KNOX: Volume 1 Read Online Free PDF Page B

have is solid. It’s … everlasting. Please don’t let this … this paranoia destroy us.”
    “Paranoia?”
    “Well, what else would you call it? You accuse me of cheating on you with absolutely no evidence other than the fact that I haven’t invited you to my apartment lately.”
    “So I’m paranoid?”
    “Becky, please.”
    “Stop calling me Becky!”
    “What?”
    I shake my head as I turn around and grab the TV remote off the top of the dresser. I turn on the TV and it’s already on the correct channel. I watch the local morning show every morning before work. It helps me think. It keeps me focused as I get dressed and ready for work. Otherwise, I get distracted. I know that when the weather girl comes on for the second time, it’s time for me to get my ass out the door or I’ll be late for work.
    The weather girl is telling us what a beautiful summer day it’s going to be in Manhattan. I set the remote back on top of the dresser and pull my bra out of the top drawer. August sneaks up behind me, pressing his lips to my ear.
    “Let me make it up to you. We can spend the night at my house tonight. It’s Friday. We can spend the whole weekend there.” His tongue traces the outer edge of my ear and I close my eyes, trying to block out thoughts of Knox. “I’ll make you breakfast in bed and then I’ll feast on you.”
    The weather girl disappears and a breaking news alert comes on.
    “Breaking news. John Veneto, the suspected boss of the brutal Veneto Crime Family, is being arraigned this afternoon for the murder of Frank Mainella. Frank Mainella was murdered ten years ago, but his body was never found until three weeks ago when a construction company began demolishing on an old Bensonhurst strip mall and found Mainella’s remains encased in concrete below a printing shop. The Veneto Crime Family has controlled Bensonhurst and surrounding neighborhoods for more than thirty years. Police are optimistic that this arrest will restore order to this flourishing neighborhood.”
    “Veneto?” August repeats my last name aloud. “I didn’t think that was a common last name.”
    “It’s not.”
    August follows me as I move to the closet to get some clothes. “Aren’t you from Bensonhurst?”
    “He’s my father, okay? Are you happy now? Want to go write about it on your fucking blog?”
    He chuckles again as he leans in to kiss my neck again. “That’s kind of hot.”
    Without thinking, I bend my arm to my chest then I elbow him in the ribs. “Get out of my apartment, August. We’re over!”

12

    I try not to cry as I walk to the midtown station on 35 th . Instead, I apply my makeup while walking through the crowds on the sidewalk. Ignoring the angry complaints for me to watch where I’m going. I swipe some lipstick over my mouth and tuck my compact into my purse.
    Stopping on the sidewalk, I look up at the building I’ve worked in for thirteen months. It looks different.
    The brown brick and gold clad siding look even gaudier than usual. A boxy design that used to symbolize strength now looks ridiculous and outdated. This department is no match for men like Knox Savage. As long as he can get to someone inside. Someone as weak and susceptible as me.
    For all I know, Knox probably orchestrated this whole mess with August. All so he could find me last night on 42nd Street at my most vulnerable moment. As if he were rescuing me.
    No, that’s just insane. Why would anyone go to such lengths to make another person feel insecure? Just to mess with their head. Then again, I know next to nothing about Knox other than the fact that he works for my father.
    I enter the station and say my good mornings to the officers manning the front desk. You shouldn’t be so nice to me. I’m going to betray you in a few hours, I almost blurt out. I take the elevator down to the sub-level. The doors open and Detective Charlie Hunter is standing in the concrete corridor.
    “Good morning, Veneto,” he says in his smooth