Chapter Three
Leah was crazy for going along with this sick little charade. Knox wasn’t a good man. He was even more dangerous than she suspected. He also managed to do what most people couldn’t. Knox convinced her to let her guard down around him, to confide in him.
He was probably a busy man. The fact Knox took the time to listen to her problems made her see him in a different light. Maybe there was more to him than she initially thought.
Leah stepped out of the car. She wondered why her heart was beating wildly for a man she hardly knew, a stranger who called her his property. Knox could’ve taken her against her will. She was his to do as he pleased, and yet he’d kept his hands to himself during the drive to his apartment.
“Think of tonight as our first date,” he said.
Leah was ready with a witty retort but the sexy smile he flashed at her rendered her completely silent.
She managed a nod and heard the squeal of tires on asphalt. Leah looked over her shoulder and spotted a nondescript black car parked across the street.
One man exited the car and started nursing a cigarette. He looked over to where they were and gave a nod to Knox. Leah felt Knox’s hand on the back of her neck. He gave it a squeeze and she didn’t know why she didn’t pull away or tell him off.
“Just my men,” Knox told her in a reassuring voice.
Of course, Knox had bodyguards. Seeing his men made her uneasy. Their presence reminded Leah that she’d left the world she was familiar with and entered a new one. His.
Leah didn’t understand the rules of his world. She felt like Alice, free-falling into the dark rabbit hole. She couldn’t go back to the starting point. She had to find another exit.
He offered her his arm again. Knox was acting like a complete gentleman, but Leah knew the real him that lurked underneath.
Despite the sleek suit he wore and his careful appearance, Knox didn’t bother hiding the intense look of want and hunger in his eyes. He wanted Leah—her compliance included, although she didn’t understand why.
When Guy and Shane dragged her brother away from the table, she silently swore to herself she’d never give in to Knox. Leah didn’t understand who she was dealing with but she was beginning to have an inkling.
How could she outwit a man who was used to deceptions and lies?
A waitress like her who lived in the slums was no match for Knox. Leah could only play his game, see how it unfurled.
She took his arm and let him lead her inside his building.Be brave, she reminded herself.
“You live here?” Her voice was a mere whisper.
Leah silently berated herself for sounding so awed and dumbstruck, but she couldn’t help herself. No graffiti littered the walls. Warm lights illuminated the warm and inviting space.
There was a doorman at the front who greeted Knox. The waiting area had dark-brown leather couches, lamps, a coffee table strewn with magazines.
If the lobby looked this fancy, she wondered what his apartment looked like.
“I own this building,” he corrected.
There was a couple in their thirties waiting for the elevator. The man seemed to have recognized who Knox was because he tugged his partner’s hand. He looked watchful and fearful.
“Hey, what’s the problem?” the woman asked.
He whispered something in her ear. She turned pale. They both stepped back and let them in. Leah wondered if it was like this everywhere Knox went.
“Have a good evening,” Knox called to the couple. The elevator doors hissed shut.
“You get your way all the time, don’t you?” She couldn’t help but ask.
Knox merely flashed her an indulgent smile. It infuriated her. Leah crossed her arms over her chest. She pretended to act bored and indifferent like she did this all the time, like mob bosses invited her to their homes on a regular basis.
Deep down, she was terrified. She began to wonder if she made the right decision after all.
He took out a slim key card and placed it on the elevator slot. Knox punched the button to the penthouse suite. The elevator let out a ping and they stepped out into a long corridor. Two of his men waited outside.