Page 57 of Knotty New Year

“Apparently, Rain flew in when I sent the code word. Your sister got her a room in a hotel across town. She’ll be here in less than an hour.”

“Good.”

“No, Pax. Not good. You need to hide.”

I laughed as Candy went on about pig farms and code words. But perhaps her heat had muddled her thinking.

“Seriously, Rain’s going to be so pissed,” Candy fretted as she did her makeup.

“I’ll charm her,” I said confidently. “She and I are going to be great friends.”

Chapter25

Candy

“I’m going to chop you into very small pieces, Mr. Paxson. And when I’m done, I am going to take those pieces, and chop them into smaller ones until I can’t chop them any finer. And then I will take the tiny little pieces of you and put them in a box, and then I will blow. Up. The. Box. Do you understand me?”

I grabbed Rain’s arm and pulled her away from Pax, who was doing his best not to cower behind the Christmas tree while she threatened him. She had burst in on the family picture a few moments before, brandishing a ski pole—only one—and demanding Pax lean over so she could “shove it up his ass and poke around to see if his head was still up there.”

Pax’s siblings were all watching my bestie with expressions that ranged from alarm to mild concern to vast amusement. What made it even more surreal was that every one of them—and me and Pax—were dressed in polar bear outfits.

I’d thought we’d be done with the pictures well before Rain arrived, but the men had almost staged a full-scale rebellion over the outfits. As it turned out, some of theirs had Velcro openings in the back, and peculiarly shaped “zipper pulls” that were almost the exact shape of a butt plug.

But after Lin had burst into tears over all the time she’d spent ordering everyone’s sizes, they all got in line, smiled, and said cheese. Except baby Benjamin, who yelled, “Fuck!” every time the camera flash went off.

We’d just finished the final shot when Rain had arrived, trailed by concerned-looking security guards. She’d stormed in making a high-pitched pig call. “Soooieee!”

At least now she’d de-escalated to comprehensible death threats.

“He’s apologized,” I hissed, blocking her as she tried to grab the ski pole back from Luke, who’d confiscated it, but gotten a lump on his head in the process.

“That’s not a bad pig call,” Lin murmured, bouncing Benjamin on one hip. She didn’t look too worried about Rain’s behavior.

Vanessa grinned. “I’m not sure about the call, but I like her style. Alphas need to be kept in line.”

“What was your name again?” Victor growled at Rain.

I smiled nervously at her, then him. I’d only just met him a few moments earlier, and I was pretty sure he thought I was all sorts of trouble.

Well, he wasn’t wrong.

“This is Rain Torres, my best friend in the world.” Probably second best after Soleil, but only because Soleil wasn’t threatening to murder my fiancé. Though from her texts, she was on her way here as well. She’d arrived a few days before, and was staying with my parents across town. Thank goodness they weren’t here yet.

“I’m her best friend, business partner, and ride or die bitch.” Rain leaned around me to shout at Pax, “Which means you’re going down, Paxson!”

One of his brothers muttered, “Pretty sure that’s all he’s been doing for the past five days.” The others all agreed, and one of the sisters made a comment about the need for better soundproofing.

I shot them all a death glare. “If you don’t know the fart in the elevator rule, I will let her loose.”

“Is that omega a betasitter, too?” Penny asked, wide-eyed. She held her phone low in one hand, and I was pretty sure she was recording the whole thing.Apparently, Penny was a budding filmmaker.

I was pretty sure this would someday be part of a series titledWhen Omegas Attack.

Rain was quivering with not-so-repressed hostility. “Yes, I’m a betasitter,” she spat out, wrenching free and marching up to Pax. She was only five feet tall, but I would swear he flinched. “But right now, I’m your worst nightmare, big shot. You hurt my best friend. I don’t care if you’re her true mate or not. She may have forgiven you, but there’s nothing you can ever do to stop me hating you for what you put her through.” She went up on tiptoes and whisper-shouted at his face, “I have the pig farm all picked out, you fucker. They’ll eat yourbones.”

“Step away from my employer, ma’am,” one of the security guards demanded. Rain just hissed at him.

“If you kill him, it’ll hurt me, too, Rainy Day. True mates, remember?” I whispered, pulling her back again. Kati handed me a champagne flute. “Let’s calm down and have a mimosa.”

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