Page 114 of Knot Your Business

His scent cocoons me, comforting me like it’s done for the last five years. He makes that almost grunt of a hum, and I relax into him.

Dad kisses my hair again and tightens his hold on my shoulders.

“I’ve got you, sweetheart,” he says. “We’re going to fix it, all right?”

“You know?” I don’t mean to ask the question.

Dad’s hold tightens for a moment before they both nod.

Another bit of my worry and anxiety flows away from me realizing I won’t have to relive that night, won’t have to remember what Mom said and did to me in that bathroom. I take a deep breath, drawing on my dads’ strength, leaning on the pillars they’ve both been my entire life. When I don’t feel like I’m going to dissolve into tears at the drop of a hat again, I pull away and wipe at my eyes.

“She’s coming?” I ask.

Papa nods as he laces his fingers with Dad’s. He says, “Should be here any minute with Phillip.”

They walk with me to the table, pulling out my chair and making sure I’m comfortably positioned between Rylan and Jasper. Dominic sits on the other side of Jasper, his arm thrown across the back of his seat, his fingers just brushing my shoulder.

I glance at him and frown. “You should have warned me.”

It’s Rylan that shakes his head and runs his thumb along my cheekbone.

“Absolutely not, pretty Omega,” he says, his voice warm. “You would have spent the entire day stressing out about this dinner when it would have changed nothing.”

He’s right. That doesn’t stop me from pursing my lips, though. He smirks at me, grabbing my hand and kissing my palm before I can decide to do anything more extreme than pout. My mother’s surprised voice cuts through the quiet.

“Oh.”

Fifty-Four

VIOLET

Iglance over my shoulder, Rylan’s hold tightening around my wrist.

Mom stands just inside the frosted glass door, Father a step behind her. His gaze is tired and frustrated, his shoulders stiff and his lips twisted into a hard frown. It’s the least like him I’ve ever seen. He’s normally the happiest of my dads, the one that can always find a silver lining in the storm. His obvious dissatisfaction with Mom has the hairs on the back of my neck rising.

She’s dressed to the nines tonight, a gold sequin dress hugging her body and a black velvet clutch tucked under her arm. Her makeup is done more subtly than typical, her eyes popping under the matte brown eyeshadow and heavy mascara. Between her perfect skin and her long black hair that’s curled into effortless waves, we could pass as twins rather than mother and daughter.

My mom’s small moment of surprise is quickly covered by her flipping her hair over one shoulder and pinning Rylan and then Dominic with a dissecting once over. Her lips purse as she skips over Jasper entirely and focuses on me, her gaze catching almost immediately on the healed bond scar straddling my left collarbone.

“So happy to see you well,” she says. “I wasn’t aware you would be joining us. Such a lovely surprise.”

The lie isn’t even a decent one, falling as flat as her unsmiling eyes. When I don’t say anything, she steps around the table and pulls the chair beside Dad.

Papa frowns but says nothing while Dad ignores her entirely. Father sits on the other side of Papa, across from Rylan—and the farthest away from Mom he can manage. I’m sure it’s no accident that Dominic is the one nearest to her. It almost makes me feel bad. Almost.

“Oh shoot,” I murmur. “Sorry, I forgot to introduce you. Papa, Father, this is Dominic.” I grab his hand and squeeze his fingers. His humor is a soft whisper across the bond.

Wait. Humor? What about this does he find funny?

Papa smiles, mischief lighting his eyes. “We’ve met already, darling.” He holds out his hand across the table, and Dominic takes it easily, dropping my grip to do so. “It’s nice to see you again, though.”

“You’ve already met?” I ask, my confusion so evident it must seem over the top. Dad nods, his cold gaze cutting toward Mom before focusing on me. “When?”

Father clears his throat while Papa pulls a folder from the bag stashed across his chair.

My eyebrows furrow with my growing confusion. What was going on?

“Dominic flew out to talk with us the day after your forced heat started,” Father says, grabbing Papa’s hand and lacing their fingers together. “He wanted to get to know us and update us on how you were doing.”

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