Page 51 of Knot Going Down
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DECLAN
“You’re on a cruise? A fucking cruise?!” My director Curtis spits the last word so loudly I have to pull the phone away from my ear. “This was not the plan, McLaren.”
“Well, the plan was to fly back with Knox Carrick days ago and use him to take down Glenn Plansky, but like I told you before, the planes were grounded.”
“I know the commercial flights were fucking grounded. But I expected you to charter a plane or something.”
“On the agency’s dime? You know how expensive that would be. Taxpayers would eat you alive if they found that in the next audit.”
“Yeah, well, if you had waited, you’d be home right now. The flights are running again.”
Shit.
“Everyone expected things to be down longer,” I reply, only slightly defensive. “And besides with so many people being re-routed, it’s likely we’d still be waiting. I made the best call I could make with the information I had.”
“Right, a free vacation.” His voice is flat.
“I’m due one, aren’t I?” Truth is, I haven’t taken a vacation since the one I took right after Kyle died—and that was a mandated leave of absence three years ago. Work has been the one steadying force in my life since. I’m an asshole with only a few friends and no family left. So work’s all I got.
His sigh comes through the line, heavy. “It’s not that you don’t deserve a break, but now’s not the time. I’ve got the Department of Justice breathing down my neck about catching Glenn, my pack begging me to retire, and a goddamned kidney stone pissing me the fuck off. I’m too old for this shit. Just tell me you have a plan for putting Plansky away for good.”
I tell him my idea to accompany Knox as his date to Glenn’s daughter’s wedding, but he’s unimpressed.
“Digging up dirt on him is months of wiretaps, subpoenas, and praying he slips up. You really think he’s dumb enough to leave evidence sitting on his home computer? If this blows up in your face, if we miss our window, if Knox double-crosses you, he walks, Declan.”
“What are you suggesting?” My voice is flat, but there's a warning under it. I want Glenn bad, but I’m a clean cop.
“Push him. Corner him. Dangle what he wants in front of his face and let him reveal himself. Get him to mess up. Use Knox if you have to.”
I’m shaking my head before he’s even done talking. “You want me to throw someone to the wolves? I’m not risking a life because you’re desperate to put another win on your record.”
“Don’t twist this. We both want him taken down. I thought you’d be a little more motivated after what happened with?—”
“I’mplentymotivated,” I snap, something dark rising in my chest. “But I won’t burn down someone else’s life to feel like I’ve done something.” Not even Knox’s. “That’s not justice.”
There’s a tense pause. Then he backs off, just barely. “Fine. Play it your way. But if that computer comes up clean, you betterhave a damn good backup plan.” My gaze flicks to Knox’s pillow on the couch. He’s a person. Not bait.
“How trustworthy is this Knox character?” Curtis asks.
That’s a good question. I don’t like the guy. Don’t trust him either. But Emily seems to. She still hasn’t told me why or what their past is, but she cares about him. I can tell that much. I clench my jaw, teeth grinding together.
“You think we could put a wire on him?” Curtis asks. “Use him as an inside guy without your supervision?”
“I don’t know.”
“Find out.”
He ends the call without a goodbye. I hang up the ship’s satellite phone and make my way back downstairs. Lucas is the only one here, and he’s still in the shower.
Damn, I miss long showers with Kyle. People say shower sex is overrated, but shoving my cock in a warm mouth, grabbing a fistful of wet hair while the hot water pounds my back, it always did it for me. I haven’t had shower sex in years. Not since Kyle.
I’m halfway to the bathroom door before it hits me. What the fuck am I doing? I stop cold, fingers digging into my scalp until a few strands come loose. With a muttered curse, I pivot back toward the living room and drop onto the couch like the air’s been knocked out of me.
Emily and I aren’t anything official. We haven’t said a word about boundaries or exclusivity. But I know what I don’t want—another chaotic, tangled mess of a love triangle. I’ve been down that road. Got the souvenir shot glass and therapy bill to prove it.
Then again… Lucas isn’t some possessive alpha, or a hormone-high omega. He’s steady. Maybe that’s what I need—two betas who won’t set fire to everything I’ve worked so hard to heal. It’s clear he likes Emily, and she likes him. Maybe this doesn’t have to be the kind of thing where someone always gets hurt. Maybe it can just be a super hot threesome. A pack.
