Page 121 of Knot My Sin

“Agreed,” Aisling says passionately. “God, I’m so excited I came over here. Other than the fact that I got to scare the shit out of Reagan. She’s kind of a pain in the ass. Oh! I have to go. Someone is waving me over. Chat soon!”

We watch as she rushes over to someone who is, in fact, waving her over.

“I really like her,” Wren murmurs.

“Surprisingly, so do I,” Jas admits. “You’re in a unique position to do incredible things. It may as well be with a firecracker like that.”

God, they’re probably going to get up to so much shit as they shake up our society. I can’t fucking wait to see it happen.

SHAW

This meeting is fucking tedious. I really don’t want to hear them air their dirty laundry.

“Corbin, I’ve been doing business in Minnesota, and I want to continue to do so,” Crowson grumbles. “None of this works if you won’t bend.”

“You’re a goddamn shit!” Corbin roars. “What do you even know about running guns or drugs? We also create scent blockers for the entire Midwest for omegas. It’s a very delicate balance. You could kill someone if you fuck it up.”

Scent blockers can be ingested or used topically, so my boss is right. It could potentially kill an omega if made incorrectly.

“We also create the scent dampeners currently in the air,” Everest states quietly. “There’s no way to evenly distribute the different services we provide without you continuing to poach our providers, and potentially fucking something up.”

I watch Crowson carefully, as he fists his hand in frustration. There’s something odd about the things he’s insisting upon, as if he’s dragging this on purposefully.

Taking a breath, I check my bonds with Wren and Flynn, noticing a spike in happiness on Wren’s part. Flynn just seems bemused, so I’ll ask what that was about once we’re out of here.

“We’ve been going in circles, gentlemen,” Patrick reminds them, crossing his arms. “I have to agree with Corbin about something. He built his businesses from the ground up, regardless of you being part of the pack, Crowson. You were practicing law, happily ignoring all the lawless activities we participated in. I also remember how you refused to help on a few occasions when we needed a lawyer.”

Crowson turns scarlet as he realizes this may have been a set up to push him out, while the families still maintain a stance of being impartial. There’s no reason for Crowson to be up in his brother’s business outside of pettiness.

“We’ve been at this for over an hour,” one of the Kelly alphas mutters with a sigh. “We all know the underlying tensions between you two. It seems better fit for a therapist than a mafia family intervention.”

Both brothers scoff, making me have to hide my smirk behind my heavily tattooed hand. I don’t really want to be here all night, either, though as Corbin’s man I’ll be here for however long it takes.

Fucking lovely.

“Just because I was never interested in the business before, doesn’t mean I can’t be now,” Crowson grunts determinedly.

“That’s fine, but we won’t be nickel and diming your brother’s territory to do it with,” Patrick says, annoyed. “Find another sandbox to play in, Crowson.”

“You’re both grown men,” another alpha growls. “Losing your omega the way you two did shouldn’t have happened. Unfortunately, we’ve all had losses.”

“Too many,” one of the Kelly’s mutters. “There are better uses for our time. Either wrap it up or take a break. There’s only so much of this bullshit I can take.”

“Good idea,” Patrick grunts. “Let’s take ten and then reconvene.”

Everest, Amb, and I are scattered throughout the room, so we stay behind as everyone else stomps out. Crowson also disappears, allowing me to breathe out a sigh of relief. The man is fucking noxious.

“Boss,” I grunt, walking over to him in the now empty ballroom. “We seem to be going in circles here, don’t ya think?”

“We are, boyo,” he sighs. “It’s difficult, because he wasn’t always like this, and I keep hoping he’ll go back to the man he was before Hillary died.”

“It seems to me that you can’t travel into the past. There’s nothing there for you,” Everest grunts, offering a nugget of wisdom.

There’s so much more than meets the eye with him, which is what makes him so deadly.

“You’re right,” Corbin sighs. “He’s hurt so many people, and his stunt with the warehouse was short sighted. This needs to be done. Go check on your people, I’m going to take a walk.”

“Boss, while I know you’re capable of taking care of yourself, I’m going to insist on stretching my legs with you,” Amb says diplomatically.

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