Page 71 of Knot All that Glitters: Part 1

The command to not lie to him is still in place and so my frantic brain scrambles for something I can say that is good, that I sang his praises to them.

I take too long. The fist to my stomach lets me know that. I curl up, breathing deep through the pain. His hand comes to a rest between my shoulders, rubbing a soothing circle there. “You must have told them something, Haven, for them to think you’d be open to dating a pack. Which we both know you shouldn’t be. It would ruin my reputation, the reputation of our family.”

This, at least, I can answer honestly. “They approached me first. They told me they wanted to court me before I told them anything about you.”

“What did you do that would make them think they could do that, Haven?” His hand slides back into my hair, yanking me upright so he can look in my face. “You realize I know these men, I work with them, have invested with Atticus Calloway on a project he’s working on. I’ve helped them get where they are today and they have helped me achieve more than I thought possible for my goals. They have told me multiple times that they want the dissolution of the designations the same as I do. That they live as a pack in name only because of family complications.”

I frown at the information he’s giving me. It feels directly at odds with what I know of the Calloway pack. Sure, the relationship between Creed and the rest of them is strained, and they have a strange competitiveness running through them that makes them clash every so often, but that’s just the reality of four alphas living together without an omega to ground them.

The longer I spent with them, the less that happened, the more they felt like a true loving pack. Even Creed.

“They told me they respected the way I’ve raised you. That omega instincts are shameful, turning our pretty little girls intowhores.” I flinch at that, recalling how Hale had called me a pretty little slut, a whore. Is that what he really thinks? “So what exactly did you do to make them go back on all that, Haven? Did you fuck them? Hmm? Did you spread your filthy omega thighs for them?”

I choke on my shock. My father has never said anything remotely like this to me. Never once in all the years he’s kept me under control, buried under his commands. This situation with the Calloways has sent him over the deep end.

I want to lie to him. I want to deny what he’s saying, but the truth is, I had sex with them. Well, with Hale, but I did a hell of a lot of other things Frederick Bell wouldn’t approve of with the rest of them.

And he’s not asking if I did thatbeforethey said they wanted to court me. He’s just asking if I did.

I can’t lie. He’s made it so. “Yes,” I whisper.

Another gentle brush of his finger down my cheek. “You look just like your mother, you know that, right? She was a filthy whore too.”

I bite back my immediate need to defend my mother. It won’t do any good to speak up for her now. Besides, she left me with him. With this monster who delights in making me as small as he can.

He drops his hand and moves away from me. “You’re such a disappointment, Haven,” he sighs. It shouldn’t bother me. I hate the man and I don’t want his approval, but there’s still the niggling need of a child wanting their parent to be proud of them.

It’s the only reason I tip my chin down and whisper, “I’m sorry.” It’s what he wants to hear. But it won’t make him go any easier on me.

He hums and circles around behind me.

“Stand in that spot until I say you can move.” The command rolls over me and my feet immediately feel like heavy cinder blocks rooted to the floor. His footsteps retreat and I think maybe this is the punishment. He’ll leave me here for a few hours, maybe overnight. It’ll suck, standing that whole time, but I can do it, even with my throbbing face and sore stomach. It won’t be that bad.

I’ve been standing for two and a half hours when he returns. I know it was two and a half hours, because I’ve been staring at the damn clock on the mantle the entire time.

The hair on the back of my neck prickles as he moves closer to me, the tread heavy on the marble. I hear him move over to the bar, pour himself a drink. “Well,” he says conversationally, making the prickles only get worse. “I’ve just had a long conversation with the Calloway pack, and do you know what they told me?” There’s the slosh of liquid in a glass.

I lick my dry lips. I’m parched and hungry, but I know I won’t be getting food or water any time soon. “No, what did they say?”

He chuckles. “That they don’t give a shit what happens to you.”

It’s a direct hit. The jab slides right between my ribs and to my heart. But some part of me knows that’s not true.

“That’s a lie,” I deny. I want it to be true. I want to believe that they care.

Another chuckle. “Well, that’s true. In actuality, they didn’t say a goddamn thing about you, Haven. Your name didn’t pass their lips at all, no subtle requests for information about you. No asking how you are, which is something they’ve done every fucking time we’ve talked. After all, I am a family man. It’s only right to ask about my family. No, what they did was carefully avoid any mention of you.”

I swallow thickly, not liking where this is going at all. He sounds entirely too calm. Too relaxed.

“Hey, little mouse, hope you made it home okay,” he whispers just behind my ear, making me jump. Or at least I try to, but my feet stay firmly on the ground. “Send us a text so we can stop worrying, angel.”

“What?”

“I can’t stop thinking about your mouth on my cock, baby girl.” He says and I feel sick, sick, sick. “Miss you already, button.” I sway on my feet and he laughs, holding my phone in front of me, letting me see the texts they sent not long after I left their house. “Should I keep going, Haven?”

I shake my head. “No.”

He moves out of sight again and the panic in my body rachets up. “You know I can’t have this, Haven. You know you can’t be seen gallivanting around town with a pack. It undermines everything I’m trying to do here. Everything I’m building.”

---