Page 76 of Seen Knot Heard

Chapter Twenty-Three

Chloe

After our walk in the garden, Nathaniel invited me to grab my laptop and join him in the downstairs office to work. That way, if I got anxious again, we could take another walk, or I could use him as a sounding board for my frustrations.

It turns out the silent, gruff Alpha is a giant softy, and I’m eager to wiggle my way past his shell to reach the marshmallow fluff inside. So, I agreed and left my cell phone in the desk drawer where it couldn’t torment me.

Now, I sit with my legs crisscrossed on the sofa, tackling the mountain of unread emails that have built up over the last three and a half weeks.

I hitdelete, delete, delete, until one at the bottom of the screen catches my eye.

Follow Up on Trilogy Offer.

My pulse quickens, and I click it open with a shaky breath.

I skim the email and quickly become overwhelmed, the words blurring together - deadlines, advances, percentages. The publisher is eager, enthusiastic even. But everything has changed since I first signed on for three more books inThe Fairy and the Dragonlordseries.

I lean back into the cushions, fiddling with the string on my sweatshirt. When I first decided to finish the series, I was driven by desperation to pay off my mother’s debt so I could escape Louie. Now, though, I’ve discovered that the courtship was never valid in the first place, and I owe neither of them a thing.

On the other hand, I’ve begun to like the new arc I was plotting, and the idea of carrying the story a bit further into the main characters’s married life is appealing. If I choose to do this, it would be for me and no one else.

My attention drifts to the window, to the golden afternoon light filtering through the flannel curtains. While I resisted initially, I now long to dive back into that familiar world, to lose myself in the tangled web of my characters’ lives and loves. It would be a nice nest egg I could bring to the pack, too. A way not to be a burden.

After Nathaniel revealed the situation with their loan, I knew instantly that I needed to help. I can’t do it by picking up a hammer, so why not a pen?

I read through the offer again, chewing my strawberry lip gloss off my lips as I ponder.

Despite my reservations, these characters, this world, have been a part of me for a long time. I’ve poured my heart and soul into their creation. I’m not sure I’m ready to let them go or that I’ve finished their story yet.

I focus inward, trying to reconnect with the spark that first ignited this story within me. I remember the rush of excitement, the thrill of discovery as the plot unfolded in my mind. The way the characters came alive, whispering their secrets in my ear. They were my first friends after I left home.

Now, that spark reignites. It’s dimmer, softened by the years and my earlier goodbye to the characters, but it’s still there. Still burning.

I refocus on the contract. Grady always handled this side of the business. I bite my lip, a new worry surfacing.

What if I accept the offer and screw myself over because of some legal jargon?

“Troubled thoughts?” Nathaniel asks from where he works at the desk.

My head lifts to find him watching me with concern. “My publisher sent over a contract for me to consider. But I don’t know if I can handle the negotiation on my own. Are you any good with that kind of thing?”

“I do okay, but we always had a legal team to hammer out the finer details at my father’s company.” He leans back in the office chair. “If you want the best payout possible, though, you should speak to Dom. He does all of our negotiations with investors.”

Dismay fills me at the prospect of approaching Dominic, and I glance back down at the email. This isn’t something I should do alone, though, before speaking to someone who understands fine print.

“He’s up in the office above the garage,” Nathaniel offers. “I’m sure he’d love to help you out.”

If I want to be a member of the pack, I can’t avoid Dominic forever. I need to put on my big girl panties and face him. I can do this.

“Okay.” I close my computer and stand. “I’ll go talk to him. Thank you.”

“Just go through the door at the end of the family quarters,” Nathaniel calls after me. “Don’t bother to knock. Dominic doesn’t always hear it.”

With a wave, I leave Nathaniel and head for the stairs. As I pass the dining room, I hear Holden and Quinn in the kitchen, and it’s tempting to pop in to see what they’re up to. That will just delay the inevitable, though, and my publisher has already been waiting for almost a month.

Upstairs, I stop in front of the door to the garage office and take a deep breath to steady myself before entering.

The scent of work equipment and old leather fills the air, along with the citrus and musk of Dominic’s pheromones. My pulse quickens as I pause in the doorway, but the overflowing desk sits empty.

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