Page 20 of Knox (The Devil’s Luck MC #6)

KNOX

J ackson had always been able to throw a mean punch. I just never thought I would be the one at the receiving end of his right hook.

My head was pounding, my neck ached, and my bleeding cheekbone felt like it had been cracked open.

I wanted to pop a painkiller, chase it with the whiskey I had stashed somewhere in the trailer, and pass the fuck out on the bed spooning Caroline.

Only her tits, ass, and fiery spirit could console me now.

That, or me inside her, warm and wet and?—

Fuck, I was losing my mind.

There was no time for my sad excuses for injuries or horny delusions. There were still a handful of hours until the limo arrived to take Caroline a million miles away. That was the focus right now. Soon she’d be gone, and the Devil’s Luck could put all this behind them.

Or try to.

I was pretty sure I was going to be thinking about how good it felt to be inside her until the day I died. Shit. Stop thinking about her like that, dick-for-brains.

There was just lust between us, and that was where it had to end. She was the enemy. She was leaving. The whole thing was over before it started.

Maybe that was why it—why she —felt so good.

What didn’t feel good was watching my own president cut her down with the words he’d probably had lined up for months. Even a blind idiot could see every jab was a knife to her gut. Jackson devastated her with his threats, and they both believed she deserved it.

Maybe she did.

But I certainly knew that the sins of the father shouldn’t define the child. No one understood that better than I did.

“Caroline,” I began.

She didn’t look at me. I reached out to hold her hand, but she ripped free and stormed into the trailer, slamming and locking the door.

Behind me, Mason snorted. He and Gabriel plopped into the camping chairs in front of the fire pit.

“All that bite, but look at the entitled bitch tuck tail and run as soon as things don’t go her way.”

“Watch it,” I barked, kicking his chair.

Mason shot me a dark, furious glare. “No, I won’t fucking watch it , Knox. Did you already forget the awful shit she’s done to our club? What she did to my girl? She made Suzie bleed. Hell, she made all of us bleed, one way or another. In my eyes, she’s an accomplice to Will’s death.”

That struck a chord in my heart. Mason and Will were best friends. He wasn’t the same after his death. Still wasn’t, almost six years later. If anyone had reason to hate Bates and Caroline more than Jackson, it was Mason.

I sighed. “I know, man, but you gotta understand?—”

Mason jerked to his feet. “Understand what, Knox?”

Gabriel stood too, but more cautiously. “Everyone needs to take a fucking breath.”

“No,” Mason snapped. “I want to hear Knox’s reasoning why he should get away with fucking Bates’s demon spawn. She’s not redeemable, Knox. You can’t convince any of us. She deserves what she gets.”

The door banged open. The three of us whirled to see Caroline with the first-aid kit. Her expression was blank. There was no emotion in her eyes as she marched past Mason and Gabriel and to me.

Her voice was firm but gentle. “Don’t look so surprised, dumbass. I’m fixing you up. You did it for me yesterday, so I’m returning the favor. Sit.”

I sat.

Mason and Gabriel watched in tense silence as Caroline wiped alcohol-soaked cotton balls over my wounds.

She patched me up with expert care. I wanted to speak to her multiple times but knew she would just ignore me.

Maybe she actually cared about nursing me back to health, but we all knew it was a tactic to show the guys she wasn’t heartless and could care about a Devil.

It wouldn’t work, but maybe it would plant a seed.

When she was done, Caroline pulled a shocker: she leaned down at the waist and kissed me, long and lingering, like it was a goodbye.

Then she turned on her heel and stalked back to the trailer, again locking it behind her.

Stunned, I glanced at my brothers. Mason’s expression was stormy. Gabriel was grinning like a doofus.

“So she gives you tongue and flashes her tits,” Mason said, “and suddenly you’re on her side? It’s almost impressive how quickly you folded. All it took was one pussy for you to forget every drop of blood she helped spill.”

“I said, knock it off ,” I snarled, ready to take a swing at another one of my brothers. “I fucking dare you to reduce her to a fuckin’ hole with a pulse. She’s more man than half the bastards we’ve buried.”

“Guys,” Gabriel damn near begged, raising both hands like he could smooth the tension over.

Mason just smirked, leaning back in his chair like my anger was exactly what he’d been digging for. “There it is. Knew it. She’s already got your balls in her back pocket like the snake she is. You’ve been a Devil for, what, ten years now? We took you in and?—”

“Exactly,” I interrupted. “You took me in from a shit situation. You know why I’m attracted to Caroline? Because she’s me .”

That made Mason’s grin fall off real quick. He knew exactly what I meant. All of my brothers knew the shit life I’d endured before joining the Devil’s Luck. They knew about my abusive father and the things I’d done, even as a kid, to help him.

I swallowed hard. “Yeah. Didn’t think about that, did you?”

Mason’s jaw clenched, grinding his teeth.

He was busy thinking now. “Yeah, man, I get that part. I get wanting to connect like for like. But see real sense. No one can turn over a new leaf overnight. Now, I don’t know the full story of your stupidity in helping her, but you’re losing perspective.

She’s crazy and will do anything to save her own skin.

You can’t trust her, Knox. She’ll throw you to the wolves if it means saving herself. ”

“She won’t,” I insisted. “This has been building for a long-ass time now. She hates Bates. She wants nothing to do with him. Pretty sure she wants to help us kill his psycho ass.”

That made them straighten and blink in surprise.

Gabriel leaned forward. “Seriously?”

“Seriously.” I glanced at the trailer to see if she was peeking through the window. No sign of her.

“All right,” Gabriel said. “Tell us the full story.”

So I did. I made it brief, only including the most important details—the ones that would make them see sense that this Caroline wasn’t the one who blindly followed her father’s every order.

By the time I finished, they definitely weren’t convinced she was on our side, but they did seem to hate me a little less.

Gabriel leaned back in his chair, lacing his fingers behind his head, and let out a long, dramatic sigh. “Well, glad that’s cleared up. Still, I didn’t think today’s biggest worry was gonna be about whether or not you’re fucking the enemy.”

Mason rolled his eyes, but Gabriel just grinned like the absolute menace he was.

“But hey,” he continued, waving a lazy hand between me and the trailer.

“I’ll be the first to admit I’m willing to give Princess a shot at not being the worst person we’ve ever met.

Pardon me for being the only optimistic one.

Really enjoying the tension here, boys, but Knox isn’t the only one who knows some people deserve a second chance. ”

Relief flooded through my veins. “I could hug your guts out right now, Gabriel.”

Gabriel just grinned crookedly, playful as ever.

“Not when you got blood splattered all over you. Raincheck.” Catching Mason’s unwavering, doubtful glance, he said, “Look, I’m not saying I’m all-in on this love story you’re pitching, Knox.

But…” He leaned forward, elbows on his knees, voice dropping just a little softer suddenly.

“I saw you two at Grant’s shop. Both of you looked like you hit rock bottom.

She hated you. And now she’s playing nurse, making sure you don’t have a broken nose.

That counts for something. I trust you, Knox.

If you really think she wants her dad dead as much as we do, then I’ll believe you. ”

“Thanks,” I said.

“Besides,” he went on more cheerily, leaning back again. “At least the chick’s got guts. How badass do you have to be to know your dad’s better off dead? She’s got brains. She’s dangerous, yeah—but you don’t survive a dad like Bates without being dangerous.”

Mason still didn’t look convinced, though I could tell he was mulling it all over. That was progress.

But now Gabriel was on a roll. “We’ve taken in a lot of women in the past year, all smart, all survivors. Sam, Elle, Carrie, Andy… Badass bitches. Someone like Caroline? She could be good for the Devils once Bates is dead. Come on, Mase. Give an inch.”

I’d never been more grateful for this loyal bastard. “Joker” wasn’t just a card or a nickname. Gabriel was the jokester that we didn’t realize was the glue that kept the Devils together sometimes. We didn’t have to be doom and gloom all the time.

Mason groaned, scrubbing at his face. “Fuck, Gabe, you’re the worst.”

Gabriel grinned again and nudged his VP with an elbow. “Nah, you don’t really think that. Come on, you old bastard, just?—”

Suddenly, Mason straightened. “Shut up.”

“You shut up,” Gabriel said indignantly.

“No, shut up. Listen.”

I heard it, too. Motorcycles crashing through the forest, scattering wildlife. Jackson and the others?

No, that was a hell of a lot more than five of them.

“Fuck,” I hissed, already moving. I banged on the trailer door. “Caroline! We gotta get the hell outta here! Now !”

The bikes came raging out of the greenery. Tires sent up sprays of dirt. The sound of roaring engines replaced all thoughts in my head. There was just instinct left.

The whole damn Wolverine MC was here. And I knew with a ringing moment of clarity that this was going to end in blood.

“Jackson led them right to us!” Mason shouted as he and Gabriel drew guns from their belts.

My gut dropped. Did Jackson and the others meet these Wolverine bastards on the road? Were they okay?

I couldn’t worry about that. Right now, we just had to survive. How the hell the four of us were going up against at least a dozen Wolverines and coming out unscathed? Well, I didn’t want to dwell on that, either.

I bolted for the truck to swipe the gun I’d left on the floor. By that time, the first shot rang out.

It was aimed at me.

I lunged to hide behind the trailer. Mason and Gabriel joined me a second later, diving out of range as the Wolverines all shouted orders.

“We need a plan, too,” Gabriel panted. “We’re outnumbered.”

A round of shots barraged the trailer’s front.

Inside, Caroline screamed and shouted a string of curses. “Knox! Get me the fuck out of here!”

I lurched for the back window and glimpsed her ducked down with a knife clutched in her hand. “Care,” I said sharply, crouching just below the window. “You can climb out here.”

Bullets shattered the front window. Caroline yelped as glass rained down on her.

“Really sick of this shit!” she snapped, carefully but quickly finding me. She looked angry and only mildly scared. She’d survived plenty of shootouts. “Stop saving me from raining glass.”

“Noted,” I told her as Mason and Gabriel fired back from the safety of the trailer. Soon, the Wolverines would surround us. “Unlatch it, climb out. I’ll catch you.”

“I’m not Rapunzel.”

For all her complaining, Caroline obeyed expertly. She definitely wasn’t some damsel in distress. As soon as her feet hit the ground, a voice rang out.

“Hey, Caroline!”

She flinched at the taunting shout. “Heel,” she hissed.

“Prez sent us! Followed those Devils right to you. Come home, baby girl! Walter wants to apologize.”

“Yeah fucking right.”

I felt a burst of pride at the bitter mutter. She was on our side.

“We need to move our asses,” Mason said. “Running is our best shot. We can’t hide here, and we can’t get the truck or bikes without being walking targets.”

“Plunging through the forest ain’t getting us far,” I said roughly. “But you’re right. We call Jackson. Try and get backup.”

“On it.” Gabriel had already taken out his phone, texting quickly with one hand. “Best we can do. Let’s go.”

The Wolverine—Heel—kept taunting, but at least the gunfire had stopped. They must have been waiting for us to make a move.

I looked at Caroline. “You ready to sprint, spitfire?”

“As I’ll ever be,” she answered, gripping her knife tightly.

I met Mason’s and Gabriel’s gazes. My friends. My brothers. We had each other’s backs through thick and thin. We were bastards too stubborn to die. We’d survive this.

Mason nodded. “Let’s go, Devils.”

Together, we bolted.

Within seconds, the Wolverines had come around the trailer and were giving chase.

Gunfire cracked behind us, bullets snapping through trees, bark flying.

“Duck!” Gabriel shouted. “I got your back, Knox!”

I turned, caught his eyes just as the shot hit.

Right between the shoulders.

Gabriel dropped hard—and didn’t get back up.