Page 99 of Revenge Saints

His jaw clenches, neck tight, the vein running beneath his skin pulsing hard. His eyes burn. Not just anger,betrayal.

“I just needed a few hours,” he growls. “She didn’t trust me.”

And there it is. The core of it. It’s not just that she disobeyed him. It’s that he thinks she didn’tbelievein him. Didn’t trust him to bring me home.

“Knox, youknowshe trusts you,” I try to break through the fire starting in his chest. But he doesn’t even blink.

“No, she doesn’t,” he snaps. “She thought I couldn’t,even when I promised.Even when I told her I wouldn’t rest until you were home.”

He surges ahead, his pace doubling. Max and I fall in behind him.

His grip on the gun tightens until his knuckles pale, like he wants to snap the damn thing in half. I know he won’t hurt her. He couldn’t. That’s the fucking problem. Helovesher. And she broke him without even knowing she did.

“What are you gonna do when we get to the farm?” Max asks, matching his stride. His gaze flicks over to me; we both already know the answer.

“I’ll tie her to the fucking bed,” Knox mutters. “She’s not leaving the damn house again.”

Yeah. Called it. And the fucked-up part? Hemeans it.

“You need to calm the hell down, brother,” I say firmly. I stop walking. Knox takes two more steps before turning to face me.

“I can’t trust her.” His eyes lock onto mine, and this time, I see it, the sadness under the fire.

“Yes, you can,” I say. “Aspen’s used to doing everything alone. Just like you’re used to giving the orders. But she’s not a fucking soldier, Knox. She’s a civilian. She’s awoman. A fighter. She did what she thought she had to do to save me.”

His jaw twitches. I step closer.

“Fuck, Knox,” Max chimes in, dragging a hand down his face. “We’ve done worse. We’ve done so muchfucked-upshit.”

He hesitates, color rising to his cheeks. “Aspen, we all fucked her. All of us. And instead of running, she stayed. She helped usbe better.She made us feel shit we thought was dead.”

Knox shakes his head and turns to walk again.

But I’m done letting him run from it.

I grab his arm. He turns, not hostile, just… caught off guard.

“Shelovesyou,” I say. “She lovesus.If it had beenyouwith Roman, she would’ve done the exact same thing.”

Knox’s stare narrows.

“And you think that makes it right? If it was me? No, fuck that! I would’ve been pissed either way. She’sours.We protect her. Weloveher. Not the other way around. She doesn’t get to throw herself into the fire to save one of us.”

We stop.

Love.

He said it. Out loud.

Knox blinks, like the word just slipped out before he could catch it. And from him? That word means more than a thousandpromises.

“Fuck,” he mutters, dragging a hand down his face as he starts walking again.

I don’t push. Not now. He needs space to feel it, to figure out what the hell he’s going to do with all that emotion twisting inside him.

But I know one thing, and so does Max: she cracked Knox open, and he has no fucking clue what to do now.

We’ve been quiet most of the walk. The kind of quiet that settles heavy in your bones. We’re close now. Should reach the farm by sunrise.