Page 97 of What Comes Around

Which was why I told Knox that evening I planned to go back to work the next day.

He disagreed instantly. “You should rest one more day,” he said. “Just one.”

I opened my mouth to argue, but the worried look in his eyes stopped me. So I gave in. One more day at home would not kill me.

It turned out to be a busy day anyway.

Detective Harris called in the afternoon with news. Apple had been arrested the day before for opening multiple credit cards under my name. Identity theft. Fraud. The police finally had enough evidence to charge her. She had spent the night in jail, and that morning she had her initial court appearance.

She had pled not guilty, of course.

The judge set bail at ten thousand dollars, which she was unfortunately able to pay. So she was out again, free to roam around.

Amy sent me Apple’s mugshot the moment it became public record. We would leak it when it hurt the most. Unless someone else did it first. Apple has accumulated plenty of haters.

I also told Amy I believed Apple was behind the kidnapping attempt.

Amy didn’t even blink.

“I will find proof,” she said. “If there is a way to tie it to her, I will find it. She’s sloppy when she’s desperate. She leaves fingerprints everywhere.”

I believed her.

That evening, when Knox came back from the office, he brought a small black box.

“For you,” he said.

Inside was a delicate necklace and a matching bracelet, both understated and elegant. He fastened the necklace around my neck himself, his fingers brushing my skin, then clasped the bracelet around my wrist.

I lifted my hand, turning it in the light, admiring the way the metal caught the glow of the lamp.

“They’re beautiful,” I said.

His eyes softened. “Wear them. Every day. They suit you.”

Somewhere in the middle of all this, Knox had begun moving in. It happened gradually, without discussion.

One day I opened my closet and found three of his suits hanging neatly beside my dresses. I didn’t comment. I simply cleared a drawer in the dresser.

Two days later, that drawer held his T‑shirts, grey sweats, and boxers.

It was strange, living with someone again. Strange, but not unpleasant.

I had never lived with a man before. Nick and I had been engaged in my past life, but we never shared a home. This was new.

And I didn’t hate it.

Titan certainly didn’t. He acted like he owned the place. Thankfully the backyard was fenced, so he could go outside without needing a walk every time. Knox still took him out every evening for a full hour, insisting Titan needed the exercise to stay healthy and sane.

I had never been to Knox’s penthouse, but I was sure it was bigger, closer to work, and objectively safer than my house. And I knew he would go back there eventually. His life, his world, his home were all on a different scale than mine. But he never brought it up, and I never asked when he planned to leave.

With Knox and Titan in the house, I felt safer. Especially now, when Apple had proven how far she was willing to go. Her unpredictability made me cautious. I had always been security conscious, but after the kidnapping attempt, I was hyperaware of everything.

Which was why, later that night, I told Knox what I had been thinking.

“I want to hire a security guard,” I said. “Someone to be with me when I go to work or come home. And when you and Titan go back to your place, someone who can stay here. I have a spare room.”

Knox didn’t react to the part about him leaving. He didn’t even acknowledge it. He only said, “I will find someone for you. I know exactly where to look.”