Page 51 of Knot Her Reality

Conrad nods as he grunts, and I have to fight back my laughter. I always find it hilarious when men decide to communicate with grunts and not words. My eyes zero in on Gavin.

“Of course, I’ll be there. What else am I going to do? Hide out in my room all night? That sounds boring as hell.”

“Excellent, then I’ll see everyone down there soon.”

Ronan’s smile slips, his eyes narrowing as he tightens his hold on me as I attempt to slip away. “And where are you off to, troublemaker?”

“I’m going to check out the second floor. It’s not like we had much of a chance last night.”

He makes a face, telling me he doesn’t believe me for a second, but he lets me go. “Stay out of trouble.”

“I’ll try, but I’m not making any promises.” I skip away, heading down the stairs before anyone else can stop me. I have no idea what room Viktor is in, or if he’ll even be in his room, but it’s the best plan I have.

I step off the stairs, sticking my head around the corner to glance into the living room, but it’s empty. Heading down the hallway, I bypass the pack suite, knowing he won’t be in one of them since he’s a single alpha. I stop at the door on the right and knock, waiting a minute before knocking again. When no one answers, I move on, assuming it isn’t his room. There is only one other door off this hallway, the rest of the right side nothing more than a wall—that’s probably the theater. On the third floor, there is one additional room on this side.

Turning to the door at the end of the hallway, I knock. Since all of the rooms are soundproofed, I don’t hear anything from inside. I lift my hand to knock on the door again when it flies open.

“What?” Viktor all but snarls as his eyes land on my face. He blinks when he realizes it’s me, the anger falling away until he’s staring at me blankly. “I’m sorry. I didn’t realize it was you. Natalie, right? What can I do for you?”

I don’t like the way he was able to pull back his anger so easily, hiding it behind a wall. It makes me not trust him, but that could also be because of what the others have said about him.

“The others said we’re having dinner in the theater, but you left on your own. I wanted to see if you were going to join us.”

Viktor scoffs, his eyes sliding over my body. “The others don’t want me there, trust me.”

“And why’s that?”

He scoffs again. “Because they’re all a bunch of judgemental pricks. They get an idea in their head and won’t let it go. They think that I purposefully hurt Evangeline—because that makes absolute sense, doesn’t it? They can’t seem to shake the idea. The only one who stands up for me is Dustin, and there’s no point in me attempting to change their minds, ya know?”

Nodding slowly, I continue to watch him. I’d almost say he’s genuine, but he can’t seem to stand still. Working as an emergency nurse, you have to learn to read people and look for their tells. Often when people lie, they won’t look in your eyes, but Viktor doesn’t seem to be having a problem. In fact, he’s looking at me in earnest, trying to tell me I can trust him. But he keeps shuffling from side to side as if he’s nervous, which is nothing like the confident alpha everyone says he usually exudes. He’s trying too hard, and that’s what has me not believing his words—but he doesn’t need to know that.

“Yeah, it doesn’t make sense that you’d attempt to hurt the woman who you’re trying to win over so you can be a part of her pack, does it?”

Knowing there’s no way he’ll join us, I’ll have to think of some other way to get him alone to see if I can get more out of him. Whether he hurt Evangeline on purpose or not, it’s clear that he’s not telling the truth about something. He has secrets he doesn’t want me to know. Too bad for him that I’m making it my mission to find them all out.

“Exactly!” He smiles, charm oozing from him as he steps back and gestures to his room. “Maybe you’d like to have dinner with me instead of the others?”

“Ahhh, sorry. I told Ronan I’d meet him in the theater. He’ll worry if I’m not there.” I don’t let my smile fall away, even when something flashes in his eyes for just a moment—that rage again. “But I promise to work on them—try to get them to understand there’s no way you could’ve hurt her on purpose. Maybe another time we can eat together.”

Viktor nods. “Thanks, Natalie. It’s greatly appreciated.”

“Have a good night.” Offering him a wave, I head back down the hallway. He doesn’t immediately go back into his room, and I can feel his eyes on me as I walk away. I don’t relax until I’ve turned the corner, knowing he can no longer see me. I sag against the wall, shaking my head. I think the others are onto something. There’s definitely something off about Viktor, and I intend to find out what.

Chapter Fifteen

Evangeline

Finally, it’s time to meet the last four suitors. I’ve enjoyed having a day to get to know just four suitors at a time, but it’ll be nice to get to see all of them together after tomorrow’s date. Part of me hasn’t been able to stop thinking about Koda, wondering how he’s doing being surrounded by all the suitors. What would it be like to be an omega suitor? It’s something I’ll never know, but I can’t imagine it being the same experience as the betas and alphas.

I know Paisley is also an omega, but she also has her pack with her. Koda doesn’t have anyone with him.

Get it together, Evangeline. You need to focus on the suitors you’re meeting now, not one from day one—or day four.

My mind runs back to the date from earlier today. I really enjoyed spending time with all four of them.

Damn it!

I’m doing it again. I need to focus.

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