Page 17 of Knot Letting Go

“As far as I know, nothing but be his own creepy self.” I shrugged. “That would be enough to unnerve anyone.”

“He’s a risk to her as well.” A muscle twitched in his cheek. “We have to up our security. We need guards at the house, and at least a pair for Aubrielle and Lillianna. I’ll have to make a call to Callista’s mates and see what can be done.”

“You have Gavin carrying.” I paced, unable to rid myself of the urge to cause some violence upon the Pacettis.

Kon rounded his desk and sent a quick text. “I didn’t know Lorenzo or any of the family would be here on the coast. It was only because Lillianna and Aubrielle are Omegas. A general threat rather than the specific threat we have now.” He gripped the edge of his desk. “Gavin isn’t trained to deal with the Pacettis. We need professionals.”

“Calli’s mates would be here in a heartbeat if you called them. Maybe you can even hire them for a little extra job… do away with Lorenzo once and for all.”

He shook his head. “We’re not killers, Quill. We’re nothing like those bastards.”

I knew he’d say that, and Callista’s husbands wouldn’t do something like that either. But rage was fueling my thoughts at the moment. No one would expect me to arrange a hit. Lorenzo thought Kon was the brains in our business and handled everything. He always looked at me like I was an idiot, and well,I’d been an alcoholic for a number of years. Let Lorenzo think that of me. I would use it to my advantage.

“No.” Kon snapped, seeming to read my mind. “Don’t you fuck with the Pacettis. They have their fingers in everything. We’ll cut our ties with them the right way, through legal means.”

“Which they’re fucking with,” I shot back with a snarl. “They’ll keep running us in circles forever.”

“Our lawyers are better, and with the new tariff laws, we have a hand up on them.” Kon leaned forward on his desk with both palms flat on the top. He narrowed his eyes. “Don’t do anything stupid, Quill. You have no idea what you’re dealing with when it comes to the Pacettis.”

“And you do?” I matched his hard gaze. If something ‘stupid’ got rid of the Pacettis, I didn’t care what I had to do. Lillianna would be safe then. And no one would terrorize Aubrielle ever again.

“I know way more than you do.” His lip curled as if he just ate something rancid.

I wasn’t certain of anything when it came to the Pacettis, but I’d imagined the worst. Money laundering and murder were two of the things I was pretty sure about. What could be worse than murder?

There was no way I was going to let Lorenzo’s shadow hang over us forever. I turned and headed to the door. “Go make your call, Kon. I won’t bother you about this anymore.”

“Quill.” His voice contained a warning, but fuck him.

Kon had to behave as the CEO of our Birk family business and as a father. I was no one’s father. Everyone expected me to act like an idiot, but my head was clearer than it had been in years. My brother couldn’t take the action he wanted, but I could, and I didn’t care what happened to me because of it. Just as long as my family was safe, and Aubrielle never shed another tear in her life.

CHAPTER NINE - Aubrielle

A long hot bath scrubbed the sand and salt from my skin and added a rosy flush to my face, but my nerves were still tight. Something had coiled up inside of me. No, not just something, but several somethings.

Earlier this week, all my tension was because I was around two handsome Alphas who were inspiring my unconscious to give me sizzling sex dreams. Now I had fear tying me in a tangled mess. The two things were opposites and didn’t mix well. They battled inside my soul and pulled my emotions in every direction.

Lillianna came to find me while I was putting my damp hair up in buns. She had already drawn a sketch of what she wanted her mermaid tail to look like. Listening to her excited chatter kept me out of my head, and for that, I was grateful.

Her obsession with mermaids continued on to dinner where she had Enid sit with us and discuss it. Halfway through, Quill joined us from upstairs, and a minute later, Konstantin entered the kitchen from another entrance. Their presence had my stomach tightening, making it difficult to eat.

Enid got up and served them dinner as Lillianna told the story again of her mermaid adventures. I squirmed in my chair, breathing in Konstantin’s smooth leather and vanilla scent, and then in the next breath, inhaling fresh mandarin and cypress from Quill. Both scents were deeply male and made naughty images from my dreams flash through my mind.

Konstantin binding me with his tie and eating my pussy. Quill lifting me off my feet and fucking me against the wall.

“Aubrielle?” The sound of my name yanked me from my erotic thoughts. I blinked and looked toward Quill who grinned.Mm, that sensuous smile. “What color is your mermaid tail going to be?”

Oh, right. Mermaid talk. I swallowed and looked at Lillianna so if my naughty thoughts betrayed me, Quill wouldn’t be able to see them in my eyes. “Well, Lillianna is going to have blue and purple, so I might go with varying shades of pink.”

“That would be pretty,” Lillianna agreed and ate the last of her food pillows.

“So a blue mermaid and a pink mermaid with scales that go all the way up their necks. Lovely.” Quill smirked as he bit into a piece of cheesy garlic bread. He sat half-turned toward his niece with an arm resting on the top of his chair. The buttoned-up shirt he wore hugged his muscled frame. So casual, so incredibly hot.

“No!” Lillianna gasped. “Not up to our necks. That would look silly.”

“It would look right with your big giant round fish mouths. That’s what mermaids have, right?” Quill continued to tease her.

Konstantin said nothing, but quietly ate his meal with a look of amused affection at the two of them, which he tried to hide between bites. He still wore his suit, and for some reason that turned me on even more. He looked sharp and commanding, ready with a firm hand…

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