Danielle POV
I needed to get changed. The smell of the restaurant had settled into my clothes, clinging like smoke, and I didn’t want to carry it with me through the night. Hex walked me upstairs and showed me to the room I’d be staying in for the week. It was simple, clean, and unexpectedly quiet, like a bubble just outside the storm that brewed in the club below.
She lingered in the doorway while I pulled on fresh clothes, her arms crossed as she leaned against the frame. We talked, not about much, but it was enough. She made it clear that Echo was testing Knox, pushing him harder than the others, because in some ways, he had it easier.
The others weren’t allowed to even breathe near their women during their trial weeks, and here Knox was, taking me to work, helping me pack, being wit
