Page 15 of Reese’s Protection

“Knox Tennant?” The cop had an English accent, which was odd.

“Yeah. What do you want?” Knox crossed his arms and spread his legs, anger vibrating from him.

“I’m Officer Paxton. We were sent to a house over on Abbot Lane earlier this morning after we received a call about someone breaking the homeowner’s windows. According to the homeowner, he knew who it was, and the suspect hit him with the handle of an axe. He named you and his ex-boyfriend, Reese Heagney.” Officer Paxton inclined his head and glanced over Knox’s shoulder at me. “Are you Reese?”

“Yeah, I am.” I stepped forward, ignoring Knox as his arm shot out to block me from getting too close to the cops. “But Knox had nothing to do with it. I went there and⁠—”

“Reese,” Knox growled out. “Stop.” He shot Paxton a glare. “We were here all night. You can ask my brother, Layton. He was here, too.”

“My brother’s telling the truth.” Layton strode to stand beside me and raised his chin. “We went to Sinful earlier in the night, but then we came back here. We never went near Abbot Lane.”

“Really?” Officer Paxton eyed us and cleared his throat. “Regardless, an accusation has been made. Could you please accompany me to the station?”

“No,” Knox snapped. “We. Didn’t. Do. Anything. We’re not going anywhere with you.”

“That isn’t what Mr. Heagney said.” Officer Paxton pointed at me. “He said he did it.”

“No, he didn’t. He’s hungover and unwell.” Knox shrugged. “And we’re not going to the station. If you keep pushing, I’ll call a lawyer.”

Officer Paxton sighed. The man looked too tired to deal with this as he massaged his forehead.

Behind him, the other cop grumbled something I couldn’t hear, but I wasn’t interested in him. Clearly, Paxton was in charge.

“Listen, he says he has surveillance.” Officer Paxton’s gaze slid to me. “Help yourself.”

I knocked Knox’s arm down, and he shook his head at me, but I ignored him. “He’s my ex for a reason. He abused me. And last night, I saw him at Sinful. He tried to drag me out of the club as I struggled.”

Officer Paxton straightened and his expression hardened.

“I was scared he’d kill me. I’ve been at Knox’s house because he’s protecting me from Jeremy. Layton’s here because Jeremy trashed Layton’s apartment. Jeremy is dangerous.” I didn’t know why, but I needed Officer Paxton to know that. Something about him put me at ease. I didn’t trust cops easily, but Paxton had an awareness about him that I couldn’t quite explain.

“If that’s the case, you can report him,” Officer Paxton said with a frown. “Because if you don’t, he can try again or do it to someone else.”

Knox grunted. “No. He’s safe here. That’s all we’ve got to say.” He stepped back, pushing me as he went, and slammed the door in the cop’s face. He turned and grasped my shoulders in a gentle hold. “Reese, you can’t trust them. The only thing they care about is themselves. Cops don’t care about guys like us, all right?”

I nodded, a little unsure. “I don’t think Jeremy has security cameras. He’s not very handy and wouldn’t have wanted to screw around trying to put them up.”

“Good, then he’s lying to the cops to make us confess.” Knox ran a hand through his long hair.

“I don’t want you to get in trouble.”

He shook his head. “Don’t worry about it.” He leaned down to place a kiss on my forehead, and the gentle touch calmed me immediately. “It’ll be fine. Jeremy’s going to regret starting this shit.”

I glanced at Layton, and he gave me a sad smile, which didn’t give me much confidence. What would Knox do?

6

KNOX

The wind whipped my hair back as I leaned into the curves of the road on my bike. I should’ve taken the time to braid the long mess or put it in a bun, but I was going on three days of almost no sleep. My jaw ached as I ground my teeth.

I’d never been so laser focused.

I was on the hunt for that piece of shit, Jeremy, who’d made the mistake of fucking with not only Reese but my little brother.

For three fucking days.

I smacked the handlebars and pushed the speed as much as I could. My eyes watered and I blinked away the tears. It was dark and the headlight made the yellow and white lines on the road glow. Trees hugged the berm, and there would be nowhere to go if I ran into trouble, but I didn’t care. I’d gone west out of New Gothenburg into the country because of a hot tip.