Page 132 of Knot Made to Break: Part One

His words hit a nerve, but I pushed down the fury flaring in my chest. This wasn’t about giving him the satisfaction of seeing me angry. This was about keeping control and putting a bullet through that smug face of his.

“You talk a big game for a man who’s about to lose everything,” I seethed.

I dared another glance, mentally noting everyone’s positions.

Under the sickly yellow light swathing the empty lot, Rocco’s grin widened, a gleam of triumph in his eyes. “Oh, you thinkyou’ve got the upper hand, don’t you? That I just wandered in here blind? You and your little plans, Cristenello—you honestly thought I wouldn’t find out this was all a setup? You should be more careful about who you trust. Not everyone you pay is loyal.”

My gut twisted, that fury finally boiling over, but I held steady.

Come on, asshole. Just a bit closer…

Rocco’s voice darkened as he spat, “As for your precious Omega, I’ve got eyes on her, too. It’s only a matter of time before she joins you in the afterlife—or maybe I’ll change my mind and keep her. Chain her up again. Knot her anytime I please. Watch her suffer without her Alphas.” He sneered, his words venomous. “I’ll make her wish you never saved her.”

The world constricted around me, a tunnel of unadulterated hatred with Rocco at its center. Kitania’s broken voice echoed in my mind; the fear she’d expressed, the pain she’d endured. The thought of her suffering again—of this monster laying even a finger on her—was more than I could take.

Everything went crimson. I didn’t think, didn’t calculate, didn’t breathe.

I flew into motion, rounding into the loading bay. The trigger yielded under the applied pressure; the gun kicking back with a satisfying jolt as the shot rang out, piercing the thick silence like a scream.

Rocco flinched, his gaze widening in surprise. But he didn’t fall, the bullet shy of its mark.

Slowly, his mouth curled into a sinister grin, cruel eyes gleaming with malicious delight. “That’s your problem, Cristenello. You’re soft. Weak. All because of her. That little Omega? She’s nothing but your Achilles’ heel.”

I thought he’d kill me, out in the open as I was. All it would take is one shot from any of his guys who were closer in rangethan he was. Instead of ordering my demise, his hand twitched toward something on his belt—a small, metallic device. With a slow, mocking chuckle, Rocco held it up.

My gut dropped.A detonator.

His gaze fixed on me across the distance as his finger hovered over the button. “Say goodbye to everything you think you own.”

Every heartbeat pulsed with a singular focus. I had seconds to act.

“Get down!” I barked to my men, my family, back in the warehouse, my voice echoing through the cavernous space with enough Alpha authority to make each one in the vicinity yield and obey.

But it was too late.

Rocco pressed the button, and the world went white.

forty-seven

TOMMAS

“Just one round,”I said, holding up a deck of cards. Kitania shook her head, her eyes flitting towards the window. The anxious tapping of her foot on the floor echoed in the otherwise quiet room. I could practically see the wheels in her mind spinning out of control, grinding down whatever fragile calm she’d managed to scrounge together.

“Doesn’t have to be poker. We could play something easy, like Go Fish,” I added, hoping to sway her. “I think you’ll enjoy it.”

“I’m just… not in the mood,” she murmured almost apologetically, her voice a mere wisp of smoke. She pulled her knees to her chest, curling into a tighter ball on the sofa.

Kit’s gaze drifted for the hundredth time toward her phone, fingers twitching with every passing minute that went by without a message from the others.

I sighed and raked a hand through my hair. This was harder than I’d imagined. Hard being away from my brothers when theywere in the thick of it. Hard being unable to soothe my agitated, stressed out Omega. I knew she needed time, but seeing her like this—so small, so scared—gnawed at me. I wasn’t used to feeling this helpless.

“Maybe a movie then?” I suggested, already rising to fetch the remote. “Something light. A comedy. Or maybe a Rom Com?”

She shook her head again. “I don’t think I can watch anything that happy when they’re out there in danger. It’s too much.”

I sank onto the sofa beside her and let out a soft puff of air. “Butterfly,” I urged, more insistent this time. “You can’t just sit and stare all night. It’s not healthy—”

“Tommy,” she pleaded, those ice-blue eyes piercing straight through me. “Please.”

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