“No amount of distraction on your part will scatter my focus from my surroundings, Anastasia. So tell me, is it about that? Are they people from your past?”
“Why are you so sure they were following me? Maybe they were following you.”
“They didn’t when I left the firm, but they just did when you went out to get coffee.”
Shit.
It was wishful thinking to believe he wouldn’t notice.
This is Knox, after all. He’s so attuned to details, it’s disturbing sometimes. But even he didn’t notice Adrian’s sniper. Instead of being in-your-face like Aleksander, Adrian and Kirill more discreet yet highly efficient.
If Adrian chooses to, he can kill him in a heartbeat.
My lips tremble at that and I force them shut because Knox is still looking at me, waiting for an answer.
I swallow, resisting the urge to put a hand on my chest, since he knows it’s a nervous habit. “It’s really nothing. I swear.”
He jams his fist at the wall beside my head and I startle, even though the move isn’t strong or surprising. I think it’s the expression on his face that shoots tendrils of fear to the bottom of my stomach.
Knox isn’t the type to get angry often or without a reason, but his jaw is clenching now and a muscle jumps in the veins of his neck.
His anger is raw, furious yet still calm. And I’m in the middle of it now. Worse, I think I’ll be swept away by it.
“If you repeat the word “nothing” one more time, I swear to fuck…” he trails off, his nostrils flaring.
“Can’t you just leave it alone?”
“No.”
“Knox…”
“Why are you building a wall between us, Anastasia? Hmm?”
“I am?”
“I feel it, and it keeps getting taller with every passing second.”
“Maybe that wall was supposed to be there from the beginning. It’s safer. For both of us.”
“You mean, for you.”
All the anxiety and fear of the unknown rush to the surface, exploding in a myriad of red-hot temper. “Yes, for me! You have no idea who I am or what you’ve gotten yourself into. The day you do, you’ll curse the moment you met me. I’m defective, okay? Do you know what I do to people? I destroy them.”
“You can’t destroy me, beautiful. That was done way before you came along, so how about you tell me what’s haunting you?”
“How do you know something’s haunting me?”
“I saw it that night. In your ocean blue eyes. They were a little bit haunted, a little bit broken. Just like me. Usually, I don’t get close to people who give off vibes that resemble mine, but you were the exception, my little liar. You still are.”
“You shouldn’t have made me an exception.” I sniffle. “I’m bad for you.”
“And I’m bad for you, too. You don’t see me asking you to leave because of that. In fact, I never will since I happen to be fucking selfish. When I covet something, I keep it. I don’t throw it away and I certainly don’t let it slip from my hands. So you’re fucking stuck with me, Anastasia.”
“What if I want to leave?”
“No, you don’t. You’re just running away because that’s what you’re good at, but you’ll quit that fucking habit with me. Do you know why?”
“Why?”
“Because I’m keeping you. Whether you like it or not.”
I see it then. The determination.
The stubborn determination and the raw possessiveness.
And something tells me it’ll just get worse from here on. That he’ll not only demand to know more, but he’ll also keep me. Whether I like it or not, as he said.
If anything, the more I fight, the harder he’ll chain me to him.
Because he’s decided that he covets me. Wants me.
He won’t allow me to run or escape or search for an alternative solution.
And I can’t stay. Not if I want to keep Adrian and Kirill away from him.
The painful decision thuds against my ribcage with crushing reality, leaving me hollow.
My words are barely audible when I whisper, “I want to break up.”
A muscle works in his jaw and his fist flexes on the wall. I think he’ll move his hand, whether to choke or grab me, I don’t know, but he doesn’t. Instead, it remains there, as stonelike as his presence, as if he’s pining for patience. “What the fuck did you just say?”
“I…want to end this. Whatever this is.”