Jab (Fighter Romance) (Las Vegas Series #2) by Marie York Page A

her from everyone. But I knew that hidden side of her. I was able to see past her charade, and now I was enraged for her.
    Mackenzie bit her lip and shrugged like this was no big fucking deal. It pissed me off even more and I rolled my neck trying to calm myself down.
    “Do you?!” I demanded, waiting for a fucking answer, something that would explain this cluster fuck of a situation.
    “Knox, calm down. Mila never has to know.” Her hand landed on my arm, and I knew what she was doing. It wasn’t going to work. I was immune to her brand of charm. The bottom line was, she was a kid and the sister of the woman who was imbedded in my brain and all my fantasies. I was tired of watching her hurt her sister, who did everything for her.
    “You want me to lie to your sister?” I asked as I pushed her hand off my arm. She was out of her goddamned mind if she thought I would let a sixteen-year-old girl manipulate me. I’d been exposed to more crooked cheats in my life than the years she’d been on this earth. There was no way in hell I would let her get away with this stunt.
    “It’s not a lie. Think of it as… withholding information,” she suggested, as she once again grabbed my arm.
    “It’s still a fucking lie. Either way you dice it, I’d still be lying to her. I can’t do that. I won’t.”
    Mackenzie’s eyes went wild with fear, and her grip on my arm tightened. “Knox, please. This would kill her.”
    “Then, why the fuck are you doing it? How could you be so goddamned selfish?”
    Mackenzie’s hand fell to her side, and she went silent. A moment later, she blinked up at me and, beneath the layers of makeup, I could see the frightened and confused sixteen-year-old girl she was.
    “I’m sick of not being able to have all the same things that my friends have. I asked Mila for a new pair of shoes, and you would think I was asking for her kidney. Do you know what it’s like to to grow up with everything you ever wanted, and then have it ripped out from under you? Do you have any idea what it is like to then be poor and have to do without? Do you?” she questioned me, and it struck a nerve.
    I never considered myself poor growing up until I left home and discovered the world. I couldn’t imagine ever going back there now that I knew what it’s like to have money and be able to buy anything I wanted. But, despite the money, I knew what it was like to have something plucked out from under you. My sister was my best friend and then, one day, she wasn’t there. I knew the pain of losing family. I understood how hard that had to have been for such a young child. Hell, I was a grown man and still dealt with the pain of it every day so yeah, I got it. More than she would ever know.
    It still wasn’t a good enough reason for a sixteen year old to be stripping in an adult club. She was not going to be able to deal with the psychological repercussions of having grown men groping and trying to get something more from her. She was not ready for that, regardless of what she thought. It made me afraid for her, and I felt a need to protect her just as I felt the need to protect Mila.
    “Look, I know Mila tries. I do, but I can’t help it. I want more. Call me selfish or whatever you want, but I’m sick of being mediocre.” 
    “And you think stripping is the answer?” She had me for a second, but now my anger was taking over again. She was being fucking selfish.
    “You want something? I’ll write you a check. Heck, I’ll bring you to the fucking store and buy it for you.”
    “Would I have to fuck you, too, like Mila?” Her words hit me harder than any blow to the face I’ve taken. “That is the arrangement you two have, right? She puts out, and you pay our bills?”
    “No!” I yell. “We don’t have a fucking arrangement. Your sister was in trouble, and I helped her. I didn’t expect anything in return. Sometimes, people do things out of the kindness of their heart. But you wouldn’t know anything