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Maybe that was part of the reason I could only feel angry at Knox—that his president was unkillable, and by default, his whole club was unkillable.
The last thing I thought to do—the last thing I wanted to do—was call my father. Knox closed in on my hesitation like a predator on easy prey.
He shoved himself into my personal space, and I had no choice but to back up until my back bumped into the warehouse exterior. My shoulder blades dug into the brick as Knox towered over me. Suddenly, all I could focus on was his warm breath that plumed in the cold night air and my pulse pounding in my ears.
With chilling accuracy, he murmured, “You’re scared.”
I couldn’t remember the last time I let a man get this close. But I did remember kneeing him in the balls, too.
My jaw clenched. “I’m not.”
“Liar.”
I hated how fast he fired back. With so few words and so few movements, he had gotten under my skin. Just as fast as he had stopped and brought down Asher. I felt myself start to unravel?—
No. Fuck that. I was Walter Bates’s daughter. My skin was tough as cow hide, and no Devil’s Luck egotist was going to threaten me.
“Get away from me.” I shoved at his chest, but he barely budged. “You’re an idiot. You just picked a fight with a Wolverine in a room full of criminals while I was trying to keep it all from boiling over. Now my father is going to think I’m the problem.”
Knox raised a brow, his intensity giving way to simmering amusement. “You are the problem. Just not for the reasons you think.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?” I demanded. “No, I don’t have the patience to?—”
“Means I saw you in there, princess,” Knox interrupted. “Playing everyone. You might be loyal to Daddy, but you’re looking for a way out. You want this whole thing to burn down, don’t you?”
The last thing I expected was my heart to lurch at the words. I played it off. “You don’t know a damn thing about me.”
Knox stepped closer. Even in the dim building lights, I could see the flecks of different blues in his eyes. He lowered his voice as if to make me feel the weight of his following words. “No? Then tell me why you told Asher not to move.”
I shoved him with such sudden force that he took one stumbling step back. I slipped out from between him and the wall. The only thing I needed to do was get out.
I had taken an Uber here. I whipped out my phone and barely opened the app before the screen showed an incoming caller.
My feet rooted to the spot.
Behind me, Knox called teasingly, “Daddy?”
I shoved all emotion down into an inner box within me. Anything other than revenge was not welcome in the Wolverines MC.
I tapped the screen. “Father,” I answered flatly.
“Caroline.” My father’s voice was smooth, but there was an underlying edge that had been there for months now. “Where are you?”
It was a question but he already knew the answer.
I kept my voice equally smooth. “Concluding the meeting.”
A slow, amused chuckle came through the line. “That so? Because I just got word that my little girl let a Devil put his hands on one of my men. That you are outside right now talking to him. You wouldn’t be lying to me, would you, sweetheart?”
As casually as I could, I twisted to search for cameras or anyone peeking through the boarded-up windows. He has eyes somewhere.
“I’m threatening him, Father. It’s handled.”
“Handled?” he mused. “I’ll decide if you handled it. Come home. Now.”
The line beeped and went silent.
I didn’t mean to catch Knox’s eye, but unfortunately, I did, and his expression had changed. No snark, no danger. But I didn’t stay to decipher what was there.