Page 40 of Knox Unleashed
You sure know how to capture a storm.
I keep my chin lifted.
“He do that to your face?” Dad asks, finally noticing I was hurt.
I shake my head. “No. Absolutely not. I slipped getting away from the storm, face-planted into the dock. Not that you really care about that.” The excuse forms quickly. “Knox found me. Helped me into the boathouse apartment. Was too late for him to go.”
My father’s face curls into a snarl. “You expect me to believe the whole, ‘he stayed because of the storm’ excuse?”
“I don’t care what you believe. What I do with my body is none of your business.”
Another slam of his palm, and I jump again, but this time, he rounds the cafe counter, and I’m trapped. “You will mind your mouth when talking to me. I’m your father, and I’m also the sheriff.”
I can’t help but think if you need to keep telling someone who you are, it conveys your insecurity rather than reinforces your power. “Knox helped me. That’s it. I don’t think he was any more comfortable about the situation than you are.” I think back to the look on his face when he left.
“You want me to believe he was here out of civic duty?”
I shrug. “Again, I don’t care what you believe.”
“It’s not just me.” His voice reaches a crescendo, echoing through the café and store. It echoes off the walls and tile floor and metal appliances. “The community is going to think that my daughter opened her legs for the first Outlaw who paid attention.”
The words land as effectively as a slap, and I recoil as my throat tightens. “You don’t get to talk to me like that.”
“I absolutely do. You’re a Caldwell, whether either of us likes it or not. What you do reflects on me. Approaching thirty years old and still behaving like an insecure child. You think he really wants you?”
I don’t answer. My feelings on the subject are too raw.
“He used you,” my father continues. “Men like that don’t love. They use. You were an easy lay when there weren’t any other options around. And what better way to get at me, to get under my skin, than to sleep with my daughter.”
I feel sick to my stomach. I hadn’t considered that angle. Was that all it was? A way to rile my father? Casual sex I’m okay with, but revenge sex?
“He told me something this morning,” my father adds.
“What was that?” I ask, but I hate myself for doing so because it suggests to my father that I care.
Which I know I do. But I need him to believe that I don’t.
“He stood in the lot out there and told me you’re not my little girl anymore.”
The room feels small; so do my own clothes.
My skin, even.
I want to crawl out of it all, jump on an airboat, and let the remnants of the storm batter me.
But, perhaps, in this situation, it’s Knox who deserves the benefit of the doubt. I don’t know his motives, neither does my father. Heck, I don’t even know if Dad is telling me the truth.
“He’s playing you,” my father says. His voice is cooler now that he’s made his point. It must be written all over my face that it landed. “Now that he’s done with you, he won’t be back. But every time I have any business with him from now on, he’s gonna tell me details a father should never have to hear about his daughter. And, believe me, if he makes my life hard, I’m going to make yours even harder.”
Then, with a slam of the door that makes me jolt, he’s gone.
15
KNOX
The town smells like wet earth and gasoline as the sun tries to break through the storm and heat things up. By midafternoon, the air will feel like a simmering stew as everything evaporates.
But the thought does little to lift my mood or ease the ache in my balls.
