Page 33 of Knot Letting Go

“Aubrielle.” The way he said my name sent a shiver of arousal through me and his possessive look… At least the swelling of his eye had gone down and the bruising had slightly faded. “We need to talk.”

No, he needed to bend me over and take me hard. I tried to bat that thought from my head as I nodded once. “Alright.”

Konstantin led me to his office, shutting the door behind us. My thighs clenched together as the latch clicked and my heart beat harder. I had hoped he wouldn’t ask me like this for a response to the note he’d left for me, but the way he’d been the other night…

“Would you like something to drink?” He motioned to the small bar, and when I shook my head, he pointed to the chair in front of his desk. “Sit.”

I sat immediately. There was no way I could not obey his command.

Thunder rumbled in the distance, and the rain slanted to beat against the pair of windows in his office. Konstantin poured himself a drink. No ice, something caramel colored and smokey. It twined with his Alpha scent and added a sweetness to it.

He took a sip and set the glass down upon a coaster on the corner of his desk. His fingers traced over the glassy rim, and I sucked in my lower lip, biting at it as if I felt his fingers slipping over my breasts like that. A twisting heat pang had me suck back a whimper and clutch my hands together on my lap.

“I met with Callista’s mates today.”

My eyes widened with surprise, and I stared up at him with my mouth slightly agape. This wasn’t what I expected to hear from him.

“Talis and I had a discussion about security for the manor, for Lillianna, and for you.” His intense gaze rooted me to the spot, frozen and almost forgetting to breathe. “Lorenzo Pacetti,” he spat out the name and bared his teeth. “I never explained to you who he was before. The Pacetti family are criminals. The people my father had ties to were despicable, and the Pacettis are the worst of the worst.”

With everything else in my head, I hadn’t thought of Lorenzo since Friday. The way the Alpha had made my skin crawl and made me want to flee, to never stop running. I swallowed hard.

“I married Giovanna, Lillianna’s mother, because that’s what my father wanted. It was merely a business deal to tie the families together. Giovanna, her mother, and the other Pacetti females were killed by a rival family. Thankfully Lillianna was not with them, but she is the last female alive with Pacetti blood, and I think Lorenzo might kidnap her and use her to get me to cooperate with him.”

I gripped the arms of the chair. Fear chilled the heat which had zipped through my veins not a minute ago. Lillianna. She was so innocent and trusting. If that horrible man took her… I shuddered. “Callista’s mates are the best at what they do. They’ll do anything to protect Lillianna.”

“They will. One of them will be here tomorrow to inspect the house and get the specs for a new security system. They’re also sending out bodyguards tonight. They’ll be in uniform and patrolling the area, so don’t be alarmed when you see them. But there’s more.”

Konstantin studied me as I tried to calm my swiftly beating heart. This was more than frightening. I’d only knownLillianna for a short time, but already I would give anything to save her any more hardship. If it was this rough on me, I could only imagine how horrible it was for her father. Konstantin had lost a lot in his life too.

I would make certain he didn’t lose anyone else. As much as Lillianna needed stability, love, and happiness, so did he. Why I suddenly felt so intensely about it, I didn’t know, but I wanted it so much more than I ever wanted anything for myself.

Konstantin set down his drink and tapped on his cell. He pressed his lips together, making a stern line. His jaw tightened and something flared in his eyes as he brought up what he was looking for on the screen. “I debated showing you this, but you need to know the kind of danger you’re in.”

Me? It was Lillianna who was in danger. Maybe he was trying to scare me off from being her nanny. Did he regret the note he sent me and this was his way of getting rid of me? I wasn’t going to leave Lillianna.

“Lorenzo, well, someone who works for him, sent me this while I was talking to Talis this afternoon.” Konstantin didn’t offer the phone to me, but set it on the edge of his desk propped up against a black marble paperweight.

I looked down at the screen to see a picture of myself. My brows furrowed as I tilted my head as if that could make it less real. I was in the garden about to bend down to smell the roses. There was a faraway look in my eyes and the breeze had my hair waving.

It was taken this afternoon.

When I was alone.

A weird little choked sound squeaked out of my throat. My breaths came quick and shallow. Why was someone taking my picture and sending it to Konstantin? I didn’t know the Pacettis and I wasn’t anything to Konstantin other than his daughter’s nanny.

Konstantin gathered my hands and took them in his. His voice was low and tight when he spoke. “I won’t let anything happen to you. If any of Lorenzo’s gang of bastards lays a finger on you, they will die.”

The ferocity of his words scared me and thrilled me at the same time. I shouldn’t have felt any sort of arousal at this moment, but his possessive touch, the way he vowed to protect me… My entire Omega self melted.

His thumb stroked along the back of mine. “You must never go anywhere without a bodyguard. I’d keep you locked in the manor forever if I could.” He stopped as if surprised by his own words. A shiver of fear and a bigger one of arousal zipped through me. A small growl rumbled in his throat and his grip tightened to almost painful on my hands. “Promise me you’ll do as I say and stay safe.”

That growl. My very core was molten, churning with need for this Alpha.

“I promise that I would never let anything happen to Lillianna—”

“I want you safe. You, Aubrielle. The Pacetti family does horrible things, but the most heinous is that they kidnap and sell unclaimed Omegas.”

I whimpered as he squeezed me too hard. He let go of my hands and took a hold of my upper arms to jerk me toward him. There was a wildness in his dark eyes which made me freeze as much as what he said.

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