Page 103 of What Comes Around

I passed it to him. He watched the video in silence, his expression darkening with every second. When the clip ended, he exhaled slowly, the kind of breath people take when they are trying not to break something.

“Someone was outside the house,” he said.

“I know.”

“That’s not acceptable.”

Titan nudged my leg, sensing the tension. I reached down and scratched behind his ear.

A cold shiver ran down my spine.

My gaze drifted to the bracelet on my wrist. The one Amy had told me probably had a tracker inside. I turned it slowly between my fingers, feeling the weight of it in a new way. If something happened, Knox would know exactly where I was.

“Knox,” I said quietly. “Is there a tracker in this?”

He froze. Not outwardly. Most people wouldn’t have noticed, but I did. The slight stillness. The breath he didn’t immediately release.

Then he exhaled. “Yes.”

I looked up at him. “You didn’t think to mention that?”

“I should have,” he said. “But I needed you to wear it first.”

I frowned. “You could have just told me.”

“I did not want to risk you refusing.” There was no apology in his tone.

He stepped closer, his presence filling the space between us.

“If you had refused,” he continued quietly, “I would have found another way. Your bag. Your car. Your phone. I was not going to lose track of you again. ”

I blinked.

“I wanted to know where you were,” he added. “In case something happened again.”

He reached for my wrist, his fingers brushing lightly over the inside edge of the bracelet.

“It also has an emergency trigger,” he said. “If you press here, it sends your location directly to me. And to Lena.”

I looked down at it again.

“That is… a lot.”

Titan pressed against my leg again, as if siding with Knox.

Knox watched me carefully.

“Are you upset?”

“I’m not upset,” I said. “I just wish you had told me.”

His hand lingered around my wrist for a moment longer before releasing it.

“I’ll tell you next time,” he said.

I felt like he meant it.

Chapter 33: Call Me Mommy