Page 15 of Knox

And my wife.

Especially my fucking wife.

Because with each hour, each day that passed, our lives grew more connected, more combined. I told her we were partners and I meant it.

I just didn’t know yet if those words were going to get me killed.

Chapter Eight

Ivy

The bar inside the Iron Vows clubhouse was the kind of place where people got together for a good time. There were no pretenses about it. Top-shelf tequila mingled with the cheap stuff, the glasses were plain but sturdy, and the shakers, well they looked barely used. The bar was long and stained with a dark color that hid the faint rings on top. The wooden floors also looked well used, with scuff marks and a layer of life that darkened it in certain spots. The place smelled like cigarette smoke and beer with a hint of leather.

The clubhouse was far more welcoming than the dark monstrosity that was the Warlords clubhouse. It was a nice contrast even though I now sat with my back to the bar while I stared out the window, not really seeing what was in front of me. Knox was out there with a bunch of his brothers, but they were just figures that moved in front of me while my mind raced in different directions.

I thought about my husband, who was proving yet again that he wasn’t like the bikers I grew up surrounded by. He wanted me to have something like a life here with him, at least I assumed that’s what the introductions were about. Minx was as kind today as she’d been on my wedding day, but it was Skye who I thought about. Skye was quiet and careful in a way that felt almost familiar, like she was watching the room the same way I always had. Not out of social anxiety but something harder-learned than that.

We talked about nothing in particular and it had been almost fine. Almost normal. Almost because nothing about this was normal.

My phone buzzed.

I already knew who it would be before I even looked at the screen. The skin on the back of my neck prickled the way it always did, as some part of my lizard brain registered the threat before I heard his voice. I stared at the name on the screen for three full seconds. Rex. Of course it was him, the only other person it would be was Dani.

I let out a heavy sigh before I picked up. “Hello?”

“Ivy!” His voice was angry, as if I’d already pissed him off just by breathing. “How’s married life treatin’ ya?” From the outside, anyone listening would’ve thought he was a regular father just checking in with his daughter.

I knew better.

“Fine,” I said easily. “Adjusting.”

“Tell me about the compound,” he demanded, “The layout. How many people are there at any given time?”

“Don’t know,” I answered like I was bored. I was. “This place is huge.”

He growled angrily. “Well, what are their schedules like?”

I pinched the bridge of my nose and swallowed a frustrated sigh. “Don’t know if they have them. There are always people all around.”

“What about Coleman?” His volume had increased, a sure sign he was losing patience with me. “Where does he go during the day?”

“He’s just like you,” I lied. “He doesn’t tell me anything.” It wasn’t the truth even a little bit, but to Rex it was believable. He couldn’t fathom a world where men behaved any other way.

He didn’t like it. I heard his breathing change, that small shift in cadence I’d learned to track like weather because it was a matter of safety. “You useless piece of shit,” he spat out, and the anger intensified. His voice came through loud because he was no longer worried about who might hear him. “I didn’t put you over there to spread your fucking legs for that prick. Get me intel, goddamn you.”

I rolled my eyes at the demand, feeling my own anger as it rose to a slow simmer. I reveled in that anger. Letting myself feel it so viscerally was new to me, it was no longer a luxury. It rose higher in my chest and settled there, heavy and hot, but I managed to keep it out of my voice. “You want me to spy on them? That wasn’t part of my understanding,” I said as diplomatically as I could. Rex hadn’t said one word about spying on my new husband and his MC. He hadn’t said a damn thing other than I was marrying Knox.

“Well start fucking understanding,” he said. He made a sound in the back of his throat that I’d heard enough to identify instantly. Disgust. “Where are you staying?”

“At the clubhouse,” I lied smoothly. “He probably doesn’t trust me enough to bring me to his actual home. If he even has one.” I looked at my nails, completely unbothered by how easily I lied to him when I wasn’t afraid of his fists.

“Ivy, I swear to fucking God, if you don’t get me something useful, I will make you regret it.”

My body froze on instinct. “Yeah,” I said. “I got it.” He was still shouting and calling me names when I ended the call. It felt good. Damn good. I sat there for a minute, waiting for my body to catch up to the fact that the call—and the threat—was over, but I didn’t need it. And that felt even better.

“Everything okay?”

I screamed. Not a soft, feminine oh, you startled me scream. It was a real scream, the kind that came from somewhere embarrassingly deep. My hand flew to my chest like it was trying to hold my heart in place. Knox stood a few feet behind me, and to his credit he didn’t laugh, though something around his mouth suggested he was working hard not to. I pressed my palm flat to my chest and turned to him. “Everything is,” I let out a long, slow exhale. “That was Rex.”