Knight, p.4
Knight, page 4
I see a few guys at the table wearing Grim Sinners Rebels cuts. Knight taps their shoulders on the way to our table.
I slide into the booth with Annie and Knight is across from us. “Can I have an apple juice, please?” Annie asks the waitress without even looking at the menu.
“Sure, sweetheart.” She smiles at her, and I run my hand down the back of her head. “Can I have a water with lemon please?” I tell her and Knight orders the same thing.
“What did you do in school today?” I ask Annie.
She scoots closer and opens the little kids coloring page with the little crayons. “It was so fun. The teacher let Penny sit next to me and we had so much fun talking. We even played dolls on the playground.”
I look at Knight, happy that they’re such good friends. “I’m so happy, maybe she can come over for a sleepover soon.”
I swear you could have pushed her over with a feather. “Oh please!”
I laugh and Knight joins me. “Well, Royal is my friend so I think I can make it happen.”
If there was any doubt that Annie didn’t like Knight, it is gone in a split second when he said that to her.
“Oh please!” She puts her hands in front of her body fisted together in a begging motion.
“I’ll make it happen,” he tells her and opens the menu. I do the same looking over the choices.
“Can I have a cheeseburger?” she asks me politely and points to it on her little menu for kids.
Before I can answer, Knight chimes in with, “You can have anything you want.”
I smile and look down at my own menu, a burger does sound amazing. “Can you play with me?” Annie asks and points to tic-tac-toe.
I take a pink crayon and make my X. She sticks her little tongue out concentrating on where to put her O.
Knight
She doesn’t know I’m watching her, but I couldn’t stop if I wanted to. She is beautiful, so fucking beautiful it hurts.
The way her life revolves around her daughter is fucking amazing. That little girl is precious. They both are.
I want to be in their lives, I want to be part of their life. I want to see Daniella when she first wakes up in the morning. I want to see the way her eyes light up when Annie calls her mommy.
I want to play fucking dolls with Annie all day.
Just if I’m there.
Determination hits me full force, I will be there.
She is here because someone is after her and Annie. I pray the fucker comes to find her.
I fucking pray that I can make him suffer a thousand times over for ever putting that fear in her eyes.
I fucking pray.
6
DANIELLA
River is over, apparently Knight had called her before I could even ask her to watch Annie.
I am not going to admit that it thrills me that he thought to make sure that Annie was safe.
It’s five minutes til seven and the nerves are threatening to cause me to throw up. I’m wearing leggings, a white shirt, and a soft fuzzy plaid jacket over top. My hair is flowing down my back in waves from the braid I had it in overnight.
I wear light makeup, just foundation and mascara.
In the living room River is on the couch with Annie watching a movie. “What are you guys watching?” I ask and kiss the top of Annie’s head from behind the couch.
“Frozen.”
I wince internally and River is eyeing me like, please help me. “Uncle Gage is coming over to watch the movie with us.” She is excited from all the attention she is getting.
I giggle. “I bet Uncle Gage is going to love that.”
Lights pull up outside and I feel like I am going to pass out. “Maybe I shouldn’t do this,” I say to River.
She eyes me. “Girl, you would be insane not to.”
I sigh, she is so right. He has been nothing but kind to me. It’s already dark outside so I see the interior of the truck light come on when he opens the door.
The light from inside the house is shining through the window, the glow from inside is shining on him.
I walk to the door and pull it open; my stomach feels like it will never recover from this.
He smiles widely at me. “Ready to go?” He lifts his hand for me to take.
I lift my hand and he curl his fingers around mine, his hand enveloping mine completely. “Yeah.”
He leads me out of the house, I look back to see Annie waving bye to me. I wave back and she goes back to her movie.
He opens the door for me and helps me inside. I manage to do most of it myself, this time learning how to get in without pulling my stitches so much.
The door shuts leaving me inside alone for a second and I feel like I can’t breathe.
“Where are we going?” I ask him when he gets inside.
He winks at me. “You’ll see.”
I suck in my lips trying to stop my smile. He backs out of the driveway and moves to go further down the club property, past a bunch of massive houses.
He pulls into a massive log home type house but drives past the house to the back yard.
The sight before me has me gasping in awe. I look at Knight in shock and he is grinning at my reaction.
In the backyard, in the middle of a field, is a huge blow-up movie screen and there are fairy lights wrapped around the yard to give off a soft glow. A fireplace is in front of a blow-up couch. There is a small table to the side of the couch that is filled with popcorn and a ton of other snacks.
I grip my throat kind of emotional that he went all out like this for me. He takes my hand. “Knight, this is...” I trail off.
“Do you like it?” he asks as we walk to the couch area.
I look at him, shaking my head. “I love it! This is the most thoughtful thing anyone has ever done for me.”
He reaches out to touch me but stops himself like he is unsure of what to do. I throw all caution out the window. I split the distance between us and hug him. All the fear and stress leave my body the second his arms wrap around me.
He breaths in deep, relaxing into me, his head moving to rest on top of mine. We stand there for a few minutes, not speaking and not moving.
I finally make myself pull away from him. “What kind of movie do you have planned for us?”
He laughs. “I’ve heard you love the older scary movies, so I brought a bunch of those.”
My heart swells that he thought of me enough to ask. “That’s so sweet of you to ask.”
He leads me to the couch that he has set up with a ton of throw pillows and blankets to ease the chill of the cool fall night.
I sit down and he sits next to me, so I scoot back getting comfortable. He gathers the blanket at my feet and covers me. I swear I almost cry again that he thought to do that.
My ex never did anything like this for me. He was always cruel and he thought that it was his right to do whatever he wanted to me.
Knight? He’s so different.
He hands me a wine glass and I take it so he can pour me some. “Thank you. How did you know that this is my favorite?” I ask.
He gives me a Cheshire grin. “I have my connections.”
I laugh and pull the blanket higher on my legs. He turns on the movie and I wait for his answer. “Uh huh.” I take a drink of my wine. “You’ve put a lot of thought into this.”
He smiles and looks at the screen. “I started planning the second I saw you yesterday.”
My mouth opens in shock at his admission. “You did?”
He nods. “I knew the second I saw you; I knew that I wanted to pursue you, darlin.” He reaches around and grabs the small tray of food, setting it in front of us both. “I just knew.”
I smile at him and I can feel my face burning from his honesty, but I am happy. “The second I saw you, I liked you,” I admit to him.
I was taken by him immediately, no guy has made me look twice before. My life is devoted to my daughter and that was everything I knew I needed. Men weren’t on the radar for me.
I know I just met him, but he is different, I know that without a doubt.
He gives me a happy look at my admission. “I’m glad, darlin. It seems we are on the same page. I have full intentions of being your man someday soon and that little girl being in my life.”
That takes my breath away. My hand freezes with my wine glass halfway to my mouth. He chuckles and refills my glass, turning back to the movie and leaving me with my thoughts.
I smile into my glass then I take a deep drink. We snack on popcorn and candy while the movie plays. “Do you have any siblings?” I ask.
He shakes his head. “I don’t, my parents couldn’t have any more after me.”
I pull my legs under me. “I didn’t know I had any siblings at all. My parents told me that my sister Bell was dead. That she had died soon after she was married. My parents had me later in life, thirties for the cult was late in life.” I laugh but it’s not humorous.
He scoots closer to me, reaches out and takes my hand. “That’s fucked up,” he says bluntly.
I burst out laughing and this one is a real one. “Now that is true, that whole life was fucked up. Girls being forced into marriage at thirteen and fourteen years old. It's never ending it seems and it’s like every year they make up new rules.”
His jaw clenches and he looks away from me. I know he is angry and you know what? I am too. God, I am so angry. I want to hurt the man who hurt me, who made my life hell.
“I’m just so glad that Annie will never have to worry about that, that is my only mission in life.”
He turns to me, and I can see that he is hesitating to ask something. “Who is after you and her?”
I take a huge drink of my wine and set the empty glass on the tray, the movie now long forgotten.
“My ex-husband.”
I watch the anger on his face turn to straight rage at my words. “We weren’t technically married; I was married when I was fourteen and that is not legal. He was much older than me, in his thirties.”
I turn to the TV sinking into the memories. “He told me that my daughter was dead.” I stop, the pain hitting me full force. “I was not a good wife in the cult’s eyes, so they took her from me to try and break me, so that I would follow them.”
I look at him. “That made me angry; they told me she was dead and she was what I lived for. After that? I just didn’t care. I fought them on everything.” I smile thinking back at the time I let my husband have it, I hurt him.
“Bell found my daughter, my biological parents were raising her, and it came out that I was alive.”
Knight is staring at me, I know he is shocked. It's honestly hard to believe that this kind of life even exists until you see it firsthand, but I lived it.
So many women suffer. I was blessed that I had someone on the outside because without that, I am not sure what would have happened to me.
“They found me in a cabin in the middle of nowhere; I was in solitary confinement for bad behavior. I left there and never looked back.”
“Until he was seen in the town I was living in, passing mine and Annie’s photo around, I had to leave. I can’t bear the thought of him finding her.” I sigh, looking at the movie screen.
“He will not even breathe the same fucking air as you, I promise you that.” A finger touches the tip of my chin, he turns my face around so I am looking at him. My heart feels like it’s going to explode from his powerful and intense expression.
His eyes are dark with anger. His hand is so powerful but when his hand glides from my chin to cup my face, it’s gentle, caring, and his touch is safety. “I promise you this with every bit of my being, you will not hurt again.”
Tears form in my eyes. “Knight,” I say emotional. I have so much to say but the words do not come.
He leans forward until our foreheads are touching. I take in the moment, it’s simple but it’s literally life changing.
My life will never be the same after this.
He smiles and brushes his hand across my cheek, pushing my hair out of my face. “You’re so beautiful, darlin.”
I smile widely, closing my eyes, loving this. “Thank you.” My voice is breathless. I shiver from the cool wind and the temperature dropping.
“Can I hold you?” he asks me and I lean back, thinking on it for a moment. No one has held me before. “I would love that.”
He leans back against the back of the couch, takes my hand and gently pulls me over until my head is resting on his chest. I rest my arm across his stomach and I can feel his abs through his flannel shirt.
He lifts the blanket, tucking it above my shoulder. “Are you warm now?” he asks me, running his hand up and down my arm.
I nod. “I am.” I shift my head and look at the movie screen, another movie is starting.
“Good, darlin.”
He rests his head on top of mine, snuggling closer. This date has gone better than I ever imagined. His hand is running gently up and down my arm and I peek up at him, wanting to see him.
I smile at him and rest my forehead against his chin. I am happy.
I never dreamed that this would happen. Something pops out on the screen and scares me. I burst out laughing and Knight joins me. “That scared me.”
I sit up and scoot back, so my head is lying on his shoulder. He leans forward and adds more wood to the fire. “Want some more wine?” he asks me.
I nod and he pours me another glass. “Thank you.”
He grabs another beer and takes a long drink. “Do you have any kids?” I ask him.
He shakes his head. “I haven’t been blessed yet. We all have helped Royal raise Penelope though.”
I smile thinking of her and how happy she has made my girl. “I know Royal doesn’t know me but I know what it’s like being a single parent, so if he needs help, he can bring her over anytime.”
Knight gives me a soft look. “You’re just a fucking angel, aren’t you?”
My face burns from the compliment and he chuckles seeing my reaction. He runs his finger across my cheek. “You’re so cute when you blush.” All that accomplishes is causing me to blush harder.
My phone goes off and it scares me. I jump. I laugh and see it’s River calling me. “Hello,” I answer.
“Hey, Annie has an upset tummy. She just threw up everywhere.”
I push the blanket off my lap. “We’ll be right there.” Before River can hang up, I can hear her crying.
“What happened?” Knight asks me.
“Annie threw up; I need to get to her,” I tell him and set the blanket over the back of the couch.
Knight puts out the fire with water leftover from our water bottles. He runs over and opens my door even though I was way ahead of him.
I gnaw on my bottom lip, worried about her. Knight speeds down the road to where my house is. I’m thankful we are close.
I’m sure it’s just a bug, but I want to be there to take care of my baby. As we pull up, Gage is standing at the entrance of my house.
Knight climbs out and I go out his side so he can help me out and run up the steps. “How is she?”
“Sick,” he says simply and I walk through the door. I can hear her throwing up upstairs and hurry up the stairs as fast as I can.
I see River in Annie’s bathroom standing behind Annie who is throwing up in the toilet. “My sweet girl,” I say softly and I walk to her. I get a washcloth wetting it so I can clean her face.
“Mommy, my tummy hurts,” she cries and I pick her up, tucking her against my chest. “I’m so sorry, angel.”
I feel someone standing above us and I look up to see Knight. He bends over and picks the both of us up. “I’ll take care of them River, if you want to go home,” Knight says and I open my mouth in shock.
She gives me a secret smile and takes him up on his offer. “Call me if you need anything.” She pats Knight’s shoulder as she walks out.
“I’m going to give you a shower, sweet girl,” I say to Annie and Knight walks around us to turn on the shower for her.
“Want me to get her some pajamas?”
“Please,” I state and reach out, taking his hand for a second. I want him to know how thankful I am that he is here.
He shuts the door and I help her into the shower, she is shaking from the cold. “I’m sorry you’re sick, baby.” I peek in to check on her. There is a knock on the door, I open it a bit and Knight hands me a princess nightgown.
“Thank you.” I close the door and turn back into the bathroom. She finishes cleaning up and I turn off the water.
I help dry her off and slip on her nightgown. “Do you want to sleep in mommy’s room with me?” I ask her.
She nods and I tuck her wet hair behind her ear. I open the door and Knight is standing outside the door. “How is the princess?” he asks her and her bottom lip trembles, he looks horrified.
"I don’t feel so good,” she says and I rush her to the toilet so she can throw up. I rub her back. I hate this, I hate being so helpless.
“I wrote a prescription for her and called it in, a prospect is picking it up and some Pedialyte for her.”
I could have cried at his thoughtfulness. “Thank you,” I express to him. I clean her face and have her rinse her mouth with mouthwash.
“Want me to carry her to bed?” he asks.
She lifts her arms for him and he picks her up as she rests her head on his shoulder. “I’m going to put her in my bed until she is feeling better.” I lead the way and point to my bedroom.
I take the bathroom trashcan in case she gets sick and can’t make it to the bathroom in time.
He sets her on the bed and I pick up her blanket making sure she is tucked in. “Knight, can you watch a movie with me?” she asks him, her lips trembling from being cold.
He doesn’t hesitate, he climbs on the bed next to her and tucks her in tighter. “I’m going to turn the heat up,” I tell them and bump up the thermostat in my room a few notches.
“What do you want to watch?” he asks her and she lays her head back on the pillow.
“Can I watch Halloweentown?” she asks and I smile.
