Page 148 of What Comes Around

He exhaled slowly, then said, “Someone sent me videos. Of you.”

My breath caught. “What videos?”

“Explicit ones.” His voice stayed flat, controlled, but he still didn’t meet my eyes.

I pushed myself up onto one elbow. “Knox, I never—”

“I know.” He turned his head then, cutting me off. “I know. You were a virgin. Those videos weren’t you.”

My pulse picked up anyway. “Then why—”

“They were deep-fakes,” he said. “AI. Good ones. And I didn’t realise. I didn’t look close enough. I just… reacted.”

He dragged a hand over his face, frustration tightening his expression. I watched him, taking it in, the pieces settling into place.

“I’d been losing my mind over you for months,” he went on, quieter now. “And when those showed up, I let it get to me.”

I eased back down beside him, my head returning to his chest, but my mind was already moving ahead.

Someone had sent those.

Someone had wanted this.

And I didn’t need to guess who.

Knox turned slightly toward me, his hand coming up to rest at my side again, his thumb brushing absent patterns like before.

“I’m sorry,” he said quietly. “I should’ve known better.” A rare crack in his certainty. At the guilt he didn’t bother hiding.

I let out a soft breath and let my body relax into him. “It’s okay.”

A small, mischievous thought surfaced, chasing away the heaviness that had settled between us.

I shifted closer to him, my fingers trailing slowly down the center of his chest, feeling the steady rise and fall of his breathing beneath my touch.

His body reacted instantly, a subtle tightening, his breath changing.

“But,” I murmured, tilting my head as I looked up at him, “I know exactly how you can make it up to me.”

His eyes darkened, something heavier settling into his gaze as his hand tightened at my waist, pulling me closer. Whatever he saw in my expression seemed to erase the last trace of tension between us.

And he made good on his apology.

Chapter 46: She Destroyed Herself

The sound dragged me out of sleep, Knox’s arm draped heavy across my waist, his breathing slow and even against my back. I slipped out carefully, easing his arm aside and sitting up, then reaching for the phone before it could wake him. My head still felt foggy as I padded out into the living room, pressing it to my ear.

Titan lifted his head from the rug the moment I stepped in, ears twitching. He pushed himself up and trotted over, tail giving a slow sweep as he nudged his head against my hand.

I absently scratched behind his ears, my fingers moving on instinct.

“Ash,” Amy said immediately, “she terminated the pregnancy.”

That cut straight through the haze.

I stilled, my hand resting on Titan’s head. “What?”

“I pulled the hospital logs,” she said. “She signed the consent forms herself. No emergency. No miscarriage. It was voluntary.”