On the Edge (9 page)

When we reach the SUV, Cole sets me down and gives me one last smack on the butt. He snakes an arm around me, pulls me against him, and kisses me senseless. “Have a good time and be careful,” he says as I get in the car.

“I’ll be fine. I have Rocco and Seth both to protect me,” I say.

“Yes, Seth will definitely protect you.” Cole chuckles.

He shuts the door and we’re off to the zoo. Rocco finds a place to park fairly close to the entrance. As I get Seth out of the backseat, I explain the rules of our outing and make him agree not to run off from me at any time. Rocco leads us to the gate and pays for our tickets into the zoo. That’s one thing about being Cole’s girlfriend, I never want for anything. I’m just now getting used to this part of being with him. It makes me uncomfortable that he or Bruce pays for everything I have now. Bruce even gives me a fucking allowance, not that I spend much of it. Most of the money is locked up in a box in my room.

‘So, where we going first, lil man?” I ask Seth.

“Lions!” he shouts with pure excitement.

I consult the map we got at the gate, take his little hand in mine, and we head off to the lions. It takes us about five minutes to reach the exhibit. Seth is super excited, jumping in circles and chattering a mile a minute. His shrill scream lets me know that we’ve arrived. A male lion is standing on a rock and smaller lions are on the ground below him. I can’t help but think it reminds me of Bruce or Cole when they meet with the guys.

I notice Rocco standing nearby, but he’s doing his best to give Seth time alone with me. I appreciate the effort he puts into protecting us, yet giving us privacy. This is so important to little Seth who, like me, has a shitty mother. The one advantage he has over me is his father adores him, as do his three older siblings. Seth will make it in life because he has an awesome support system.

I have always been lucky to have Drew. We’ve tried hard to be there for each other, but we never had a positive example in our home of what support should look like. I understand why working for the Knights and becoming part of the
family
is so attractive to my brother. He has gained something the likes of which we never had. I find myself super fascinated with all of them because of how they just accept me. I hope that I always have them in my life.

Seth and I spend three hours at the zoo checking out every exhibit possible. Rocco patiently follows us around. We stop in the gift shop on our way out, and Seth and I load up on souvenirs for his siblings and ourselves. As we walk back to the car, Seth complains about being hungry.

“Rocco, can you find us a place to eat, please?” I ask.

He nods and we head down the highway. When he sees big golden arches, Seth begins hollering for us to stop. Rocco doesn’t hesitate to pull in, and make our way into the dining room and walk to the counter.

I look down at Seth. “What do you want to eat?”

“Nuggets with chocolate milk,” he chirps.

I give Rocco our order and then lead Seth over to a table where I get him settled. I sit down beside him, tickling him while we wait. He is giggling like crazy when a shadow crosses our table. When I glance up, Sal is standing there with another guy. The smile slowly drops off my face as I instinctively pull Seth in closer to me. My only thought is to keep him safe and oblivious to the possible danger. I look over to the counter and see that Rocco is already aware of what is going on. He heads straight towards us with the food and sets it down on the table in front of us.

“I should have known Knight wouldn’t let his girl and lil brother out without some kind of guard,” Sal snaps out.

“Dude, move on. Not in front of the kid,” Rocco states calmly.

‘I think I want to sit down and talk with the beautiful girl.” He pulls out the chair across from me and sits down. The guy with him stays silent and remains standing behind him. Rocco remains standing as well and I try to keep myself in check so I don’t scare Seth.

“We have nothing to say to each other,” I say.

“Oh, I think we can find plenty to talk about, beautiful.”

I feel a tug on my arm and look down to see confused little eyes staring back at me. “Who is he?”

“No one important,” I say to the sweet, innocent little boy. I glance over at Rocco and wonder what his plan is because he seems fairly calm. We sit there in tense silence for what seems like an eternity while I try to keep Seth busy eating his food.

“Can you please just leave? I can’t eat with you sitting here ruining my appetite.” I tell Sal sarcastically.

“No, I’m good. Just enjoying the view.”

“Whatever, asshole,” I snap out.

Rocco shakes his head, signaling for me to shut up. I scrunch my face in disgust, not happy that I’m in this situation. A few minutes pass, and then the whole atmosphere in the restaurant changes. It goes from a happy family environment to doom and gloom. I’m not sure what’s going to happen, but Cole, Drew, Justin, and Pete walk into the dining area. The guy standing behind Sal tenses. I know it’s getting ready to get real up in here.

“You aren’t supposed to be here, Cole,” Seth cries out upon seeing his older brother. I try to quiet him. Justin comes closest to us. “Hey buddy, why don’t you come with me for a minute?” Seth starts to protest, but I encourage him to go with Justin. Once they are out of range, it doesn’t take long for shit to get real.

“What the fuck are you doing, Sal?” Cole bites out, anger clear in his tone. His posture is stiff and he is right in Sal’s face.

“I was just enjoying a lovely afternoon until you showed up.” He smirks.

“You need to stay away from my girl. You have enough problems without adding this to the mix.”

People sitting around us begin clearing out. It’s not as if they don’t know who the Knights are in this town. Before long, the workers are the only ones left in the building besides us.

“Kat, you need to get out of here,” Drew says.

‘Fuck that. I’m not leaving,” I yell at my brother.

“Katarina, get your ass moving,” Cole barks out at me.

I stand up in a huff, ready to say something else, but Drew picks me up and carries me outside to Justin. Not that I go smoothly. I kick and fight my brother the whole way out of the building.

“Whatever, Kat, you don’t need to be around what’s going down,” my brother says.

“Fuck face,” I holler.

Drew makes his way back inside and, when I hear Justin trying to calm Seth, I take my chance and dart back into the dining room. I stealthily make my way to the counter where the workers are all huddled in the back. The guys are so into what they are doing, they don’t realize I have come back in. I hope it stays that way.

“Man, I told you to stay away from her last night. Our families have enough drama without you pissing me off over my girl,” Cole says to Sal.

“I really don’t give a fuck. I want a taste of your girl and I won’t stop until I get one,” Sal retorts. That causes my stomach to churn and I feel dirty all of a sudden. As if I would ever let that fucker touch me.

He barely finishes his statement before Cole’s fist flies into his face. From there, it is on. Pete holds Sal’s guy in place and Drew and Rocco stand and watch. I appreciate the guys letting it be one on one between Cole and Sal. In fact, the guys earn my respect with that move.

Cole throws an uppercut into Sal’s jaw and I fight the urge to cheer him on. He doesn’t let up on Sal, but steadily throws blow after blow anywhere he can land one. Sal gets in a few of his own, but for the most part, Cole dodges those punches. I catch myself cringing every time Sal lands one.

They fight for what seems to be an eternity before Cole finally has Sal down on the ground beating him. It is clear that he’s lost control, and if I don’t stop him, he will either inflict serious damage or kill Sal. I really don’t want to visit Cole in jail. Since no one else is willing to stop the fight, I decide it’s up to me, so I hop off the counter and walk over to the guys.

“Enough, Cole,” I state. Several heads whip in my direction.

“What the fuck, Kat?” Cole asks, puzzled that I’m standing there.

“I said, enough. You’re going to kill him, and I don’t want my boyfriend in jail,” I say calmly.

“Drew, you and Pete take care of this mess,” Cole says to my brother while motioning towards Sal laying on the dirty floor.

Cole roughly grabs me and begins dragging me away.

“Cole, let’s go in the bathroom. I need to clean you up. Seth doesn’t need to see you right now,” I say softly.

He says nothing, but changes direction, so I guess he sees my point. We enter the small men’s room and it shocks me that it’s not near as dirty as one would think. I pull Cole towards the sink, jerk paper towels from the dispenser, and wet them under the water. I carefully wipe the blood off his face. He doesn’t say a word, just stands silent, watching the expressions play across my face, while I clean him as gently as possible.

“Kat, you’re fucking crazy!” He brushes the hair out of my eyes and firmly cups my face. “Why won’t you listen to me?”

“Fuck you, Cole. I wasn’t going to sit outside in the car with your brothers, knowing you might get hurt.”

“I don’t want you hurt.”

“I stayed out of the way. In fact, none of you even realized I was back in the building until I let you know,” I say, rather proud of myself.

“Stupid is what it was, Kat. What if someone pulled a weapon? You could have been caught in the crossfire.”

“Well, that didn’t happen, so it’s all good.”

“No the fuck it isn’t all good. You got to learn to listen to me when it comes to your safety.”

“Cole, don’t say anything else.”

“Do you know what Sal wants to do to you?” he asks angrily, slamming his hand down on the bathroom counter.

‘Yes, I heard the asshole talk about wanting to taste me. As if I would ever let that happen. I would kill the bastard before he got that far. You seem to forget I’ve been taking care of myself for a while now.”

“Fuck, Kitten, it’s my job to take care of you now. You don’t have to do it anymore,” he yells at me.

“Cole.” I’m trying to remain calm but his attitude is kind of starting to piss me off.

Anger begins to creep through me and I reach out for him. He lifts me, plants my ass on the counter, and moves between my legs. He is all in my personal space.

“I don’t want anything to happen to you,” he says as he pushes my hair behind my ear.

“And I don’t want anything to happen to you either,” I say while stroking his face.

“You have to start listening to me, Kitten. I want to protect you. Let me protect you. I’m all the protection you need, Kitten.”

I sigh. After all, what else can I say. He is sincere in his desire to protect me. I get it, but at the same time, I’m not going to be arm candy.

I reach behind his head, pull him to me, and kiss him with force. He eagerly responds. We make out right there in the men’s bathroom of a fast food restaurant. How romantic.

‘Fuck me.” My brother’s voice breaks through.

I pull back but he still holds me close to him. I rest my chin on his shoulder, and we both turn to face my brother.

“We have everything cleaned up, but I think we need to move out before someone decides to call the cops or something,” Drew tells Cole.

Cole gives a quick nod, lifts me off the counter, and we walk out to the cars together. Seth immediately runs and wraps his little arms around my legs. Rocco and Justin lean against the car watching us.

“I was so scared you were going to be hurt, Kat,” Seth says in a shaky voice.

“I was fine, buddy. I can take care of myself, and Cole would never let anyone hurt me.” I swoop him up in my arms and he nearly chokes me with how tightly his arms wrap around my neck.

“Seth, buddy, you got to loosen your grip, or you’re going to kill me.”

“Did you hurt the bad guy, Cole?” Seth asks.

“Yes, I took care of the bad guy,” Cole says, ruffling the hair on top of Seth’s head.

“Good,” he says in an angry, little voice.

We all chuckle because Seth thinks he’s the boss. It’s easy to see he has the same alpha gene the rest of the Knight men have. It’s comical in a four-year-old, though.

“Head back to my dad’s,” Cole says to Rocco as he hops in the back of the SUV with Seth and me.

I talk to Seth about the zoo to keep his mind from going back to the bad guy. Cole’s silence is almost eerie. I wish I knew what was going on in his mind. I wish I was free to ask him, but I know better than to do that in front of Seth.

As Rocco parks the car in front of the Knight mansion, Julie flies out the door as if she’s been waiting for us, takes Seth by the hand, and helps grab all our bounty from the zoo. She effectively whisks him away from us and I know that one of the guys has messaged ahead for her to do this.

“I need to go talk to my dad. Go wait in your room for me,” Cole bites out.

Is he fucking kidding me? He is going to talk to me that way?

“Fuck you, Cole!”

“Kat, shut up. For once in your life, just. Shut. Your. Mouth.” This comes from my brother. I whip my head around and stare at him in open-mouthed shock. Fury overtakes my body. I keep my mouth shut but I storm off, slamming the front door behind me.