Page 103 of Zone
“Yes… Spencer,” I answered quickly, rising to my feet. “He’s ridiculously wealthy, and he has contacts all over the place. He’ll fix this. He fixes everything.”
Knox stood slowly, lifting his hand and using his thumb to slide the tear off my cheek. “You love me?”
My lips parted and I exhaled a laugh, suddenly self-conscious. I blinked a few times before looking up at him again. “You have to ask?”
His fingers slid behind my neck, and he leaned down to kiss me. My stomach dipped as our mouths slid together, and I reached up to hold his wrist with my hand to keep from melting. With my other hand, I held the back of his neck, and our lips parted for a brief, panty-melting tongue swipe. A taste.
Our foreheads pressed together, eyes closed. We didn’tspeak, but I knew we were thinking the same thing.Family. We weren’t letting it go.
Which brings us to now, Spencer on FaceTime and Knox texting me from the road.
K-Brad
Aunt Liv has already filed a motion to stop the court order.
Melody
I’m talking to Spencer rn. We’ll see what we can find out about Jada and decide the best way forward.
“I’d like to go straight to her hotel and talk to her.” I’d like to think, since we were both blindsided by Chet and Susan, she might see me as a friend.
It’s a big risk, since she was angry enough to file a court order, and I’m clearly on Knox’s side. My hope is she’ll remember how angry I was as well.
“I think you should wait on that.” Spencer’s eyes are on his computer, and I hear the soft sounds of him typing on his keyboard. “Tell me everything you know about Jada Allen.”
“She’s single, twenty-six, lives in Lake Conway, Arkansas…” I scroll through the information I was able to pull through my journalism resources.
Susan Jackson likes to brag she’s one of the best investigative reporters working in sports, but the truth is, we all have access to the same databases. I know how to do research, too.
“She’s a musician and a hair stylist, and it looks like she might be the last of the Allens. I wasn’t able to get any information on siblings or parents…”
Spencer exhales a hum. “Doesn’t read like someone who either wants or can afford to be a single mother.”
“You think she’d make a deal?” I know it’s an awfullycynical thing to say, but I’ve learned money makes things happen, and Spencer has so much money.
He also has a soft spot for keeping happy families together. It has a lot to do with his own background. I don’t know his whole story, but I remember being a little girl and eavesdropping on my mom and Aunt Sly, Spencer’s wife, talking.
Mom said he was raised by a dragon, and my eyes nearly popped out of my head. I imagined him breathing fire and living in a castle. I wasn’t too far off base, but obviously, he wasn’t raised by an actual dragon.
“I’ve yet to meet a person who wouldn’t,” he says flatly.
“Although… maybe she wants to have family.” My voice is quiet, and fear wrenches my insides. “If she’s all alone in the world, I mean.”
“You are so much like your mother.” Spencer’s tone is resigned.
He glances at me through the screen, and he reminds me a lot of Edward when that woman took Cricket away. All business, no time for sentimentality. Here’s the problem. Let’s solve it.
“I’m just saying, nobody likes to be alone.” Chewing my lip, I study the picture of the three of us still in my text feed with Knox.
My mind filters through everything that’s happened since I opened the door to find him holding a baby girl… covered in poop.
My lips press into a smile. I remember him saying it didn’t matter if she was his biological daughter or not. It didn’t even matter if her mother was trying to trap him.
“Oh, wait,” I gasp. “Would it matter if Cricket’s mother specifically said she wanted Knox to raise her child?”
“I didn’t think you knew the baby’s mother.” Curiosityarches Spencer’s brow. “You said she was given to him after the mother died.”
“That’s right, but Knox went searching for her anyway. He didn’t remember anyone named Jules Allen, but he found a friend of hers. She said Jules went by the name Bonnie, and she wanted Knox to be the dad. She thought he would be a good father.”
