by Cassia Leo
He takes the opportunity to whisper in my ear. “Thank you, Rebecca.”
I try not to look as if I’m running out of there, but it’s hard when I’m practically running out of there. I explode out the entrance doors onto the sidewalk and release a small spew of bile onto the pavement.
August appears at my side. “Are you okay?”
“What are you doing out here? Go back in there with your mom.” I swipe the back of my hand across my mouth then push his hand off the small of my back. “Go, August.”
“Are you sure you’re okay?”
I look into his green eyes. Then I look at the black SUV across the street. Why do August and I keep running into each other? Well, technically, this is the first time. The last time wasn’t really a run-in. Still, I can’t help but feel as though August is watching me.
“I have to go.”
I take off toward the CVS on Fulton as I silently do the math in my head. I got my period the week after I met Knox. It’s been about three weeks since then. Is it possible for me to be pregnant?
Knox said he couldn’t impregnate me. Did I really make such a rookie mistake?
14
I enter CVS and immediately head for the feminine products aisle. I find the pregnancy tests and, instinctively, I look around me to see if anyone is watching. Sure enough, a man in a dark suit passes by the mouth of the aisle slowly. His sunglasses pointed straight at me.
Did Knox lie to me? Or did I just misunderstand him?
I grab six different tests and power walk to the checkout lane. The clerk pretends not to judge me as she scans my items and asks if I have a discount card I’d like to use.
“No,” I reply curtly. Obviously, I’m in a hurry, lady, I almost say.
I almost expect Knox to be waiting in a black SUV outside the store. Ready to whisk me away to a location where I can pee on a stick in private. But I can’t even see the security car anymore. I walk around the corner toward the subway station and head home.
16
I’ve been staring at the six boxes lined up on my bathroom counter for more than an hour. I’ve read the back of each box twice. But I still can’t decide which one to open first. Or if I should open any of them.
Knox wouldn’t lie to me about something like this. I’m only one day late. That’s nothing to worry about.
An hour later, I toss all the tests back into the CVS bag and head for Knox’s office.
No one tries to stop me when I insist on seeing Knox today. He’s not expecting me this time. And I’m keeping my cool with everyone; even the weird redheaded receptionist on the top level. She allows me to escort myself to the last office down the long, gray corridor.
I knock on the door and the sound of Knox’s laughter makes my skin prickle. Is his laughter genuine? Is any part of Knox real?
I wait a little more than a minute before he barks at the door. “Come in.”
Good. He doesn’t know it’s me. I finally get to catch him by surprise.
I enter his office and he smiles as he leans back in his chair. His gaze falls to the plastic bag dangling from my hand and he nods. He does know why I’m here. Of course he does. One of his guys saw me buying the damn tests.
“You think this is amusing?” I say, holding up the bag.
“I think you’re overreacting. I told you I’m not capable of getting you pregnant.”
“What do you mean by not capable?”
“I mean that I had a fucking vasectomy last year!”
I swallow another pocket of bile. “You what?”
“I was in a dark place. I thought I’d never find a way to get you back in my life. You had your new preppy boyfriend and I had nothing but one-night-stands. Every girl I fucked was just a stepping stone on my way to you, but I felt like those stones were leading me farther away.”
He leans forward and rests his head in his hands as he stares at the surface of the glass desk. “I didn’t see any point in taking chances. If I accidentally got a girl pregnant while wearing a condom, I knew I’d never love that child the way I’d love our child. Then I’d be just like my fucking father. For all I know, that’s why my father left. Because my mom and I were only second-best. And he couldn’t stand the sight of us.”
I set the bag down on one of the chairs and round the desk. I kneel next to his chair. “Knox, look at me.”
“No, I’m not done.” He heaves a deep sigh. “When I found you last year, I asked the doctor to reverse the vasectomy. He told me that there was a chance I might still not be able to have children, but I didn’t care. I told him to go ahead with the procedure.” He finally turns his chair and grabs my face. “He said that my body was making antibodies that were killing off my little swimmers. I’d never be able to have children of my own.”
I shake my head. “So, it’s possible that you’re no longer creating antibodies, right?”
“I don’t think so. But maybe you should take one of those tests before you jump to any conclusions.”
I glance at the chair on the other side of his desk where I set down the bag of tests. “Can you take me home?”
We enter the apartment at half past noon. The summer sun is shining through my sheer curtains. It’s at least ten degrees hotter inside than it was outside. I switch on the window air conditioning unit and grab the bag of tests to head for the bathroom, when my phone rings.
I don’t recognize the phone number, but I recognize the area code. Someone’s calling me from Poughkeepsie.
“Hello?”
“Lita — I mean — Becky. This is Lita’s mom, Carrie Matthews.”
This had to be the biological mother I’d never met.
“Hi, Carrie! Have you heard from Lita? She was supposed to meet me for brunch an hour ago.”
“Becky … Lita’s been abducted!”
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Other books by Cassia Leo
EROTIC ROMANCE
KNOX Series
LUKE Series
CHASE Series
CONTEMPORARY ROMANCE
Relentless (Shattered Hearts #1)
Pieces of You (Shattered Hearts #2)
Bring Me Home (Shattered Hearts #3)
Abandon (Shattered Hearts #3.5)
Black Box (stand-alone novel)
PARANORMAL ROMANCE
Parallel Spirits (Carrier Spirits #1)
About the Author
New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Cassia Leo loves her coffee, chocolate, and margaritas with salt. When she’s not writing, she spends way too much time watching old reruns of Friends and Sex and the City. When she’s not watching reruns, she’s usually enjoying the California sunshine or reading – sometimes both.
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KNOX: VOLUME 2
by Cassia Leo
http://cassialeo.com
Copyright © 2014 by Cassia Leo
All rights reserved.
Cover art by Cassia Leo.
This book, or parts thereof, may not be reproduced in any form without expressed written permission from the author; exceptions are made for brief excerpts used in published reviews.
All characters and events appearing in this work are fictitious. Any resemblance to real events or persons, livi
ng or dead, is purely coincidental.
