Page 122 of Hot Knot Summer
“You don’t have to deserve us,” Levi says softly. “You just have to let us love you.”
I set down my hot chocolate with shaking hands and turn to bury my face against Atlas’s chest, letting myself be held and comforted and protected. For the first time since this nightmare began, I actually believe that everything might be okay.
“We’re going to figure this out,” Atlas promises, his voice rumbling through his chest where my ear is pressed against him. His arms are wrapped around me like he never plans to let go.
“I love you guys so much,” I murmur, the words slipping out soft and breathless. It surprises even me how easily they come, words I thought I’d have to choke out, or hide forever behind fear. But here, in their arms, they feel natural. Real. Safe.
There's a pause, like the world holds its breath.
Atlas stills beneath me. Levi’s hand on my hair stills, fingers tangled in the strands. River’s entire bodytenses at my side.
Levi lets out a shaky breath, his voice a whisper against my scalp. “We love you, too, sweet thing.” He presses a kiss to my head like he’s trying to memorize the moment.
“Love you more than you’ll ever know,” River says, his voice low and reverent, his fingers tightening around mine.
Atlas pulls me in tighter, like he could somehow fuse me to him. “You are my world,” he adds. “And I love you.”
My throat tightens, and I blink fast, overwhelmed by the sudden wave of warmth, of being seen, of being loved. I didn’t realize how heavy that word was until I let it out, and how light I feel now that it’s returned to me, multiplied.
They don’t just love me. They heard me. Felt it. And it means everything.
As I am surrounded by their warmth and protection, letting their love wash over me like a healing balm, I can’t help but think that I just told the guys I love them, and they said it back.
And just like that… I wasn’t alone anymore.
21
RIVER
Ispot Megan, a flash of sleek dark brown hair and a blue summer dress against the brick backdrop of downtown. She has a professional camera slung around her neck and a small backpack. I recognize her immediately from the photos Emma showed us earlier and from catching her snooping around the burned cabin.
Megan Sloane. Chad’s girlfriend. The woman who was supposedly just an innocent bystander in Emma’s nightmare.
“There,” I murmur to Zak, nodding toward where Megan’s talking to what looks like a shop owner outside a small boutique. “That’s her.”
Detective Zak Morrison follows my gaze, his sharp hazel eyes immediately locking onto her. We’ve worked a few cases together over the years, so it feels natural to head out with him whenever something we’ve reported gets passed on to him.
Zak’s good people—one of the few authorities I genuinely like grabbing beers with every now and then. Met him three years ago during a warehouse fire that turned out to be insurance fraud, and we’ve been friends ever since. Plus, he’s got a twisted sense of humor that matches mine when we’re not in full professional mode.
Glancing back at Megan, she has a brittle quality to her, as if she’s holding herself together through sheer willpower.
We approach her casually. No point in spooking her into running before we get what we need.
“Excuse me, miss?” Zak says, his voice carrying that particular cop authority that immediately gets people’s attention.
She glances up from her interview, and I see the exact moment recognition flickers across her face. Her dark brown eyes widen as they fix on me.
“Wait,” she says, her voice pitched higher than it should be. “You’re... from the restaurant. The other night.”
So, she noticed me. I hadn’t even registered her being there, seeing I was too busy trying not to smash Chad’s head through the table.
“Small world,” I say with a grin. “Funny how you keep turning up in places connected to my Omega.”
Her face pales. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Detective Morrison,” Zak says smoothly, pulling out his badge. “We’d like to ask you a few questions.”
“About what?” She’s already taking a step backward.
