Page 50 of Knot Your Karma
“If she stole it, she had every goddamn right to.” My voice comes out harder than intended, Boston sharpening every consonant. “You heard Blake on that phone call. Six to eight women simultaneously. Performance fucking metrics. Treating omegas like they were cars he was test-driving.”
“That doesn’t make theft technically legal,” Reed points out, but there’s no conviction in his voice, his hands moving in those diplomatic gestures that mean he’s already working through the moral complexity.
“Fuck technically legal.” I lean forward, elbows on the table, voice dropping to barely above a whisper. “Blake emotionally tortured her for months. Made her think she was heading toward a bonding ceremony while he was keeping spreadsheets on other women. She takes his precious family compass? That’s justice.”
“Good for her,” Adrian says quietly, his storm-gray eyes reflecting something that might be satisfaction.
Reed runs both hands through his hair, messing up the perfect diplomatic styling. “Okay, so we’re all agreed that we don’t care if she stole it. Actually, scratch that—we’re proud of her for stealing it.”
“Damn right we are,” I confirm, my chest swelling with fierce satisfaction. “Blake doesn’t deserve to get his precious family heirloom back. Not after what he did to her.”
“But what about us?” Adrian asks. “She’s been lying to our faces every day while we planned how to recover it.”
That stops me cold. Because he’s right—Karma has been lying to us. Every conversation about the compass, every moment of trust, every time we included her in our planning, she knew exactly where it was and how it got there.
“She’s protecting herself,” I say, but the words feel weak, lacking conviction.
“From us,” Reed points out. “She doesn’t trust us enough to tell us the truth. Which, honestly, fair enough. Three strange men show up asking about something you stole? I’d probably lie too. Actually, I’d definitely lie. I’d lie so convincingly I’d start believing it myself.”
“Would you?” Adrian’s question cuts through my rising anger like a blade. “Three men show up looking for something you stole from someone who abused you. Men who could be his friends, his pack, people who think his version of events is the truth. Would you confess?”
The logic hits like cold water, dousing my protective fury with stark understanding. Of course she wouldn’t trust us. From her perspective, we could be just like Blake—men who look trustworthy but turn manipulative the moment they don’t get what they want.
“Jesus Christ.” I slump back in my chair, the realization hitting like a punch to the gut. “She doesn’t know we’re different.”
“She doesn’t know we chose her over Blake before we even knew about the stolen compass,” Reed adds. “From her perspective, we’re three guys who showed up asking for help finding Blake’s stolen property.”
“She doesn’t know we’ve been falling for her while she’s been terrified we’ll abandon her the moment we learn the truth,” Adrian says quietly, settling back in his chair to face us both.
Weight settles heavy between my ribs, and fuck, that’sbrutal. Karma’s been carrying this secret alone, terrified that the first good thing to happen to her in months will disappear the moment we discover who she really is.
“There’s something else we need to discuss,” Reed says, his diplomatic tone taking on that careful edge that means he’s about to say something significant, his fingers drumming against his knee.
“What?”
“What we’re actually doing here.” Reed gestures between the three of us with those expressive hands. “Because I don’t know about you two, but I’m not just interested in Karma as a friend or a business partner. I’m interested in her as someone I’d like to wake up next to. Preferably on a regular basis. Is that too direct? That feels too direct.”
The admission just sits there between us, loaded with all kinds of possibility and complications we’re probably not ready for.
“You want to court her,” Adrian says, not a question but a statement.
“I want to court her,” Reed confirms, his ocean breeze scent shifting with honest desire. “And unless I’m completely misreading the situation—which, granted, my track record with reading romantic situations is questionable at best—so do both of you.”
My chest squeezes tight with something that might be relief or might be terror. Because he’s right—I do want to court Karma. I want to protect her and provide for her and prove that not all men are worth fearing. I want to see her smile when she talks about maritime antiques, want to be the reason her instincts finally feel safe.
“This could get complicated,” I point out, though my instincts are already calculating how to make it work.
“Everything worth doing is complicated,” Adrian says. “Only question is whether we compete or cooperate.”
“You’re suggesting pack courtship,” Reed says, hiseyebrows rising with surprise and growing interest. “That’s either brilliant or completely insane. Possibly both. I’m leaning toward both.”
“I’m suggesting we stop pretending this is about recovering a family heirloom and start admitting it’s about claiming an omega.” Adrian’s storm-gray eyes move between Reed and me with steady focus. “All of us.”
The words hit like a physical blow, stark and honest and absolutely accurate. This stopped being about Blake’s compass the moment Karma smiled at me while explaining maritime history. This became about pack the moment Reed caught her falling off that ladder. This became about forever the moment Adrian decided she was worth protecting.
“Pack courtship means choosing her over blood family,” I say, needing them to understand what that means. “Blake’s my brother. Our parents expect me to fix his problems, clean up his messes, make everything okay for their golden child.”
“Blake’s an emotional terrorist who doesn’t deserve the air he breathes, let alone family loyalty,” Reed says with uncharacteristic harshness, his diplomatic mask slipping to reveal genuine fury. “Your parents can adjust their expectations. Or not. Either way, not our problem.”
