Josie exhaled sharply. “You make it sound so easy. You’d really have a life with two men at the same time?”
Tessa pondered it for a minute. “I enjoyed it at the beginning, but Locke became the center of my world. Deep down I knew I couldn’t continue like that. I never asked Locke for the same loyalty, but he offered it to me. I was lucky, but the rest of my life was great so I was fine either way. Locke was the cherry on top of my own personal sundae. But what I do know is I made up my mind what I wanted, for my life, for myself, at the risk of maybe not having Locke in my life. You may have to do the same thing.”
As Tessa looked at her phone, Josie knew it was sensible advice. Her life had been dictated by everyone else’s decisions for far too long. First her parents, and then her boyfriend turned husband. Now, she was looking at Knox as if he held all the answers to her problems. If she was honest with herself, he moved her deeply, far more than sweet Gage despite the attraction she felt for him, more than anybody else ever had, and maybe that was the cause of her misalignment.
“Good news. I just discovered the reason why Knox is still under. There’s GHB in his system.”
The name sounded familiar to Josie. “I’ve heard about it on the news I think, but I can’t remember what it is.”
“It’s a date-rape drug. It has many effects, but a loss of consciousness is one of them. It also messes with the victim’s memory, makes him clumsy and confused. It seems someone badly wanted to win.”
The image of the bookie came to Josie’s mind. It could have been him, or any of those shady characters for that matter.
“We’ll keep him here a while longer—until he wakes up at least. If the symptoms aren’t too debilitating, and there are no other side effects, he should be able to go home.”
Relief flooded her so strongly, she was glad she was sitting.
Tessa offered her hand, and in an unexpected move, gave her a quick hug. “You don’t know it yet, but you’ll be fine.”
Her smile was genuine, and even if she was a stranger, it settled her doubts enough for her to smile back.
“Now, let’s get back to the men who are probably nervous wrecks on the inside seeing their friend like that.”
With a final wink, the doctor led the way.
Chapter 15
The only thingon Josie’s mind was when she’d be able to get some sleep. Her body was tired, as well as her mind and soul. It had taken several hours for Knox to wake, but in the end, his mesmerizing blue eyes opened, unfocused at first, but soon fixed on hers.
She’d been sitting on a small stool beside his bed, holding his rugged hand in hers for so long, she’d lost track of time. But in that moment of stillness and silence preceding his awakening, with the others talking in another room, Josie had time to reflect. Tessa had been right, she needed to make some decisions. What did she want? The first point of order was to get rid of her husband. She should never have married him but dwelling on the past wasn’t useful and she was a practical woman. Her work at the bakery was what she loved to do—she’d had a fantastic partnership with Tony and missed it. And then there were the two men—Knox and Gage. That decision wasn’t hard to make, but the how remained to be determined. Then he’d opened his eyes and thoughts of the future were put on hold.
For the longest, most surreal moment, Josie had his full attention, unguarded emotions fleeting over his handsome, battered face. A deep longing caught inside her heart as she waited for him to open his mouth and speak, but whatever she’d hoped for dissolved when he’d turned his head to stare at the ceiling. Over and over, she’d asked if he was feeling fine, not that he’d ever answered. It was when she’d finally called for Tessa that he spoke. Like a robot, he answered the doctor’s questions in that deep voice of his. The only emotion she’d seen on his face was when Tessa told him about the GHB in his system. He’d shot down any idea of going after whoever had drugged him though. Refused to name any suspects and when his friends tried to question him he clammed up again.
The pain Josie felt was indescribable, but she didn’t say a word or let it show in her actions. Tessa explained it would be better for Knox to take it easy for a while, but again, her words were received with a dark silence. She looked at Gage trying to understand, but the fighter only shrugged.
The ride back from the city had been gloomy, but Josie hadn’t said a word. At the house, Knox had gone to his bedroom helped by Gage, and closed himself inside, shutting her out. His actions said far more than his words ever could.
Gage grumbled about someone being in a shitty mood, and that he was headed to bed. The statement was clearly an invitation if she wanted to follow him, but she smiled and went to her own bed. She knew her time with Gage was over.
Knox emerged from his room a few days later, ready to go to work. By that time, the swelling had gone down, and the bruises had receded quite a bit. However, it was his glacial attitude toward her that shook her the most.
From the time they’d opened the shop until lunchtime, he hadn’t said a word to her, and barely exchanged more than a few syllables with the others or his customers.
Josie couldn’t remember if he’d eaten that morning and feeling courageous, she knocked on his office door where he’d hidden since he’d finished with his last customer.
The bark that came from the other side of the door would have frightened weaker souls.
“Knox?” She stepped in and saw him behind his computer, ignoring her. “I was planning to get lunch for everybody. What would you like?”
Not even looking up at her he grumbled, “I’m not hungry.”
“You barely ate this weekend, and not at all this morning.”
His tone veered toward a shout. “I’m not hungry.”
“Tessa said…”
“Fuck her! I’ll eat when I damn well please!”
