FRAGMENTED Read online

  A moment later, the garage door is open, and Knight is speeding down the estate drive with Cameron and Griffin following behind in a dark SUV. It’s weird knowing we’re being followed, and I’m sure Knight doesn’t appreciate it. If he’s irritated over their presence, he doesn’t let it show.

  I learn that Knight likes to drive faster than the speed limit, but I feel completely safe with him, so I simply sit back and enjoy the ride. Once we reach the city, I’m surprised when he makes a U-turn, cutting off two other cars before illegally parking in front of one of the pricey boutiques that line the street.

  He pulls out his wallet and hands me a bunch of folded over bills. “Go buy something. We’re going to hit a club after this,” he explains.

  I hesitate, uncomfortable over accepting money from him.

  He gives me a look. “Pay me back if you have to.”

  That’s all I needed to hear. I nod in agreement and climb out of the car. As soon as I am safely on the side walk, Knight drives off. I’m not sure how he’ll know when I’m done, but I’ll worry about it later.

  Upon entering the store that he wants me to shop in, I automatically feel self-conscious in my leggings and tee. Thankfully, one of the saleswomen takes pity on me, or else she’d noted the car I’d just vacated and knows she’ll get a good commission.

  I’m clueless as to what I should try on, so once I explain that I’m going to a club, the woman begins making suggestions. I’m not picky since I know Knight will eventually become impatient, so I choose the first outfit and shoes that she suggests.

  Twenty minutes later, I step out of the store and watch as the low-slung vehicle immediately pulls up to the curb. I don’t know where he’d been parked, but he’d been watching.

  As I cross the sidewalk, the passenger door opens to reveal Knight leaning across the seat, his eyes running over me from head to toe. Appreciation gleams in his eyes. “Nice.”

  I climb into the passenger seat, careful of the hem of the dress. The sleeveless bodice of the mini dress is made of a black, lace material that plunges into a deep V, but not indecently. The rest of the dress is black and clings to my figure before ending just above my knees. Matching strappy, black high heels complete the look. Wearing the pricey outfit feels strange, but I push it aside and focus on enjoying Knight’s company.

  Knight is still wearing his jeans and dark tee from earlier, but on his body, the clothing looks damn good, and I bet he’ll fit in just fine at the club.

  I hand him the cash that I hadn’t used, and he automatically opens the glove compartment near my knees and carelessly tosses it inside. Then, the car peels away from the curb.

  A short time later, we enter a dance club, and I look around with interest. I’ve never been to a club like this. It’s huge with a kaleidoscope of spinning lights secured above the expansive dance floor, while throngs of people dressed in dazzling clubwear dance beneath the rotating lights. More clubgoers linger throughout the space, and the music throbs so loudly that I can feel it inside my chest.

  Knight leans in and says in my ear, “It’s pretty early yet so things will liven up in a while.”

  The club seems busy enough to me.

  We cross the room to a bar, and Knight buys us our drinks before we snag a booth near the dance floor. Once I settle into my side of the booth, I study him in the colorful flashing lights. I can’t help but wonder if he sees me as a pity project. After all, isn’t that what he does? He likes to help those in need of saving, and as hard as it is to admit, I definitely needed saving.

  Knight sets his drink down, and something in the way he’s watching me warns that my thoughts had probably leaked into the expression. “What’s on your mind?” he asks over the music.

  I like that I don’t have to watch what I say when I’m with him. I’m so accustomed to choosing my words on the estate, that it feels good to simply let my thoughts flow with Knight. “Am I a pity project?”

  His eyebrows shoot upwards. “Am I?” he retorts.

  Right, dumb question. I give him a sheepish look. “People like to judge me.”

  “Small-minded fuckers.” He picks up his glass and takes a drink, eyeing me over the rim.

  I smile with bemusement and take a sip of my own drink. I’m enjoying spending time with Knight, but I also wish I could find a way to get to know Nathan better. It would make things easier if I didn’t always feel so…unwanted in the house.

  My attention shifts to where Cameron and Griffin are stationed across the club. They’re kindly giving us space, but I’m still conscious of their presence.

  “Does it bother you that they follow wherever you go?” I can’t resist asking Knight.

  He shrugs. “Sometimes it doesn’t bother me, and other times it pisses me off, and I try to lose them.”

  “What do you do when you go out? Do you have friends?” I ask with interest as I lean closer to the table so I can hear him better.

  He cocks a sardonic eyebrow. “I’m wearing Nathan Lancaster’s face, so no. He’s a known recluse, so I try not to bring much attention to myself.”

  “So you frequent clubs and strip clubs?” I press.

  “And screw here and there,” he says bluntly as his unwavering gaze holds mine.

  My body warms. He is very much an attractive man. I can’t deny there’s a physical attraction between us, and I’m certain sex with him would be better than anything I’ve ever experienced. Sex was a job to me, so it was more important the client enjoy himself than my finding any pleasure in it. There were only a few times that I found the deed somewhat pleasant, and that’s all it was, just kind of nice.

  I think sex with Knight would be more than nice, but I’m not about to find out. My body might be curious of his, but my head is fully in control, and I am not going down that road. It’s more important to find myself than to lose myself in pleasing someone else. Even if that someone is Knight.

  Knight’s eyes are still on mine. “My offer still stands,” he says, referring to his offer of sex if I’m interested.

  My lower body flutters, and I firmly tamp it down. “It’s tempting,” I’ll admit, knowing it’s pointless to deny the attraction. “But I think it would complicate matters.”

  “It can’t possibly get more complicated than it already is,” he points out.

  “True,” I concede. But it just seems wrong. Knight might be all for it, but Nathan wouldn’t be pleased. They’re technically the same person, but yet they’re so very different. Nathan already resents his alters, so messing around with Knight would probably push him over the edge.

  “Let’s go loosen you up, you’re thinking too much.”

  I look up and find Knight standing beside the booth. “You dance?”

  He looks amused. “I wouldn’t exactly call it that.”

  My curiosity won’t allow me to sit this out, so I slide out of the booth and let him escort me onto the dance floor that’s becoming more crowded.

  The song has a throbbing undertone to it, and Knight immediately pulls me into his arms and begins to move with me. A pleasant hum warms me from the inside out as his body presses into mine, allowing me to feel the hard muscles of his chest against my breasts.

  He’s right, this isn’t dancing.

  This is seduction in its purest form.

  His hips brush against mine, and I can feel my skin flushing from head to toe. My body molds to his perfectly, and with my arms looped around his neck, his cologne and body heat tempt me in ways that they shouldn’t.

  Knight’s warm hands are resting on my hips, and I’m immensely aware of them and how I’d like him to touch me in other places.

  Reality struggles to break through my scattered thoughts.

  This is a bad idea.

  When I look up to tell him that we shouldn’t be doing this, his dark eyes meet mine before he deliberately lowers his head and captures my lips with his.

  Instinctively, my lips part beneath his, and his tongue sweeps in and strokes mine in a seduc
tive rhythm. I’m no longer dancing, and instead, I’m leaning fully into his body as I let his lips ravage mine. I feel like I’m going to burst into flames with the desire that’s surfaced thanks to Knight’s deliberate machinations. The raw sexuality of the kiss is something I’ve never experienced before, and as much as I crave to explore this, I’m also overwhelmed by it.

  Somehow, I manage to pull my lips away—even as they ache to return to his. I need to think, and I can’t think with him tempting me like he is.

  Knight allows me to break the kiss, but he keeps me pressed to his chest and moves his lips close to my ear. “If bad things happened to you—sex wise, we can go as slow as you want,” he says over the music, trying to ease any fears I might have.

  My heart flutters inside my chest over his promise. I’d treated sex like a job, so there was never a time that I told a client no. Yes, there were times I didn’t really want to, but I did it anyway. There were a few times that I was drugged, but I don’t remember those incidents in detail, and I’m content to let it remain in the past. I don’t have fears of sex, but now that I control when I share my body, I just don’t want to give it so easily. I need to find my self-worth again, and I’ll never find it if I enter into a casual sexual relationship. Because that’s what it would be with Knight. Super casual.

  I look up at him, knowing this conversation needs to end before it can go further. “I’m going to go use the restroom,” I tell him over the music.

  He nods and immediately releases me. There’s no disappointment in his gaze, just an odd glint of understanding.

  I give him a small smile to let him know that I’m not upset but need a breather, and then I make my way off the dance floor. On the opposite side of the club there’s a hall located near the bar that I’m assuming leads to the restrooms.

  My assumption is correct, and once inside the women’s restroom, I use the bathroom and then take my time running cold water over my hands and wrists. My hormones are going crazy tonight, and I’m struggling to rein them in. When I eventually feel that I have a good handle on them and can return to Knight, I exit the restroom and enter the hall.

  I nearly run right into a man heading for the men’s restroom. His eyes light up when he sees me. “Raven.”

  I don’t recognize him, but I cringe at the name I’d used to go by.

  He’s young, probably no more than twenty-three, and he grins, moving closer. There’s nowhere for me to go, and his body crowds mine as he pulls out a twenty, waving it near my face. “Got a twenty; come blow me.”

  I’m trying to back away from him without having to touch him in case he might misinterpret my actions. “I’m not working as—”

  “I’ll give you a tip.” His free hand wraps around my wrist as he begins pulling me towards the men’s room. I’m smaller in stature, and I’m being pulled where I don’t want to go.

  “I said no,” I say a bit desperately, digging my heels in and pushing against his chest with my hands. Why isn’t anyone coming to intervene? People are walking past us, but they’re barely sparing us a glance.

  “Don’t be that way. It isn’t like you haven’t had your lips wrapped around my dick before,” he says with a laugh.

  We’re almost to the men’s restroom door when Knight appears at my side. “There a reason you’re manhandling my date?” he growls, reaching out and easily pulling me away from the guy—who’d released me at the first sound of Knight’s voice.

  Now people are beginning to take notice, and I feel my face redden.

  The man snorts. “Date? Good one. You realize she’s a whore, right?”

  Knight is standing beside me one second, and then the next he’s stepping forward and punching the guy with lightning speed. The guy’s eyes roll up into his head before he drops to the floor, completely unconscious.

  It all happened so fast that I just stand there with shock. A bouncer barrels through the crowd that had formed, and he grabs Knight—who was bending over the guy on the ground. Knight instinctively brings his arm back to land a blow on whoever had grabbed him, but then pulls back abruptly, thinking better of it. His expression turns cold as he allows the bouncer to grip his arm, holding him in place so he can’t leave the scene.

  Another bouncer has appeared, and when he sees that Knight is calm and making no move to flee, he bends down to check the man on the floor. “He’s out cold.” His eyes flicker to Knight. “Cops are on their way.”

  My stomach drops.

  EIGHT

  Elena

  The moment I wake up the following morning, I recall the prior night’s events, and my mood quickly plummets. When the man that Knight had punched regained consciousness, he’d pressed charges. Because of the lateness of the incident, Knight had to spend the night in jail, and Cameron and Griffin brought me back to the estate. They wouldn’t tell me anything else—let alone barely speak to me, so I have no idea if Knight is back or if he’s still in jail.

  I quickly shower, my mind racing as I hurry through my morning routine. It’s my fault that Knight got arrested. He’d only been defending me, and my teeth sink into my lower lip as I pull my damp hair up into a tight bun. My past will never fully go away, I’m aware of that now. The choices I’d made, they’re going to stay with me for a very long time, and I hadn’t considered that those around me might suffer.

  I’m not sure if I’m still even going to have a job after today.

  God, I hope so.

  Once I’m dressed and ready for the day, I make my way down to the kitchen like I usually do. I’m hoping someone will wander in for breakfast and fill me in on the situation.

  I don’t have long to wait. I’m in the middle of making French toast when Griffin enters the kitchen, unsmiling.

  As guilty as I feel over last night, I still stop what I’m doing and look at him hopefully. “Anything new?”

  He shakes his head, eyes unreadable. “He should be out on bail by noon. Cameron already headed out to see if he can speed things up.”

  I turn off the burner on the stove and walk around island to face him, bracing myself for the answer to my next question. “How bad is this going to get?”

  Griffin grimaces. “It was Knight last night, but as far as anyone’s concerned, he’s Nathan Lancaster. There’s going to be a bit of fallout from this.”

  “I didn’t mean for this to happen. I mean…” my voice trails off. How do I explain why I was out with Knight last night and how things got so bad so fast?

  He gives me a disapproving look. “Knight has a short fuse. You need to be careful how involved you become with each alter.”

  I quickly shake my head. “We’re not involved.”

  “So his tongue wasn’t down your throat last night?” he asks dryly.

  Shoot. “That…it…”

  Griffin just shakes his head. “You want this job? Start thinking about the consequences of your actions before you act.”

  “It’s not what you think,” I say steadily, refusing to buckle beneath his censor.

  He gives me a harsh look. “I don’t care what it is, just be careful with what you do. Because if I think you’re no good for Knight or the other alters, I’ll do my damnedest to get you out of here. You’d be wise to remember that.”

  I nod, because what else am I going to do? There’s no explanation in the world that’s going to change his mind about what he’s naturally assuming.

  “When Nathan finds out about this, I’d make yourself scarce if I were you,” he informs before he walks away.

  He’d made some valid points, and as much as I want to sit down and process the conversation, I straighten my spine. Yes, last night was my fault, but that doesn’t mean I’m going to let Griffin walk all over me. Mistakes have been made, and I’m learning from them. My life is just beginning to turn around, and I’m going to make damned sure I keep this job and fix any wrongs that I’ve made.

  As I return to the stove to continue making breakfast, my thoughts shift to Nathan, and I wince. J
ust when I’d thought maybe he was warming up to me, this happens. I have no idea how to fix it, and since there’s nothing I can do to change the past, I focus on my job.

  It’s well after lunch when Knight finally appears. I’m in the middle of vacuuming one of the guest rooms when I look up and spy him standing in the doorway. His night in jail is evident by the rumpled appearance of his clothing and the whiskers lining his jaw.

  I quickly turn off the vacuum cleaner and look at him warily. “I’m so sorry about last night.”

  His brows furrow as he steps into the room, walking over to me. “It wasn’t your fault.”

  I give him a dry look. “You wouldn’t have gotten in a fight if you weren’t trying to defend me.”

  “Did you want him to approach you?” he asks bluntly.

  I blink from the unexpectedness of the question. “Absolutely not.”

  “His actions aren’t your fault, Elena.”

  His words are kind, but I still feel a sense of shame. That man at the club had called me a whore, and that’s exactly what I was just a few weeks earlier.

  Knight moves in closer and touches my chin, tilting it upwards so that I have no choice but to meet his steady gaze. “Don’t. You did what you had to in order to survive.”

  I look at him sadly. “A lot of people don’t see it that way. My choices, they follow me, Knight.”

  “Forget those people, they’re not worth your time,” he says simply before drawing me into his arms as his lips cover mine.

  Naturally, I go weak in the knees and open up to him. He readjusts the angle of his lips and kisses me deeply, his hands roaming down to my butt as he pulls my hips closer to his. I release a soft moan into his mouth as I tilt my head back, my tongue dancing with his.

  I can feel his erection forming, and he grinds himself into me as the kiss quickly grows out of control. Somewhere, in the back of my mind, I know it’s wrong to allow this to continue. Yet, it feels so good having someone to turn to, someone that believes in me.