Page 44 of Knot Playing Fair 2

Except, of course, that I hadn’t gone out on the prowl in weeks. Not since a certain omega chef had crashed in Zalen’s guest bedroom and started upending all our lives, as it happened. I knew I couldn’t afford to examine that fact too closely.

Everything was shifting around me. I mean... Emiel intherapy? Seriously? He was the asshole who was supposed to make me look well-adjusted by comparison. And now he was adopting rescue cats and making appointments with mental health professionals?

What the actualfuck?

“You’re thinkingreallyloudly,” Luca complained, his voice sleep-muddled and raspy.

Between us, Mia snored on, dead to the world.

“No, I’m not,” I shot back automatically.

He shifted on the other side of the big bed, getting more comfortable. “It’s all changing too fast.” He sounded more awake now.

I scowled at him in the late-night darkness. “I’m not the one inviting myself to sleepovers.”

“Fuck off,” Luca said, staying exactly where he was.

“You’re falling for her,” I accused.

“Of course I’m falling for her, you asshole,” he said, without missing a beat. “We’re all falling for her. Andnowwhat the hell are we supposed to do?”

I should have lobbed back an automatic denial. I was aloner. I did notfall for people. And yet, somehow, I didn’t have an answer for him.

“What’s there to do?” I managed eventually. “We’re the house of screw-ups. It’s not like we’re gonna put up a white picket fence out front and start squeezing out pups. Get real, Luca.”

He hesitated. “No... yeah. I mean, Iknowthat.” Then he paused again, for longer this time. “But... Zalen might. Hell, at this rate,Emielmight. And then what would we do?”

I really hated that I didn’t have a good answer to that. In fact, as the silence dragged on, growing heavier and heavier, it became painfully obvious that I didn’t haveanyanswer for him.

Between us, Mia Dimitriadis slept on, her damp hair spread across my pillow in a dark halo.

“She’s inourbed.” The words dragged themselves out of my throat on the back of a growl. “Not theirs.”

Luca breathed in sharply. It was only then that I thought back over what I’d said.Our bed. Notmy bed. A twist of fluttery panic erupted in my chest like angry butterflies. I held my breath, waiting for the explosion.

“Guess so,” was all Luca said—but I could hear the deep misgivings bubbling away beneath his quiet tone.

NINETEEN

Nat

IT WAS MONDAY MORNING, and instead of getting ready for a day off from running a successful restaurant with my talented wife, I was psyching myself up to meet with reporters from multiple publications. I actually hated this kind of shit, even when it was the standard ‘local lifestyle’ fare. When it came to floating unlikely sounding conspiracy theories about sabotage, street gangs, and money laundering, I had absolutely no idea how the meetings were likely to go.

Five a.m. was early for a gym visit, even for me. But I hadn’t been able to sleep, and I suspected I’d need all the endorphins I could get in the coming hours. So, here I was, exhausting myself on the treadmill before tackling the weight machine circuit.

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