11. Knox
KNOX
I lean against the kitchen counter and watch Audrey walk around the room in one of Bennett’s shirts. Last night was the best night of my life. There’s no question about it. Bennett and I have shared women in the past, but last night with Audrey was different.
She looks over at me. “Why are you staring at me?”
I grin. “Can’t I look at you?”
Her cheeks turn pink. “Yeah, but you’ve been staring at me all morning.”
I wink at her. “I’m probably going to keep doing it.”
She rolls her eyes, but she’s smiling when she turns back toward the coffee maker.
Bennett comes into the kitchen a few seconds later, already dressed for work.
He looks at Audrey first and walks straight up behind her and then bends to kiss her neck. “Morning, sweetness.”
Her face flushes. “Morning.” She picks up her coffee mug with both hands. “I’m going upstairs to shower and get ready. I want to get started on some of those marketing plans today.”
Bennett nods. “Take your time.”
She narrows her eyes at him. “I have a job, remember?”
His mouth twitches. “I remember.”
She looks between us. “And I actually plan to work.”
“Yes, ma’am,” I tell her.
She points at me. “Don’t start.”
I laugh.
She presses a quick kiss to my cheek and then does the same to Bennett before walking out of the kitchen. Both of us watch her go.
As soon as we hear her footsteps on the stairs, I look at Bennett. “We can’t lose her.”
His gaze stays on the doorway. “I know.”
I shake my head. “No, I mean it. Last night was the best night of my life.” I take a deep breath and let it out. “I don’t want to go back to what it was before her.”
Bennett looks at me. “Neither do I.”
I barely got any sleep last night, but I feel alert now. “We need to find Victor and finish this.”
His expression hardens immediately. “We will.”
I shake my head. Bennett doesn’t get it. “I mean now.”
Bennett nods. “I know.”
I lean forward. “As long as he’s out there, she’s going to keep looking over her shoulder.”
Bennett looks toward the stairs and lowers his voice. “We need Victor in custody.”
We talk strategy for a few minutes, brainstorming ideas on how to draw Victor out.
We’re in the middle of discussing all the options when Bennett’s phone starts ringing. He pulls it from his pocket and looks at the screen. His eyebrows lift as he answers. “What?” There’s a long pause, and then he says, “Send it to me.”
He hangs up, and I blurt out, “What happened?”
Bennett looks at me. “We got a message.”
I straighten. “From Victor?”
“I don’t know yet.”
His phone buzzes, and when he opens the message and reads it, his jaw tightens. He turns his phone to show me.
It’s a picture of Audrey leaving the office yesterday. The men are surrounding her, but there is a target drawn around her head.
Underneath the picture is one sentence. You can’t protect her forever.
“Son of a bitch.” I grunt and stand up. “Who sent it?”
He keeps staring at the picture. “The number is blocked, but we know exactly who it was.”
I stand. “She can’t go into work today.”
“I know.” Bennett looks at me and shakes his head. “And she’s not going to like it.”
His phone rings again. Bennett answers it and puts it on speaker. Paul, one of the Kingstons’ men, is on the other end. “Grant Sterling is looking for Audrey.”
Every muscle in my body tightens.
Bennett asks, “How do you know?”
“He walked straight up to security at the club last night and told them.”
Footsteps sound from the hallway, and I look up just as Audrey walks back into the kitchen.
She has changed into jeans and a shirt, and her wet hair is pulled into a ponytail. “Did he say my brother is looking for me?”
Fuck.
Bennett ends the call, and Audrey rushes toward us. “Where is he?”
Bennett and I look at each other, and Audrey pales. “What happened? Is he okay?”
I stand up and put a hand on her shoulder. “Your brother wants to see you. That’s all we know.”
She immediately reaches for her phone in her back pocket.
Bennett grabs her wrist gently. “What are you doing?”
She looks at him like he has two heads. “I’m going to call my brother.”
“No.”
Her eyes snap to his. “Excuse me?”
“We need to figure out what’s going on first.”
She pulls her wrist free. “If Grant needs me, I’m going.”
Bennett shakes his head. “No, you’re not.”
Audrey glares at him. “You can’t tell me what to do.”
I move closer to her. “Audrey, listen to Bennett. We just want you safe.”
She looks up at me, her big blue eyes glistening with unshed tears. “But it’s my brother.”
Bennett is frustrated and rams his hand through his hair. “It could be a trap. Your dad could be setting this whole thing up to get to you.”
Her eyes widen. “It’s my brother. He wouldn’t do that.”
But even as she says it, I can see the doubt on her face. Maybe the brother she once knew would never do that, but the one that is addicted to drugs and under his father’s thumb might if he’s threatened.
I look at Bennett. “Let her arrange a meetup.”
Bennett gives me an angry look. “What are you thinking? Why?”
I nod. “We want Victor. If it’s a trap, we get Victor. If it’s not a trap, we help Grant and bring him to Audrey.”
She looks at Bennett with hope. “Please, this is my brother, Bennett.”
He looks at her, and I know he can’t tell her no. If something happens to her brother, she will never forgive us. “Fine. You arrange a meetup, but you’re not going. We will meet with Grant and bring him to you. If it’s a trap then—”
Audrey cuts him off. “I don’t want to know what you do with my father. I just want my brother.”
Bennett nods in understanding.
Audrey pulls a zip drive from the front pocket of her jeans. “Here. I want you to hold on to this.”
Bennett just stares at the zip drive without taking it. “Why?”
She shrugs. “If anything happens to me, I want you to have it to be able to take my father down.”
Bennett is shaking his head. “Nothing is going to happen to you.”
I pull Audrey into my arms and repeat the same thing Bennett said. “Nothing is going to happen to you.”
Audrey pulls back. “But if it does, I need to know that you will take down my father and save my brother.”
I put my hand on her chin and raise it so she’s looking at me. “Oh, we’re taking down your father. He will never mess with you again.”
I pull her into a hug, and Bennett puts a hand to her back, trying to soothe her. “Arrange a meeting with your brother. We’ll bring him back to you.”
“You promise?” she asks.
“Yes,” Bennett and I say at the same time.
She takes a shaky breath. “I just want my brother out.” She texts her brother, and I help her arrange a meeting spot and time.
He wants neutral territory, but he doesn’t realize that there is no neutral territory anymore.
We’ve been working on expanding the Kingston area, and that’s exactly what we’ve done.
“We’re going to get him out,” I tell Audrey after the plans are set. I stroke her hair. “But we need you to do something for us.”
She leans back. “What?”
“We’re going to take you to Robert and Eleanor’s house.”
Her forehead creases, and she looks at Bennett. “You’re taking me to your parents? Why?”
“Because Knox and I need to go look into this.”
She shakes her head. “No.”
“Audrey—” I start, but she stops me.
“No. If my dad wants me, why would you take me to your father’s house and put your family in danger? No. I’ll sit right here.”
Bennett’s jaw tightens. “You will be safe there.”
She’s shaking her head. “No. I already regret getting you two involved. If something happens to either of you…”
She sucks in a deep breath and doesn’t finish.
I pull her into my arms. “We’re coming back.”
She holds me tightly. I press my lips to the top of her head and try to reassure her.
I lean back enough to look into her face. I need to make sure she understands what I’m saying to her. “Audrey, we finally found the woman who belongs between us. We’re coming back to you, and when you’re ready, you’re going to officially be ours.”
She blinks up at me, and I see all the thoughts whirling in her head. She’s scared and hopeful all at once.
Bennett strokes her hair. “We’re coming back to you, honey.”
I meet his gaze over Audrey’s head, and no words are needed.
We both know exactly what this is now. Audrey Sterling is ours, and we’re going to do whatever it takes to make sure she stays that way.