasn’t the fucking question I should’ve been asking. I was a detective, for fuck’s sake. A hundred other questions would’ve been more useful. But apparently, my beast was leading this little interview.
Her eyebrows rose in surprise, and she shook her head. “Criminals don’t hand out ammunition to cops.”
My heart sank a little. And thankfully, my brain decided to join the interview. “What’s Wildcats?”
One side of her lip twitched. “Thought you’d have guessed it already.”
“Vigilantes. How many of you are there?”
“Don’t ask stupid questions.” She moved behind me and came back, dragging a chair, then took a seat right across from me. Enough distance to fit her obnoxious dog between us, who stared at me with just as much mistrust as his mommy.
“Is Dominic Park your boss?”
She couldn’t stop the indignant and insulted scoff. Apparently, Dominic Park wasn’t their boss. Then why the hell were all the properties of Wildcats under his name? Was he a part of the team? Was he a client? How the hell did he start working with them?
My mind flashed to his girlfriend. The muscled woman who was by his side and giving an emotional interview to us when I went to meet them at the clinic after he was shot. The puzzle started to piece together.
“Dominic’s girlfriend. She’s one of you. Isn’t she?”
Her expression didn’t waver, but I saw the subtle flex of her jaw. So I continued, “Dominic hired you ladies to find his sister’s rapists. You found them for him, he fell for the muscly one, and now he’s funding your corporation. Or is it an organization? A group?”
Her eyes twitched. My lips stretched into a smile. “I know I’m right. Thanks for the confirmation.”
She loosened her hands from around the dog, and the giant fucker instantly leaped at my face.
I laughed. “Good move.”
Once she’d grabbed him back between her legs, I tested all my restraints once again, showing her that I was getting pissy about them. “Now, what’s your plan with me? You can’t kidnap a cop without consequences. You’ve already shot a cop. I have the grounds to arrest you right here, right now.”
Her lips curled in a smile, and she waggled her eyebrows at me. “Why do you think you’re tied up?”
“You can’t keep me tied up forever.”
“Watch me.”
My stomach gave an obnoxiously loud rumble at that.
I chuckled. Shadow barked. My little criminal smiled. Involuntarily.
I raised my eyebrows. “Well. Are you going to starve me as well?”
Her lips pursed in thought as if she was thinking of doing just that. But to help her make a sound decision, I added, “You know, your crimes against a cop are slowly piling up, my beauty. Let’s not add starving a cop to the growing list, shall we?”
She growled at that and stomped out of the door she came from, Shadow trotting behind her like her little buddy. Stupid fucking dog, staring at her tight little ass all day.