Page 50 of The Knot Before Christmas

Keep telling yourself that, Nova. Maybe one day you’ll believe it.

Chapter 12

Nova

Peeking out the living room window, I groan when I see that all of Will’s hard work shovelling is lost. Last night’s flurries have left everything covered in a fresh few inches of snow.

All that work for nothing, I guess. I’m starting to think we’re going to be stuck in here for a hell of a lot longer than I thought.

A soft meow has me looking away from the window. Duchess is at my feet, rubbing against my leg.

“Hey, sweetie. You hungry?” I coo. She looks up at me and lets out the loudest meow, making me laugh. “Alright, let’s go see what we can get for you.”

Scooping her up in my arms, I take her to the kitchen and feed her some of the canned wet cat food that was left behind. There’s not many, so I’ve been trying to make each can last. Thankfully, she’s still so tiny and doesn’t eat much.

Once Duchess is chowing away on her food, I get to work and make mine.

Everyone seems to still be sleeping, the only sounds in the house are me and the cat.

I left Ian snoring away in my bed. Not going to lie, I’ve had some of the best sleep the past few nights, since he's started sleeping with me. Something about his scent soothes me.

I have no plans of telling him that though.

Sitting down at the table, I eat the fried egg and toast I’ve made for myself. My attention gets drawn to the basement door.

I stare at it the whole time, wondering what Nick does down there. I know all of their stolen product is kept there, but there's got to be something else that keeps him entertained.

Fuck it. He’s sleeping. I could be down and back up in minutes.

Finishing up my food, I put my dirty plate in the sink and grab Duchess, putting her safely in the living room. With her belly full, she curls up in a ball and goes right to sleep.

“Shut up,” I hiss at the stairs as they creak with every step I take down. As if they’re trying to alert the crazy Alpha to what I’m up to.

The cold chill hits me as soon as I get to the bottom of the stairs. Shivering, I run my hands up and down my arms to keep myself warm.

“Huh,” I murmur as I step deeper into the basement. “Not what I expected.” It’s nothing magnificent or anything, but the basement isn’t as dark and dreary as I thought it might be.

The snow covers the window, so the only light down here is the one I turned on at the top of the stairs. It’s enough to illuminate the room.

It’s pretty bare for the most part. On one side there’s boxes and boxes stacked pretty much to the ceiling, filling up most of the basement.

Curiosity fills me, and I go over and take a look. Like I expected, most of the stuff here is expensive electronics. Things like gaming systems, phones, laptops. My brows jump when I see a few boxes from high end clothing and jewellery stores.

My hands itch to take a peek.

Biting my lip, I think better of it and head back over to the other side of the room.

Why is there a desk and chair? And why does that desk have a laptop on it?

Looking up the stairs and taking a moment to listen for any sounds, I take a seat at the desk and open the laptop.

To my surprise, it lights up, already on. And not only is it on, it’s signed in. “Porn.” I snort when I see the image on the page. “Why am I not surprised?”

Has Mr. Big Bad Alpha been down here slapping the salami like a teenage boy?

Part of me hopes my scent has been driving him crazy to the point he needed relief.

Is he down here jerking off to the thought of me and all the things he wishes he could do to me?

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