Page 40 of Knot a Thief

“She keeps outwitting us.” His fists clenched at his sides. But despite his anger, there’s a glint of admiration in his eyes that the omega is bold.

“She’ll make her way to the boat.” I point to the vessel bobbing gently in the distance.

I slip my hands in my pockets, hating that her being so close unsettles me.

I’ve watched her body move so beautifully around Monaco for two days while she scoped out her victims, and it did something to me I don’t want to acknowledge.

Just knowing she’s so close in proximity to me makes my cock ache and my fists clench as they imagine grasping her delicate throat. I don’t know if I want to squeeze her neck with my knot buried deep inside her, or something else.

“My tracker still shows their boat in Ibiza,” Max says, interrupting my thoughts, narrowing his eyes.

I’m so pissed off with myself for letting her affect me like this. Hating my dick aches just watching her ass in her leggings.

I hate that my self-control is slipping, and I hate that she is the reason.

I close my eyes and shake it off.

“That’s a hired boat.” Seb thought we’d never know he used another boat. But I can find out everything. “Though, I have to admit it was a clever move doing the job two days earlier than expected.”

Max nods, a hint of begrudged respect in his expression. “She’s clever, I’ll give her that. But not clever enough.”

He flicks the remote and we watch as our helicopter takes off, carrying Max’s security team towards Seb’s boat. The rhythmic thump of the rotors fade as it disappears into the horizon.

“Do you think she’s really there?” Max asks, his eyes never leaving the helicopter.

“There’s nowhere else for her to go.” I shrug, trying to appear nonchalant despite the tension coiling in my gut. “If she’s not, we’ll find her. She can’t have gone far. She’ll either be hiding out on the island and swimming back to the boat once she thinks it’s safe.”

“That’s a long swim,” Max adds, watching the screen as the helicopter hovers over the boat.

Minutes tick by, feeling like hours. Finally, the crackle of the radio breaks the silence.

“Sir, we’ve boarded the vessel. And there’s no sign of the omega yet.”

Max snatches the radio from my hand. “Send a diver in the water and check around the boat.”

He hands me the radio back and strides away. “Keep searching. She has to be there.”

Max turns. His jaw clenched as he stares ahead. “Get me on that boat.”

I glare at him. “But she could be on the island.”

“Get me on that boat, now.”

“Prepare a boat to launch in two minutes,” I say into my radio as I follow Max from the house to the secret elevator that goes to the underground marina.

“Which one?” A voice returns.

“I want the most streamlined and fastest one in the marina,” I reply.

“Onto it.”

I follow Max, sliding my hand over the panel to open the elevator, and stride inside.

Max is tense as he steps inside with me.

His shoulders are stiff, and although his agitation is visible, I keep my face neutral. Years of training have taught me to mask my emotions, even as my mind races through contingencies.

“We’ll get her back.” I don’t tell him I have a vested interest in the omega being on this island and doing what he wants. He thinks I’m doing this because we’re a pack. I’m not.

---