Page 58 of Knotty New Year

“You can live without a true mate,” she muttered, but she took the mimosa. “I would know.” She sipped resentfully, if that was possible. “This is fresh squeezed.”

“And Dom Perignon.” I nodded. “Have another.”

She slammed it back and accepted a second one while the rest of the family backed away slowly. Kati murmured, “If the other friend is like this, we may need reinforcements,” but didn’t elaborate.

“You would know, you said,” Victor said softly, handing Paloma to the nanny as he approached. “Rain Torres, we should talk.”

She hiccupped. “Who the fuck are you?”

“I’m the new CEO of Paxson Pharma. I’d love to talk to you about… you.”

She gave him the same look most women would give a guy who showed up at the door selling time shares or cheap solar panels. “ThenewCEO?”

I let out a breath. “I’ve been trying to tell you, Rain. Pax gave up his job. He’s retired.”

“Retired?”

“For good. For me.”

She shuddered. “You’re mated to a retiree. So. Old.” I giggled, and she rolled her eyes as Victor chuckled in agreement. “Fine. You do anything else, Nicholas Paxson, hurt her in any way? I’ll show you what an omega with nothing to lose will do.” She glared at Pax for one moment more—pointing with two fingers at her eyes, then at him—before following Victor into the kitchen.

I peered around the room, taking in everyone’s shock. “She’s not normally this, um, homicidal. She’s a great best friend, actually.”

“Second best friend, you mean,” a sweet voice came from behind me. “Wow. Are you all having a furry convention? Because I am on board with trying whatever kinky shit your new family’s into, but I didn’t bring the right outfit for this crowd. Oh my gosh, are those butt plug zipper pulls? I want one!”

Stunned, I burst into tears before falling into the arms of Soleil, who was standing in the doorway. “How did you get here? Why? When?” While I blubbered, everyone else started shucking off their costumes.

“I heard you needed your besties. Of course I came.” She held up a bag, then handed it to Pax. “And I brought some pastries for your alpha! Nice to meet you, I suppose.” Her smile was a little too bright.

I swiped the bag before Pax could get his hands on it, and shot her a look. “No poisoning alphas today, Soleil. It’s all good now.”

“Are you sure?” she whispered in my ear when I hugged her again. “And I didn’t poison these. I just made them with an especially strong prune blend.”

I blinked, looking around for the bag. One of the security guards now had it in his hand, and was glaring at it like it was a biohazard. Smart man.

“I’m sure,” I told her. “No special pastries for my fiancé, Sun Bun. I’m keeping him.”

“When’s the wedding, then?” she chirped. “I don’t see a ring. Anyway, your mom’s on her way over in a limo, and if you don’t have a date set, she said she’s cutting off your alpha’s balls with her sewing scissors.”

“I’m so, so sorry… I lost my ring. It must have come off before my heat.” I glanced up at Pax. “Your mother’s ring. I don’t know where it went.”

He smiled and shook his head. “It doesn’t matter. You’re all I care about.”

A chorus of “Awwwww” started up around the room.

For some reason, Luke approached. “It’s okay, little sister. We realized it was missing and have had crews looking for it all week. They found it yesterday.” He held up the ring, and Pax took it, thanking him. Then he grasped my hand and slid it back onto my finger.

“Candy, I love you. I want to marry you, and I promi—”

Pink-haired Penny interrupted with a scoff. “Aren’t you going to get down on one knee? I’m so disappointed.”

I peeked down at her hand.Yep, still recording.

Soleil whispered, “Your brother’s very old, Pax’s sister. If he gets down, he might not be able to get back up.”

“I’m not that old!” he grumped, dropping to one knee. He took my hand in his again, taking a deep breath.

At that moment, Rain came out of the kitchen, yelling happy profanities when she spotted Soleil. She had an entire bottle of champagne in one hand. “This is the good shit, bitches. Let’s get hammered.”

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