Page 106 of Knot Your Business

I laugh. “I mean… I’d let your dick cloud my judgment, too. Pretty sure you get to be biased.”

Violet giggles, her nose scrunching again. The sound is lighter than it’s been all day. I can’t help but smile, and Dominic relaxes beside me.

“I imagine it’s because on paper he’s perfect,” she says, wiping her eyes before her happy tears can smudge her makeup. “He’s young, attractive, and apparently the heir to a sizable ship construction company here in LA. It would have reflected back on her really well. And I imagine she would have positioned herself so that Dad felt he had to try and acquire the company once we were—” She chokes on the word, coughing. “Once we were bonded. She’d probably even frame it as a way to get retribution for him overstepping.”

“She’s truly only concerned with her own image,” Dominic says, disgust warring with anger in his voice.

Violet nods.

“I have to ask,” I say. “Why the hell are you calling him Fuckboy Extraordinaire? Do you know him from somewhere?”

She grimaces. “He went to UCLA.”

Rylan chuckles, but it’s not a happy sound. “He forced her into a very loud public conversation the first time I took her out. It’s what I named him after the fact.”

Dominic grunts. “That explains why it looked like you’d been punched when you realized who he was on Saturday.”

“Didn’t expect him to be at something like that, to be honest,” Rylan says, scratching at his tattoo. “Figured he was playing at being rich, not actually rich.”

“What happens next is up to you, Sirena,” Dominic murmurs. “Do you want to confront her about it?”

Violet purses her lips and messes with the Old Fashioned sitting untouched in front of her. “It won’t be made public?” she asks.

“Unfortunately, it’s not an option,” I say. “The detective made it clear that the odds of her actually being convicted are extremely low.”

She mutters a curse and sighs. “Then yes,” she says, looking at each of us in turn. “I’m ready for her to be out of my life. I think confronting her is best. The sooner the better.”

Dominic nods, then reaches into his suit jacket where it’s draped over the back of his chair. Rylan turns, too, grabbing the folder containing the finalization paperwork. Blowing out a breath, I pull the small ring box from where I’ve had it stashed in the pocket of my slacks since getting ready this evening.

One thing I’ve still not adjusted to with having access to substantial wealth is the incredible speed at which expensive items and events can happen. A single call to the jeweler this afternoon, and the stacking rings were ready and delivered to Dominic before we ever left for dinner.

Violet’s throat ripples with her swallow.

“You didn’t have to get them,” she says, her voice now shy and unsure, like when we realized Sienna had fucked us over in her dorm room. “It’s not… I mean…”

She trails off as Rylan turns to her, twisting in his seat until his knees brush her thigh. He sets the form in front of her, a single pen resting on it, and then digs out the ring box from his pocket. With a flick of his wrist, he opens it and lays it on the paper, twisting it so the ring inside faces her.

“We know we didn’t have to get them, pretty Omega,” he says. Her cheeks darken, and he smirks. “Just let us spoil you. It’s going to happen anyway, so you might as well get used to it.”

She cocks an eyebrow, and I know she’s about to say something sassy that has me wishing we were alone so I can fuck her. I cut in before she can really get going, opening my own ring box and setting it on the form beside Rylan’s. Dominic’s not nearly as flashy about it, sliding his beside mine and then taking my hand, running his thumb across my knuckles.

Violet stares at the rings and the paper, her eyes darting across all of them like she can’t quite decide where to focus first. Tears flood her eyes, and she wipes one away as it falls over her lashes.

“Fuck, I’m not a damn crier,” she mutters even as another tear slowly tracks down her cheek. “I just… I didn’t think it would be this emotional.”

She picks up my ring first, pulling it from the box and slipping it onto her finger. The light pink stones set around the gold band blaze against her skin. She pulls Rylan’s next, his nearly identical to the one I chose, though the gemstone he picked made for a darker pink. Dominic’s is entirely different, though it complements ours. She pulls it last, twisting it around in the dim light of our secluded table. The two gold bands intertwine, small white stones set between the curves. She adjusts how they sit on her finger, letting Dominic’s sit between mine and Rylan’s.

Before any us dare to break the silence, she signs the paperwork and moves it away from her still full drink.

“Thank you,” she murmurs. “This is better than I imagined it could be when I filed for matching in March.”

My heart soars. Because that? That’s everything I’ve ever needed her to say about being with me for forever.

Fifty

RYLAN

Violet starts toward her bedroom, the simple black dress hugging her ass in a way that makes my dick stand up and take notice. It doesn’t seem to care that we’ve just made it through the most extreme heat I’ve ever been a part of. She glances over her shoulder as I groan, low and mournful, my eyes still stuck on the way the fabric is moving over her body. She smirks, her eyes lighting with mischief, even as she starts pulling pins from her hair.

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