“Martha,” Knox warns, but she’s too far gone to listen.
“You sleep with Knox, you sleep with this man, and God knows who else. And you’re not even thin.”
“Martha!” Knox’s voice is pure ice, and she turns to look at him, her face draining of color when she sees the fury on his.
“She’s not good for you.”
“That is not for you to decide.”
“I’ve watched over you since you were a little boy.”
“I’m not a boy anymore, and I need you to leave. I’ll get you a ticket home, and you can clear out your room. I’m sure my parents can use you back at their compound.”
“You’re choosing her over me?”
“Every damn time. Now, please go pack your things so you’re ready when the taxi arrives.” She starts to sob, but he’s not done. “Leave your keys on the counter. I’ll have someone from my new security company waiting to watch you pack and turn everything in back home.”
I walk up behind him, and place my hands on his biceps, kissing him in the middle of his back. “I’m sorry that happened.”
“You have nothing to apologize for,” he tells me, turning to pull me into his arms. “Eat some breakfast. We have to leave as soon as she’s gone.”
I grab a plate, and load it up with fruit and eggs. Since we’re eating buffet style, I’m not worried about being poisoned. Besides, I don’t think she had the time. Thank God for small favors, and big ones, too.
Knox
I knew Martha was getting out of hand, but I didn’t realize it had gotten so bad. I step outside to call my mom, and let her know what went down.
“You fired Martha?” she asks as soon as the call connects.
“News apparently travels fast,” I say with a sigh. “Did she tell you she was insulting my girlfriend on a daily basis?”
“Girlfriend? You have a girlfriend? Is she the woman in the video?”
“Yes, yes, and yes.”
“She was so brave, and fierce. She’s giving you hell, isn’t she?”
“All day, every day.”
“I like her already. I am going to meet her, aren’t I?”
“She’ll be in coming back to San Diego with me. She’s working for me, doing some research.”
It’s not a complete lie, so I don’t feel completely bad. My grandma set me up with the Society, but we didn’t tell my parents. I don’t want to worry them any more than I have to. They know about the threats of course, but I convinced them everything was already handled.
We told Martha, because she was going to be here with us, and I wanted to be able to speak freely in the house. Plus, she was at my house back home when everything happened, and she needed to be questioned. She doesn’t know it’s the Society protecting me, she just thinks Waverly’s a personal security expert. Which she is.
“I can’t wait to meet her. We’ll deal with Martha.”
“Thanks, Mom. I love you.”
“Love you too, Knox.”
I smile, because my mom seriously rocks, and turn to walk back inside. I don’t get far as Kendrick’s standing in the doorway, holding his glass of orange juice. “I was expecting you. I just didn’t know when.”
“She’s happy with you. That’s all that matters to me.”
“No death threat?”
“It’s implied.”
“Fair enough. I have a question for you while we’re alone.”
“I’m all ears.”
“How much did you pay that man?”
“Klas? That’s none of your business.”
“She wouldn’t say his name.”
“She thinks it gives him power, but he’s dead, and I don’t believe he can rise, so I see no harm in it.”
“I want to pay you what you paid him.”
“Why would you want to do that?” he asks, tilting his head and studying me like I’m a foreign species.
“I love her, and I don’t want her to feel like she’s in debt to you.”
“She doesn’t.”
“I think maybe she does a little bit. You did that, and now you’re giving her money from the hotels. You’ve been taking care of her for years. It’s time she took care of herself.”
“How is you paying me money I don’t want going to allow her to do that?”
“I don’t know,” I admit, pulling at my hair. “I just want to do something, anything to help her.”
“From what she told me earlier, you helped her exorcise a demon I didn’t even know had its claws in her. Just keep being there for her, and loving her. That’s all she needs.”
“She told you I helped her?”
“Yes, Knox. Waverly doesn’t need you to buy her things, or take her places. All she’s ever needed is for someone to care. I’ve always cared for her, but in a different way. She didn’t know she needed romantic love, but now she does. Don’t fuck it up.”
“I don’t plan to.”
“I think we could be friends.”
“Me too.”
We walk back inside, and my girl runs over to me. “Did he threaten you?”
“Of course.”
“Dammit!”
“I expected it, and we’re friends now.”
“So we’re okay?”
Once again, I kiss her instead of answering. I can’t promise her anything, because other things are going on outside of our relationship. Promises I made to myself and others that I can’t break. Not even for her.
17
Knox
Leaving South Africa is bittersweet. It’s where I claimed the woman I love, but it’s also where things have started to fall apart. My swimming has been for shit all week, but I’ve had Waverly in my bed every night. I keep holding on to hope that things will get better once I’m back home in my own pool, with my regular training team. If not, I don’t know what I’m going to do.
“Are you okay, Knox?” she asks me as the plane gets ready to take off.
“Yeah. Just thinking about going home.”
“Thank you for bringing us here. You didn’t know what it would mean to me when you made your choice—and honestly, I didn’t either—but it was just what I needed. All of it.”
“I’m glad I could give this to you,” I tell her, and I mean it. She’s starting to heal, and it’s a beautiful thing.
“We should come back sometime. Maybe after the Games.”
“Maybe.”
“Or we can go somewhere else.”
“I don’t even know if I’m going to qualify, and I don’t want to jinx myself, so can we please not talk about it?”
“Of course you’re going to qualify.”
“I asked you to stop,” I say, standing up and moving to a seat next to Cohen. I hear her sharp intake of breath, but I’m too lost in myself to tell her I’m sorry.
He looks between me and Waverly, giving me a glare that lets me know he thinks I’m crazy. “You made her cry with her best friend on the plane? Not to mention two female badasses who are friends of hers, too. You must have a death wish.”
“You’ve seen my swim times. What do I have to live for right now?”
“Um, Waverly?”
“Yeah, well, you can see how that’s going at the moment.”
“I can see she’s turned to the window and covered herself with a blanket since no one else saw her crying yet. Even when you hurt her, she’s still protecting you. But, by all means, don’t try and hold onto that.”
“She kept talking about what we’d do after the Games. If I keep swimming like I have the last week, there’s no chance of that.”
“It’s not her fault you can’t concentrate.”
“Really? You’re going with that?”
“Yeah, I am. She makes you happier than I’ve ever seen you before. In, or out, of the water.”
“One more Games.”
“You know I’ll support you no matter what, but I think you’re wrong in this situation.”
“Oh, I am. That’s not even a question.,”
I tell him honestly. “I’ll apologize when we land, and then we’ll go from there.”
“Good luck.”
I don’t need luck. I need skill. I have skill. I also have a woman who won’t leave my mind, even when I need her to.
Waverly
“I’m sorry,” Knox says, sliding into the seat next to mine as we prepare for landing.
After he yelled at me, I pretended to sleep, and then really did fall asleep. I can tell he did, too, since he looks rested, if not at peace. I don’t know what’s going on with him, but since he doesn’t appear to want to share, I have to let it go for now.
“I wasn’t trying to upset you.”
“I know. It’s just everyone thinks it’s a given, and I don’t like to count on things until they actually happen.”
“I can understand that.”
“So we’re good.”
“Good is pushing it a little. Okay for the moment is more like it.”
“How about I bring home some dinner and we can sit by my fire pit and snuggle? It’s no caged daybed, but it’s pretty nice.”
I’m sure it is, but I’m also sure he’s had girls around that pit with him more times than I want to think about. I’ve seen the videos, because his security cameras used to function, and I reviewed all the tapes before we flew across the world.
“We’ll see.”
“Give me something, Wave. I said I was sorry.”
“I know. Let’s just see how the day goes, okay?”
He looks like he wants to argue, but he stops himself. “Okay.”
We part ways at the airport, with Knox and Cohen going to the Knox’s family compound where his training pool is at, Isa and I going to meet with Aiden at Knox’s house, and Ken and Matisse going back to Vegas.
He took her all over Cape Town in the days before we left, showing her the places he’d missed. She even went diving with him and Cohen. I’ll miss them, but I know I’ll be seeing them soon.
I already miss Knox, and we’re in the same city. He kissed me before he left, but things still aren’t okay. We both know it, even though I’m the only one who will say it out loud.
Knox’s house is amazing. I know his parents bought it for him four years ago, because things got too crazy for him to live in an apartment, and he didn’t want to live at home. It’s the one thing he agreed to take from them, because he needed it.
There are four bedrooms, six bathrooms, two pools, basketball and tennis courts, a movie theater, a fitness center and that damn fire pit. There’s also a therapy center complete with ice baths, massage tables, and anything else a physical therapist would need to help keep him ready to compete. Behind the leisure pool is a guest house with two bedrooms that Martha used to live in.
“We should be comfortable in there,” I tell Isa.
She raises an eyebrow at me. “You’re not sleeping with Knox?”
“You’ve seen the videos.”
“Videos?” Aiden asks.
“When the cameras were working, they captured Knox entertaining. Vigorously entertaining,” Isa tells him, not needing me to clarify.
“There aren’t cameras in his bedroom.”
It’s me who answers. “No, but there are ones leading there. We watched them before I really knew him, and made bets on how many women he’d take in there on any given night.”
“Teeg won every time,” Isa informs him.
“Of course she did,” he says, shaking his head, and turning back to me. “And you’re freaked out by it?”
“Grossed out is more like it.”
“All I can tell you is that no matter how many women a man sleeps with, the only one who matters to him is the last one he chooses to spend his life with. And yes, that’s sappy, and yes, I’m speaking from personal experience.”
“Thanks, Aid, but I’m just not okay with being a bed that’s been used more than one I’d find in a cheap motel.”
“I get it. Just try and keep an open mind when you tell him. There’s nothing wrong with a single guy—or girl—getting their sex on.”
“I totally agree. I slept with him in Africa. I just can’t do it here.”
“You’ll figure it out,” Isa says. “In the meantime, we have work to do.”
We take care of that work for the next several hours. Aiden shows us all the security measures he put in place with help from Ainsley’s team, and we tell him what we know. After, we Skype with Reina, Ainsley, and Tegan, who have more information for us. We’re all in agreement that the situation is what we think it is, but we haven’t found the woman yet, and her accomplice is still too close to Knox. Right now, we’re in a waiting game, and I really hate to wait.
Knox
“Dammit!” I yell, once Cohen and I are alone in my car.
My times were even worse today, and my coaches ripped me a new one. Waverly’s name was mentioned, and I couldn’t deny it, because she is the reason I can’t clear my mind anymore. I have to put things on hold with her, for the good of both of us. If I don’t make the team because I can’t stop thinking of her. I’ll resent her, and I don’t want to do that.
“You were probably tired from the flight,” Coh says, trying to salvage something he can’t.
“We all know that’s not it.”
“Have you talked to her about it at all?”
“No. I was hoping it was just an Africa thing.”
“So you’re just going to blindside her?”
“No. I’m going to talk to her, and explain things. One more Games, and then I can have a normal life.”
“I think she’ll wait if that’s what you’re planning. You just have to tell her what’s going on.”
“That’s the plan.”
The plan goes out the window when I walk into the house, and see no sign of Waverly. She’s not in any of the main rooms, and her suitcase isn’t in my bedroom, or any others. I walk outside, and hear laughter coming from the open windows of the guest house. Stalking across the pool deck, I push open the door without knocking. Sure enough, Waverly’s there with Isa.
“Where are your things?”
“My clothes? They’re in the bedroom upstairs.”
“You’re not sleeping with me?” I ask, letting my frustration turn into anger.
“I’m going to leave you two alone,” Isa says, giving Wave a smile before bounding up the stairs.
“I can’t sleep with you in that bed.”
“Excuse me?”
“Your security cameras used to work, and I’ve seen the footage. I’ve seen the endless stream of women you brought into your room.”
“You have got to be kidding me! I never claimed to be a saint, or a virgin.”
“It’s not about that. I just…I can’t be in a bed you shared with them.”
“You’re sleeping in one upstairs.”
“You don’t even know what room I’m in.”
“Exactly.”
“Martha lived in this house, so I know better. Stop trying to bait me.”
“I can’t believe I wanted to give us a chance.”
“We can still be together.”
“How? I’m not moving.”
“Could you get a new bed?”
“I could, but I shouldn’t have to. I love my bed. I guess I can get a new one, but are you going to do something for me? Maybe lose a few pounds? You’re not the type I usually go for.”
Her head snaps back like I punched her. “Don’t do this.”
“Do what? Tell it like it is? How much money did Klas think he could get for you? Wasn’t he concerned about your size?”
I know I’m way out of line, but I can’t stop myself, even if I don’t mean what I’m saying. I’m angry about the bed, but it’s more than that. Her waiting for me isn’t going to solve my problem. I need her out of my life, even if it might damage us both beyond repair.
“Yes,” she says quietly. “He made me starve myself because he said no one wanted to fuck a fat girl. If I snuck some food because I was hungry,
he would punish me. I suffered for years. It wasn’t until I was in this country that I could eat a full meal.”
Oh God, no. “Wave, I didn’t mean it.”
“I think you did. I think you’ve tried to pretend you’re okay with the way I look, but you’re not. This is the second time you’ve brought up me losing weight. The thing is, I don’t need your approval. I don’t want it. When I escaped, I promised myself I’d always be true to me, and I have. I became healthy, and I love my body.”
“I love it, too.” I have to say it, even though I’m trying to push her away. Hurting her is killing me.
“Don’t lie to me. You’re better than that.”
I’m not lying, but how can I convince her of that after what I said? How could I even say those things? I was hurt, and I was also looking for a reason to make ending things with her easier for me. Instead, I insulted her, and now she’s looking at me like she doesn’t know me. I don’t know me right now, so I don’t blame her. There has to be some way to salvage something, anything. Even if we can’t be together, I don’t want to lose her completely.
“Where do we go from here?”
“You go back to your house, and I’ll stay in here and do my job. Isa or someone else will go to training with you. I just have one thing to ask you.”
“Anything,” I say, and I mean it.
“Please don’t flaunt your women in my face.”
“Never.” There won’t be other women, so it’s an easy promise to make.
“Thank you. I should get back to work.”
“You’re beautiful, Wave.”
“I know.”
There’s so much more I want to say to her, but now’s not the time. I’ve bent her, but she’s not broken. That’s the only thing allowing me to walk out right now. She’ll be okay. I won’t, but she will.
Waverly
I wait until he’s gone before I fall to the floor. How? How could he say those things to me? He said he loved me, but he hates me. He has to. No one who loved someone would say those things, especially more than once.
“Wave!” Isa yells. I hear her running down the stairs, and then she’s on the floor next to me. “What happened?”
“He was angry, and he said things,” I sob, trying not to choke because I’m crying so hard. “It’s over.”
Waverly (Socierty Girls #4) Page 13