My Number One: Kasha & Knox (17 page)

~

“You know what’ll happen, right?” Rory stepped into the room. Not only did he walk in with his eyes fixed on Bash, then Erika, he assessed the entire space. When his eyes pulled over me, I nodded.

“There’s no easy way out of here, man.” Bash, who wasn’t normally cocky, grew strength. Yeah, he felt confident since it appeared that he had the upper hand for now. But Rory, being the hothead that I’d known forever, wasn’t liable to approach something so far-fetched without planning.

“I knew you were a snake all along,” Rory expressed, though his eyes still raked over the room. “Knox is a true brother; you, not so much.”

“What gave me away?” Bash smirked. Though he held a gun in his right hand, he backed up when Rory approached him.

“I’ve been around enough snakes to know. I gave you the benefit of the doubt, though.”

“You regret that shit now, don’t you?”

Rory shrugged. He took two circular steps; this time he stood a short distance from Erika. “You two, huh?”

She lowered her head.

“The thing I don’t understand is what’s the big frickin’ deal?” He extended his arms outward. Erika leapt backwards.

The door shot open to reveal another one of their accomplices. “Everything okay?”

“Of course,” Bash quickly stated, while he showed off a slight black piece.

“Do you think that intimidates me?”

“Damn sure better be, bro. This represents dead intimidation.”

Rory didn’t say another word. He approached Bash, who gripped tighter on the handle. I knew enough to know that Rory scared the crap out of Bash. Rory had never been the type to give a damn about his life. The way he always saw it and must’ve seen it now—Rory would always go out fighting.

“Let’s just get this over with,” Erika said. Her heels clanked on the concrete floor as she rushed over to stand beside the snake, Bash.

“You good, bro?” Rory asked, glancing around them.

I tipped up my chin.

“So what is this?”

“I need to ask you two,” Bash began. He pointed the gun from Rory to me, then continued, “Where did the money come from?”

“Money? You’re doing this bull over—”

Click . . .

Rory didn’t blink. I suddenly felt weak; not because I wouldn’t be able to defend myself, but because I was tied to the damn chair and unable to bust the shit out of Bash. I rocked, to the point of nearly tipping over. That would’ve been fine with me, since it was no longer one on two, or one on three. The damn chair refused to fall.

Bash motioned with the gun for Rory to move to my end of the room. He shuffled over, stopping about three feet to my side.

“Get on with this,” I spat out. “I’m over the dramatic crap. Say what you gotta say and finish off this shit because if you don’t—”

“What? If I don’t, then what?” he cut me off.

“The two of you have had enough say in everyone’s lives.” Erika slapped at her forehead. “You ruined my life!”

“That first night we met Erika,” Bash began. He licked his lips, then smirked.

“That was our first time meeting too,” Erika leaned forward to add. I zoned into her. All I was capable of focusing on was the darkness sprouting from all around her. I’m not talking about the light in the room or anything like that. I mean the skank was behaving like she had some type of right to me, or to be in my damn presence. And without even trying to do so, a scowl formed on my lips.

“But then you screwed him out in the open,” Rory filled in. He didn’t have an ounce of respect for her. Can’t say he ever liked her.

“Your boy took the bait, and got screwed.” Bash’s slight talk would amount to nothing. I knew Rory had to have come in here with a plan that was bound to explode any second now. I didn’t expect anything less from him.

“Like you’re about to?” Rory took a step closer to Bash.

“I’m in control.” Bash prepped the gun. He positioned it, gripping two hands on the handle. I could tell he wouldn’t feel confident without it.

Rory shrugged. He didn’t pull back or pull up.

“Let’s get this over with. This place is creepy.” Erika redirected Bash by tugging on his shirt.

From outside the door, we heard an echoed thump. Erika ran off to a corner. Bash spun to look at the door. And Rory rushed for him. They fell onto the concrete, and the gun slid over to the opposite end of the room. I quickly looked in the direction that my ex-fiancée had run. As luck would have it, her eyes zoomed in on mine at that very moment. But it was useless on my part, since I was frickin’ hog-tied to the chair. I yanked with all of my body. The rope squeezed every inch of me, but I couldn’t give up; I wouldn’t give up.

Rory was giving Bash a serious ass whooping, and I couldn’t be left out of the battle. With each pull, I drew closer, though it never completely gave way. Erika continued to stare, even though she didn’t run for the gun. Her body contracted with each punch or kick Rory handed out to that twisted bastard, Bash.

When the door shot open, I shifted focus to see the next threat. Can’t say I wasn’t relieved to see Kasha’s friend, Teagan, step over sprawled-out feet, a thick wooden block in her hand. Erika raced in the direction of the gun.

“Get the gun,” I yelled out. “Over there.” As the last set of words flew out of my mouth, Kasha jumped into the room. She didn’t head for the gun or even to me. My girl threw herself at Erika. The two of them landed on the ground, yanking and mushing each other in the face.

Moments later, we stood in front of Bash and Erika. His face was bloody and swollen; while her hair was scattered around her head. They were both kneeling in the center of the room. Her eyes shifted from one to the other to the other.

“Tell them about the money,” Erika bawled. Her face was messy with dirt from the concrete and bloody from a mass of scratches.

“The stolen money. Damn criminals,” Bash screamed.

“What money?” Rory rushed to grab for the gun, pulled back his hand and was about a second from smashing down on Bash’s face. I held onto his forearm.

“Let it go.” I didn’t know how these two had come up with this or even figured this out. But I was tired of holding back. I turned my head to the side to find Kash gazing at me. She needed this, I needed this, the whole damn room needed this.

“When did you find out?” Rory asked them. He pulled away from all of us. His fingers dove into his hair; he yanked.

“After the first time we met Erica,” Bash stated, grinning.

I felt a bubbling in my gut. The electricity traveled over every inch of me. Next thing I knew, my fist connected with his jaw. He caved to the floor. Turning to Erika I asked, “You’ve been screwing him for four years?”

“No.”

“How long?”

“What makes you think—”

“How long?” The wind nearly got locked out of me; I was pissed. Yeah, it was tough to realize your girl was with someone else. Yeah, it was harder to know it was someone you called a friend. But above all, it was devastating because I gave up on Kasha for Erika, only to end up with Kasha in the end. Shit, I hoped to God that was it for me. I wanted to see her and be certain she wasn’t ready to bolt. I caught a glimpse from the corner of my eyes.

“About three months.” Erika’s snatched me back when she said the words in a steady, crystal clear tone.

My insides churned. I’d always had my doubts, but this was beyond ridiculous. Every thought, every movement replayed in my mind. I studied Erika, then turned for Kasha. She was pressed in the corner. I felt her sadness, that connection remained prevalent.

“Did you at least use protection?” Kasha held a mortified gaze.

“I don’t believe Knox planned on staying with me because he always did,” Erika spat. “Four years—”

“Four bullshit years—”

“What does this have to do with anything?” Bash struggled with his face still pressed to the ground.

“You know what?” Rory had been standing on the other side of the room. Tea’s arms were wrapped around him. When he started over to us, she pulled at him. Her hands went up to his jaw; she shifted his face to meet hers.

“No one wants to talk about this, but I’d like to know.” Kasha approached me. “Did you kill someone?”

“No.” For a second there, I doubted if this was my Kasha assuming something so horrible about me. Considering the circumstances, however, I brushed it off. “Hell no,” I repeated.”

“You might as well have gutted him, you bastard,” Erika began under her breath. Her gaze roamed over me, passed to Rory and finally to Kasha. “They stole money that was meant for my boyfriend.” Erika’s voice screeched. “The money you found wasn’t yours to take. Everyone knows, everyone knows now.”

“That short bastard wasn’t your boyfriend. You were running game on me all along.” I took a step closer. I had this sick urge to run down all of her dirty, shady dealings for the sake of revenge.

“But you fell for it. Didn’t you?” Her lips curled in this devious sort of way. “That’s the problem with you assholes, a girl can screw you over . . . literally.” She winked.

I wanted more of this whole convoluted background, but with Kasha only feet away, I wasn’t about to let Erika ruin my best chance of happiness. I lost everyone and everything when I was abandoned. Sure as hell wasn’t about to let it happen now. Not like this. So I fessed up. “We knew the money—”

“There was no we, it was my tip. Knox is my damn brother; he needed to catch a break. He’d seen enough suffering,” Rory roared over top all other conversations. “Your sneaky ass—” he paused to point at Bash “—couldn’t be trusted.” His fingers collapsed inward, forming a fist. Stooping down, he gripped Bash’s black hair and looked set to throw an up-close punch.

“So you can justify this, because you had a rough life? Bullshit!” Erika screamed. “That was Vince’s way out.”

“Who’s Vince?” I asked.

“Tony’s brother.”

“You’re one twisted bitch.” The taste of disgust and hate, just thinking about me with Erika made me sick inside out.

“His boss beat him to death.”

“How do you play into this?” I asked Bash.

He answered as honestly as I expected him to. “I was in it for the money. From day one, when she told me you guys had found all that and hadn’t put me on, I was in from then.”

“So you let this ride out for four years?” Rory shouted. The room vibrated as he just about exploded. The one thing that seemed to keep him together was Teagan. She remained at his side, whispering in his ear and sustaining the madness with gentle strokes.

“And I don’t regret a minute of it,” Erika ripped out the words. She swayed between sobbing and laughing. “No, I don’t.”

Kasha practically jumped from the wall to Erika. At first, everyone looked on, stunned.

~

~

I’d never been a fighter. Never had a reason to go that far. I was raised to turn the other cheek. But then I learned to run like hell. Knox being taken in this way, that pissed me the hell off. He secured his hand around my waist and needed much of his strength to get me off Erika.

“No . . . no . . .” As tears raced down my face, to the point of blurring my opponent, I continued to swing my arms and feet. “I hate you!” I cried into his chest, when he pulled me into his chest. “Let me go!” I pounded at him.

“Kash, no baby. We’re gonna get over this.” His right palm cupped my face. He directed my lips to his. “Calm down,” he mumbled, sending a stream of hot breezes between my lips.

“You mean—” I couldn’t finish my sentence. A lump formed in my throat. I always knew Knox had a past, but this was too much. Shit, it wasn’t even a misunderstanding. His entire life revolved around dirty money. Even my house was tied up in it.

“That was a different time, a different life.” As the explanation came out, his head dipped. He couldn’t look at me.

“But that’s what gave you the edge up in your business.” I spun out of his path.

He reached for my face. I snatched away, aware of what his touch could do. His eyes pleaded for me to understand. I didn’t know if I was capable of getting over this. Never expected the perfect man, just the perfect one for me. And that man needed to be anything but Van-like.

“The money wasn’t legitimately yours.”

“Let me explain—”

“No! Please, Knox, don’t manipulate things.”

“You realize I was younger then, right?”

“Yeah, not by much either, and you’re still living off the dirty money.”

“So you want me to give it up? If that’s the case, I can do away with that portion of it or, or—”

“You were alright with life before me. I just can’t be a part of this.”

“This what? Honestly, Kash, you’re all self-righteous and shit. Haven’t you ever made a mistake, a decision that came back and kicked your ass?”

“I’m human.”

“So what is it about my situation that makes you willing to walk away from what we’ve got going? Damn, or what we could have?”

Yeah, I was a hypocrite. Considering the Bash and Erika vendetta against Knox, I had every right to be self-serving.

~

Nearly four hours later—after the cops had collected the guys we’d knocked out that had been standing guard, and the conniving duo—Knox and Rory sat at one end of the bar. We were downstairs, in the lobby of a Ritz Carlton. Every few seconds I’d look across at Knox’s pleading eyes. He had a knot at the side of his head. I fluctuated between longing to soothe him and needing to bolt out of sight. I loved him like he was an extension of the woman I could finally rest in and be. And for that reason, he scared me to death. We were both imperfect. Not that anyone could claim perfection, but this love brewing down within me was unstoppable.

Could I ever forget I’d fallen in love with him? Walk away and allow the memories to keep me company for the rest of my life?

“You’re such a hypocrite.” Tea wrapped her fingers around my upper arm. She yanked me back to reality. Her pupils carried a thick layer of moisture, like she would burst out in tears at any minute.

“What’s the problem with leaving?” It wasn’t a question for her, as much as it was me trying to convince myself that we needed to run. Whereas her tears hung on for dear life, I let go. The love I felt for Knox was unbelievably strong. It broke my heart to know that I couldn’t keep it. But I had to let him go. “He’s a time bomb waiting to explode.”

“You have a past too, so don’t judge him. Hell, Kash, I have a friggin’ past.”

“But you’re my friend.”

“He’s your man. How can you say you love him, then even consider running away from him? That guy would go through hell and back, if it meant you’d be safe.” Tea spun out of view, then passed the back of her hand across her face.

I’m not saying this wasn’t about Knox or me. Tea must’ve known the repercussions of staying here, where drama lived. Erika had indicated everyone knew about Rory and Knox. Who the hell was everyone? I studied Tea’s sad eyes; this was highly unusual for her. That thing I sensed between Teagan and Rory was more powerful than anything she might’ve endured in the past, though so sudden.

“I know enough about your past, but I think you’ll need to sit down with Rory. Explain things. Let him know everything; I mean every jacked-up thing that’s happened in your life.” The tables finally turned. Imagine that, I ended up giving my best friend relationship advice. Considering neither of us were really any good at romantic stuff and this whole guy thing, I didn’t know what to expect. And just as I found myself convincing Teagan to open up to Rory, I knew I’d do the same with Knox.