“Your shoulder looks infected.”
Jillian’s gaze shifted to Knox’s shoulder. “Yours probably is too, but I wouldn’t know. Apparently only I need to be naked. I think she’s a lesbian.”
“I was married to her.”
“Let me repeat, I think she’s a lesbian.”
“Maybe she’s just trying to make you feel vulnerable, weak.”
“Maybe. The lesbian scenario is more flattering.”
Knox chuckled. “You are dying. You’re in the hallucination phase, falling in love with your captor.”
“Stockholm syndrome. It’s not hallucinating and I don’t have it.”
He eased onto his side. Jillian winced then closed her eyes. Knox ate the dog food, just like Claire had done.
“She probably poisoned it.”
He continued eating it. After wriggling and grunting back to sitting, brown food stuck to his face, he burped. “She didn’t poison it. That’s not her style.”
“What’s her style?”
“She’s going to make you choose between saving your brother or Luke. Then she’s going to make the one you saved kill himself, threatening to kill you if they don’t. For the grand finale she’s going to convince you this is all my fault so you kill me and of course … you will die last.”
His words settled like the credits at the end of a tragic movie.
“Maybe that’s too predictable. She hates being predictable.” Jillian smirked.
“She hates you more than me. She’s going to make you kill me then she’s going to watch Jackson torture and eventually kill you.”
“And Luke?” Knox asked.
“Luke lives.”
“Why?”
“Because she knows he’s the only innocent one. She’s not a monster by nature, Edgar did this to her. You did this to her. The only way she can justify her actions is if she feels like she’s somehow ridding this world of sin. Luke walks. It’s the only way.”
A silent exchange took place. Jillian’s meaning was in what she didn’t say. Luke was to live … no matter who had to die to make that happen. Everyone else was expendable.
“Now … my father. How did he win my mother’s heart?”
Knox chuckled. “He didn’t.”
*
Sunny
Life and death sent Sunny and Mickey in different directions, but their love never wavered. Knox committed to serving his country in exchange for an education. They had limited time together. She worked full-time at the hotel tending bar and even picked up extra shifts cleaning rooms.
Knox got his degree in four years, serving on the weekends. He took two consecutive tours after graduation. When he came home between tours he promised her “one more year.” The broken promises went on for four more years as he worked his way up in rank. Letters, phone calls, and the rare stolen weekend kept them together. He knew she hated him, she said as much in her letters. But the moment he had her back in his arms the hate faded and their love came back as strong as ever.
“How did we get here?” she asked him. Her naked body draped over his. “You were going to marry me right after graduation. Football, long nights studying, and a dinky one-bedroom apartment off campus, remember?”
He kissed her head, relishing the feel of her flawless skin under his fingertips as he feathered them along her back. “I remember. Seems like a lifetime ago. My dad, your dad. I hated life, all of it except you.”
“Mickey?”
“Hmm?”
“Why didn’t you propose? You never even mentioned marriage again after the … accident.”
“What my father did to you was not an accident. I blamed myself. I still do.”
She sat up, straddling his waist. Sunny was a beautiful girl. He knew it from the first day he saw her. However, the woman she’d become, as impossible as it seemed, was infinitely more stunning.
“Don’t say that. It wasn’t your fault.”
“I shouldn’t have …”
“What? Invited me to your house? Made love to me that afternoon? What, Mickey?”
Sliding his hands up her legs and letting them settle on the subtle curve of her hips, he drew in a long breath. “I blamed myself for loving you. The smart, beautiful angel I knew would never have been with anyone who didn’t love her. I didn’t deserve you then and I don’t …”
Sunny shook her head, long auburn hair brushing over her breasts—breasts that only he had touched. His hands owned every inch of her body.
“You deserved me then and you deserve me now. There’s no you and me, it’s only us. It’s always been us. How can you not see that? Six months. Your tour will end and we can officially begin. I want to be Mrs. Knox McGraw. I want to feel the flutter of the babies we’ll make.” She pressed his hand to her stomach. “I want a life, Mickey, and I want it with you. I’m so tired of waiting to breathe.”
“I want it too, baby. I want to give you everything you’ve ever wanted. If we’re just patient, we can have the life we always dreamed of. I’ve been promoted again, and if I just commit to one more—”