Page 79 of Knot Like Other Girls

We follow him into the guest wing, exchanging worried glances. Cole is already there, leaning against the wall with his arms crossed. His scarred face is knit into an even angrier scowl than usual, which is saying something.

Roman closes the door behind us, then runs a hand through his hair. It's a tell I've learned to recognize over the years.

Whatever's happened, it's bad.

"What's going on?" I ask, not bothering to hide my concern. "Did something happen while we were out?"

Roman's laugh is harsh and humorless. "You could say that." He paces the length of the room, his movements sharp and agitated. "I found something on Braxley's phone. He's cheating on Bella."

He fucking what?

For a moment, all I can hear is the roaring of blood in my ears as rage—pure, unfiltered alpha rage—floods my system.

"You can't be serious." Troy's voice is barely recognizable, stripped of all its usual warmth.

"Cheating," Roman repeats, his own anger evident in the way his hands clench into fists. "Found messages on some dating app. He's been setting up hookups behind Bella's back."

The rational part of my brain shuts down completely. All I can think about is Bella—sweet, kind Bella who deserves so much better than this—and how much I want to tear Braxley limb from fucking limb.

"So what do we do?" I hear myself ask, my voice coming out in a growl. "Kill him?"

I'm deadly serious. It would be easy. One "accident" during a security detail, and no one would ever know.

"It would be simple to make it look like a mistake," Savva muses in agreement, his cultured voice at odds with the cold calculation in his eyes. "A fall from the balcony, perhaps. Or an unfortunate gym accident."

"No one would miss him," Troy adds darkly.

"We're not killing him," Roman says, though I can tell from his tone that he's considered it himself. "As satisfying as that might be."

"And why the fuck not?" I demand, my accent thickening with anger. "The bastard deserves it. After everything he's put Bella through?—"

"Because Bella needs us functional," Cole interrupts, his gravelly voice cutting through my rage. "Not in prison."

I want to argue, but deep down, I know they're right. Killing Braxley won't help Bella. If anything, it would just make things worse.

Still.

A man can dream.

"So what are we going to do?" Troy asks, running a hand through his hair in frustration. "We can't just let him get away with this shit."

"I've already handled it," Roman says grimly. "Sort of."

Something in his tone makes me narrow my eyes. "What did you do?"

Roman's smile is all teeth. "Let's just say Braxley and I had a... discussion about his extracurricular activities. I gave him twenty-four hours to tell Bella the truth, or I'll do it for him."

"How many hours ago was this?" Savva asks dryly.

"About four."

"Not too far off from my original timeline, then." Savva's tone is casual, but I catch the way his eyes flick to his watch. He's already counting down the hours until he can unleash whatever dirt he's undoubtedly dug up on Braxley.

"We need to be careful," Roman continues, his expression serious. "This is going to be hard on Bella. The last thing she needs is us going alpha-male crazy and making it worse."

I growl low in my throat, not liking where this is going. "So what, we just sit back and watch while that piece of shit breaks her heart?"

"No," Roman says firmly. "We be there for her. We support her. But we let her handle this her way."

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