❥ KNOX'S POV

"You should've picked the easy way out." Knox is expressionless while circling the weeping man sitting in the center of the room, some hangaround affiliated with The Jackals. "Now look at you. You're down to a single finger and half of your teeth are on the floor. Are you a masochist or what?"

"P-please..." the man chokes on his own blood when he speaks. "I'm telling the truth. I don't know where Russell is hiding. I-I haven't been to The Jackals clubhouse in weeks! Honest to God, man." 

He's naked and trembling, body covered in hundreds of cuts that vary in size. The wooden chair he's sitting on is stained with his blood, and so is the cement floor. He's blacked out more times than he can count because the pain being inflicted upon him is too much to bear. His mind shouts for him to move again, and he tries, but the rope tied tightly around his wrists and ankles swiftly reminds him there is no escaping.

He'd been in the wrong place at the wrong time today, got snatched up quickly by The Fallen Angels, and now he'll die because of it.

"You weren't singing this tune half an hour ago when I started asking questions." Knox twirls the medium-sized blade around in his left hand with ease, showing off for the crowd. "Nah. You wanted to play the role of the tough guy, told me more than once to go fuck myself. Not smart to do when I'm the one holding your life in my hands."

The man sobs, thick snot dripping from his broken nose. No tears fall because his eyes are swollen shut. Every inch of him is on fire with pain that could only come from the devil himself. "I'm s-sorry—"

"Too late for that shit." Knox jabs the blade into the man's right thigh and twists.

He must've hit the bone because a new type of scream fills the kill room, one that belongs in a horror movie. Knox and the rest of his brothers remain unphased. This isn't the first time that they've had to torture the truth out of someone, and it damn sure won't be their last. 

"We've been at this for a while now. Hate to say it, but I don't think he knows shit," Gavin comments from the back of the room. "And he ain't got much life left in him. Look at how slow he's breathing."

"What do you want me to do?" Knox asks, sounding relaxed despite the demons inside him being wide awake and thirsty for more carnage.

"We should stop wasting time and finish him off," Gavin answers. "Sucks to hit a dead end, but it is what it is."

Knox nods in understanding.

He removes the blade from the man's thigh, then moves to stand behind the rickety chair. He roughly grabs a handful of the man's dark hair with one hand, tilting back his head while positioning the blade against his sweaty neck.

49 times Knox has done this. Taken a life. It never gets easier, and his soul always darkens a few shades afterward, but this is the life that he chose to live. Killing is part of it.

Perhaps before it's too late, he'll get down on his knees to ask God for forgiveness. Maybe He'll laugh in Knox's face and cast him straight to hell instead, or maybe He'll show mercy and will grant him a second chance. Only time will tell.

"Hold on, Knox. Change of plans," Gavin announces before the final blow. He turns to Huey, a newly patched member, and slaps him hard on the back. "Your keen eye is the reason why we're here. Even though he didn't tell us anything new, we wouldn't have got him if it weren't for you. So how about you do the honors instead?"

Huey's blue eyes go big with excitement. "You sure, Pres?"

Knox doesn't give Gavin the chance to respond. He tosses Huey the blade, ditches his bloody gloves, and then excuses himself from the room to answer his phone that's vibrating in his back pocket. His brothers are presently scattered around the clubhouse, so it can only be one person texting him right now. The same person who's been texting him every single day for the past week.

"What does he want now?" Knox chuckles to himself. He reads over the texts from Everett while walking back to his room. "Fucking Finn. I told that asshole to lie low, not to make his fucking presence known."

After Knox makes the internal decision to do Finn's job for him, he showers quickly, gets dressed, and then takes his bike to go pay Everett a visit.

His demons quiet over the ride, and by the time he parks in Everett's empty driveway, a group of people exits the yellow house. There's Everett dressed in an oversized sweater and shorts looking the epitome of cozy, Finn, a girl who's staring at Knox like he has three heads, and a lanky boy with a mean-mug who's standing way too close to Everett.

Knox ignores the childish sensation that tries to sucker punch him as he approaches the small crew.

"Wipe that ugly scowl off your face. My friends were just leaving," Everett answers before Knox can question why they're still around. "Don't worry about me. He's just my new babysitter," Everett whispers to his friends before hugging them goodbye. He then shoves Finn toward Knox. "Take him back."

"I didn't mean to blow my cover, man. I ran out of water and needed something to drink before I literally passed the fuck out," Finn explains. "You told me not to leave the block, so I couldn't exactly drive to a store. What else was I supposed to do?"

"Leave," Knox says to Finn, but his eyes remain on Everett. "I'll deal with you later." Finn walks off, quietly grumbling under his breath. Everett sticks his tongue out at him in response. "You're not off the hook either, so get that tongue back in your mouth."

Everett blinks, confused. "What the hell did I do?"

"Your friends shouldn't have been here, Everett. I don't recall giving you permission to throw a fucking party today." Knox takes a step forward while Everett remains still. "Have you already forgotten about the predicament you're in? Because you ought to be taking this shit more seriously. The best way to keep them alive is to keep them away from you. What is it about that you're not understanding?"

"Fuck you, Knox! You think I don't still have nightmares about that night?" Everett snaps, his eyes glistening with fresh tears. "Shaun died in my arms. Mine! I'll probably never forget that shit. And for your information, I've been doing my best to keep from completely falling apart in front of my people, so excuse me for wanting to escape this new hell I'm living in to spend a few minutes with my friends who showed up here uninvited."

Knox doesn't have time to respond. Everett spins around and runs back inside the house, slamming the front door shut behind him. Dragging a hand down his face while exhaling, Knox goes after the boy. He follows Everett's cries to the basement, which is apparently his bedroom. 

It looks like something straight off Pinterest.

"You don't know shit," Everett sniffles from his bed. "I've been extremely careful since I've been back here."

"I know. I'm sorry for assuming otherwise." Knox kicks off his shoes and slips off his jacket, tossing it onto a nearby chair before joining Everett on the bed. "I shouldn't have taken my anger out on you when it's Finn that I'm mad at."

"Right."

"Thing is, it's his job to be your protector when I'm not here. Slacking off, even for a minute, could be fatal for you both. Mistakes were made today, so I really need you to remember that, alright?"

"You're not telling me anything I don't already know." Everett sits up and Knox leans over to wipe his tears away before he can do it himself. "I hate crying. It can be so fucking exhausting sometimes."

"Sorry I made you cry." Knox sinks a hand into Everett's fluffy hair, playfully ruffling his curls before being swatted away. They share a laugh, then Knox waves a hand around the room. "This is all you?"

"For now." Everett's eyes follow Knox when he stands to walk around the room, touching and exploring things he shouldn't touch or explore. When he stops in front of an old family photo hanging on the wall, Everett slides off the bed to join him. "That's my biological mom. She was gorgeous, wasn't she?"

"Yeah. You're almost the spitting image of her," Knox says. The framed photograph is of Everett with his parents at a park. Little Everett is going down a slide, his mother is waiting for him at the end, and his father is standing off to the side frozen mid-clap, admiring his beautiful family. The priceless moment got captured while they were all smiling. "You used past tense just now. What happened to her?"

"A few years after this, she got killed during a mugging gone wrong," Everett whispers, still staring at the picture. He doesn't budge when Knox grabs his hand to hold. "My dad had to raise me all on his own. Shit was tough for a long while. That type of pain never really fades away, but he's done right by me. Didn't freak out or anything when I mustered up the courage in middle school to tell him I was gay."

"That must've been nice," Knox says. "I never got the opportunity to tell my folks. Cancer took my mother away from me before I could get the chance, and my father... well, I never liked that bastard. Didn't shed a single tear when he died."

"I'm, uh, going to go out on a limb and assume he wasn't a kind man."

"No, he wasn't. I wish my mother had never met him. To hell if I had never been born."

"Stop. You can't really mean that."

"I do," Knox says. "Whatever my folks had, it wasn't love. My father was a goddamn monster, evil incarnate, and my mother deserved a better man. Unfortunately, he was a master of manipulation, and she was too weak to leave him. She depended on him in every way possible, especially financially, because she wasn't well enough to raise a child on her own. She was stuck in a bad situation that I couldn't get her out of until it was too late. Simple as that."

Everett squeezes Knox's large hand, glancing up at him with a sympathetic smile and big doe eyes that make Knox's stiff heart flutter embarrassingly fast.

"You don't have to tell me, but whatever horrible things your father said and did back then, I'm sure the devil is kicking his ass in hell for it all right now."

"I fucking hope so." Knox couldn't bring himself to speak about his father's sins out loud, but he wasn't wrong to call the man a monster. 

His father used to beat the shit out of his wife and Knox until, finally, Knox hit puberty and grew to be twice his father's size. The day his father died from alcohol poisoning was both the happiest and scariest day of Knox's life. Happy because he didn't have to deal with his father's bullshit anymore; scary because now it was up to Knox to cover all the bills. Those added up quickly when his mother's health took a rapid decline.

Left with no other choice, no other option to make fast money to help take care of his mother and keep a roof over their heads, Knox joined The Fallen Angels. They were well-known in the community, and with them, Knox found his true home. A family that would not only accept him, but also embrace his flaws. His mother wouldn't understand, but hopefully, she's proud of him, anyway.

"How long do you plan on staying over?" Everett asks. "Because my dad has met Finn and I'm running out of lies to use, so when he comes back from his date to see a different motorcycle sitting in the driveway... we're screwed."

"When are you expecting him back?"

"Can't say. He's with my stepmother right now. Took me forever to convince him to get out of the house..." Everett suddenly looks down at their conjoined hands and blushes. He tries to pull away, but Knox's grip is firm. "This is bordering on inappropriate."

"Inappropriate?" Knox tugs hard, pulling Everett flush against him. "I dare you to look me in the eyes and tell me this doesn't feel the opposite."

Everett's breath shudders, his expression jumping back and forth between desire and fear.

He wants Knox. That much is evident, but he's also scared, too damn frightened to admit it to himself. Too afraid to let down his guard and go after what his body is craving. Knox isn't afraid. Far from it.

"Admit it, kitten. This feels right and you know it."

Everett shakes his head despite his hips pushing forward.

"Speak," Knox commands, his voice deep and painfully arousing. Everett's eyes go half-lidded, his mouth falling open when he's walked back against the wall. "I'm starting to miss your smart mouth."

"Knox..." Everett swallows hard. "What the fuck do you think you're doing right now?"

"Something we both want." Knox smirks, lowering his voice while bunching up Everett's sweater at the sides. He leans farther down to whisper near his ear. "I bet you sound just like an angel when you cum."

Everett closes his eyes, clutches Knox's shirt with both hands, and then actually moans at the idea of being fucked by the biker. "Please, s-stop this..."

"Is that what you really want?" Knox brushes his lips across Everett's warm skin, every atom in his body buzzing as his hands travel up Everett's bare back. "Let me hear it, kitten. You want me to stop or do you want me to keep going?"

When Knox pulls back to look Everett in the eyes, everything shifts. He can feel it. Everett can feel it.

That's why his small hands drop to grip the waistband of Knox's jeans. Why he licks his tempting lips before whispering sweetly, "Keep going."