Page 58 of Knot Letting Go

“Get your ass out here. Birk’s people are closing in!”

Rescue was coming! A sob coughed out of my throat.

“God fucking dammit!” Matteo released my arm and snatched a handful of my hair to drag me out of the bathroom.

Rescue was so close. I only had to last another few minutes.

Desperately, I snatched Matteo’s gun from the sink as he pulled me past it. I tried to get it out of the holster, but he hit me again, and I fell to the floor. My head pounded as nausea made me curl up on my side.

“Get up!” Matteo just wouldn’t let up. He squeezed my throat as he picked me up and brought me so close that our noses were almost touching. “You’re mine now. I’m going to breed you, you little Omega bitch. Once we take care of these American idiots, I’m going to fuck you so hard, my knot will rip you end to end.”

I didn’t belong to him. I’d never belong to this bastard. Only Quill and Konstantin owned my heart. It didn’t matter how much he hurt me or if he bred me. He could never touch that sacred place inside of me where only my pack resided.

I spit in his face.

Matteo’s beady eyes bulged and he raised his fist again.

The door to the bedroom opened and the other suited man glared at us. “Stop fucking around, Matteo. Lorenzo wants you to hide the girls and guard the back.”

“Aubrielle! What’s going on?” Lillianna cried from the bedroom.

Everything in me suddenly became solely focused on Lillianna. I yanked myself free from Matteo, the sleeve of my shirt tearing off into his hand, and ran into the room to gather her in my arms. I rubbed her back and shushed her. The less fuss she made, the safer she'd be.

“It’s okay, sweetie. I’m here.”

Lillianna gently touched my cheek, and tears pooled in her eyes. “You’re hurt.”

“Get moving, you two.” Matteo pushed us toward the door. He gave me another shove as I picked up Lillianna. “Walk. I know just where to put you two.”

There was a cruel gleam in his eyes that made me cringe inside. As long as I had Lillianna and we were out of the middle of whatever was going to happen, I could get us through this. My head throbbed and my heat pains clawed at me from the inside out, but this little girl in my arms was all that mattered.

Matteo forced us on a staggering march through the house and out the back door onto the patio. He led us off it and down under it where a large water cistern hummed, half buried under the ground. It had to hold tens of thousands of gallons of collected rainwater. Enough to keep the house supplied through weeks without rain.

He twisted a wheel and opened a hatch. Wait. He was going to put us in there?

“You can’t do this!” I darted toward the beach, and he hooked me around the middle, tossing me against the steel side of the cistern. I cradled Lillianna against me as she started to wail.

“Get inside or I’ll put you in.” Matteo didn’t have the cold calm of his boss. He was near feral, and that made him unpredictable. No one was supposed to hurt Lillianna, but I didn’t trust him. I had to do whatever it took to protect her.

I squatted with Lillianna and set her on the ground. She flailed, trying to keep a hold of me, but I cupped her face and wiped at the tears. “So this thing is like an underground pool. We’re going to swim for a bit while everyone here deals with their business. It’ll be dark and scary at first, but we’re mermaids. Mermaids are fine in the water.”

Lillianna slowly quieted and stared at me with her big trusting eyes. God, what I would give to never have her afraid again in her life.

“Get the fuck in there!” Matteo had no patience and stepped toward me as if he was about to pick me up and stuff me into the cistern.

There was no ignoring him, but I didn’t acknowledge his command. “I’ll go first, sweetie.” I stood and pulled myself up on top of the container. Lowering myself inside, I had to let myself drop as there was nothing to hold onto. There was about six feet of water. Enough that I couldn’t stand on the bottom, and crap, it was cold. The shock of it did nothing to eliminate the pains from my heat, though. “Okay, lower Lillianna down to me. Gently.”

If that bastard was rough with her in any way…

Lillianna whimpered as she was lowered into the portal and then unceremoniously dropped. I grabbed her immediately,hugging her to me as Matteo slammed the hatch shut. Lillianna coughed out water and clung to me, making it difficult for me to stay afloat.

There was a tiny green light at the far end of the cistern closest to the house, but that was the only light we had. It was dark and cold, a watery tomb.

I couldn’t let myself think like that. I had to make sure Lillianna got out of here. The pain in my head became a stabbing and my heat twisted my guts. I couldn’t keep us both afloat. I needed her not to be attached to me like a barnacle.

“Okay, sweetie. We’re safe in our underground pool. I need you to be brave and do your best starfish. Do you remember how to do that?” I kissed the top of her head, almost slipping beneath the surface of the water as I did so. Goosebumps covered my skin, but at the same time, I was burning up from the inside-out.

“I don’t want to let go.” She sniffled and tightened her grip on me.

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