Page 3 of Knot Forever

I’m not there anymore.

And whatever my mother says, whatever poison Adam has managed to drip into her ear, I’ll never betheirsagain.

Chapter two – Asher

“Sign here.”

My voice is cold, and the beta girl presses her lips together, her shoulders shaking, as she gingerly takes the pen I hand her.

“It’s not going to bite you.” I can’t stop the caustic note from entering my tone, and she jumps, giving me a timid look before she scrawls her name onto the page. Pulling the paper back towards me, I dismiss her with a nod, not even looking as she darts from my office like the hounds of hell are chasing her.

Nowthatsounds like fun.

Grimacing, I sit back in my chair, my eyes running over the non-disclosure agreement. It’s ironclad. I should know, I drafted it myself.

If the scared little mouse that just ran from me talks to anyone about what she heard here today, she’ll find that even her daddy’s money won’t be enough to save her from us.

Seth wanders in, hands in the pockets of his sharply tailored gray suit, his eyes sliding to the paper in my hands. I toss it onto the desk as he takes a seat in front of me, propping his feet up in that way he knows that I absolutely detest.

“Remove your feet before I remove them for you,” I snap, and he just grins at me. I swear that winding me up is his favorite thing to do.

“Figured you’d be more relaxed,” he says slowly. He steeples his fingers as he watches me. “After a littleplaytime.”

I snort dismissively. “With her? We didn’t even get past the paperwork.”

He rolls his eyes. “If you weren’t so anal about it—,”

My hand tightens on the arm of my chair as I cut off the familiar good-natured complaint. “It keeps us where we are, Seth.”

On fucking top.

The Kings of New York.

We’re the monsters under your bed, the nightmares that wake you in the night, gasping and sweat-soaked and flipping the light on to chase us out of corners.

There isn’t a single family across the city who doesn’t owe us something. Our favors are legendary. Come to us, and we’ll get you anything you want… for a price.

We don’t work for money. Have more than we could spend in a dozen lifetimes, thanks to the investments and the various income streams that Marcus likes to play with.

Favors,though… a favor can be priceless, if the deal is right.

But our reign is precarious, and we can never take our eyes off the ball. Others are always sniffing around, snapping at our heels, ready to try and make their mark – as if they ever fucking could. Bunch of puppies.

Although there’s one particular pup who is becoming especially irritating.

“Adam Williams,” I say abruptly. Seth straightens, his jovial veneer falling away and replaced by the ruthless businessman he keeps hidden under his mask.

If Marcus is our money man, Seth is our information guy. There’s nothing he can’t uncover. Either through his charm, or through other, slightly darker methods.

“Williams? What about him?”

“He’s becoming irritating.” Tapping at my laptop, I turn the screen for Seth to read the note I was sent by one of the many, many men across New York who live inside my pocket.

He scans it before he grimaces. “He’s trying to move in on us.”

“Trying being the operative word.” He won’t succeed. None of them ever do. But I haven’t got our pack to where we are today by being complacent. “Find out his tell. We may need leverage.”

I have every confidence that we can take his little, yappy pack down without so much as raising an eyebrow. But it never hurts to learn how people tick. What drives them. What motivates them. What their deepest, darkest desires are.

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