Page 3 of Knot All is Crystal
ONE
Dr. Talbot chewshis lip as he stares at me with watery eyes. “Please don’t make me do this.”
“You know the rules, Walter.”
His fingers tremble as he repeatedly runs them through his white hair, wincing with each glance at me. “I’ve more than repaid my loan.”
“That’s not for you to decide, now is it?” I purposefully keep my voice emotionless.
I hate this part of my job. I get no pleasure from shaking him down week after week. But I don’t have a choice.
We all have a part to play, and this is mine.
And woohoo, lucky me, I didn’t even have to audition.
“Let’s go, Walter. They’re waiting for us.” I walk swiftly from his office, knowing he’ll follow behind me if he knows what’s good for him. Sure enough, I hear his heavy loafers slap the tile behind me.
My heels click as I rush through the Clinic to my car. It’s a beater, and I hate driving people in it. Luckily, he’s trustworthy enough to follow behind me.
No one would be so stupid as to try to escape Kieran Cobb.
I turn into the lot behind Prism and shrug out of my lab coat. Bypassing the regular staff entrances, I wait for Walter by the unmarked door that can only be opened from the inside. I knock the familiar pattern on the door when he heaves his substantial form out of the luxury sedan he drives.
It swings open almost immediately.
Trey eyes me with an appraising look. “Crystal, baby, he’s going to be so happy you dressed up for him.”
“Oh, can it, Trey.” I push past him, Walter trailing behind me like a lost puppy, and turn left down the quiet hallway.
Trey’s footsteps sound in my ears. “You’re going to the interrogation rooms,” he calls over Walter’s head.
“No surprise there,” I mumble, opening the door to the stairs that head down two floors below the nightclub.
“How did a nice Omega like you get wrapped up in this, Crystal?” Dr. Talbot asks for what must be the thousandth time.
Like every time, I shrug. “You know how it is, Walter.”
The answer never satisfies him, but I don’t owe him my story. I have so few things left that are mine, and my story is one of them.
“Go back to your post, Trey.” The deep, raspy voice that fills the dimly lit hallway sends a shiver down my spine, just like it did the first time I heard it. The Beta man in front of me has the presence of an Alpha, making me want to duck my head every time I see him.
Puck Bellamy is devastatingly handsome, with a clever smirk permanently plastered on his face. His dark eyes glint in the low lighting, and his broad shoulders and thin hips make him look like an ancient God.
He’s just as gorgeous as he was the day we met four years ago.
“Boss is waiting for you, Walter. Left you a mess to clean up.” He doesn’t sound sorry at all about it.
“Is he alive?” The doctor says with resignation.
“For now. Hopefully, you can keep it that way, yeah?” Puck steps back, and Walter pushes past me, heading into the interrogation room.
Having completed my task, I turn to leave, but Puck grabs me by the arm. I try not to snap. It does me no good to piss off the second in command, but I can’t keep the venom out of my voice. “Don’t touch me, Puck.”
“Boss needs you on the floor tonight, Queenie,” he deadpans. “Or would you prefer I address you as Your Highness?” I’m probably imagining it, but there’s a little twinkle in his eyes with that nickname.
I snarl, yanking my arm away from him. “I hate when you all call me that.”
Puck rolls his eyes dramatically. “It’s your title, and you should feel grateful the boss has given you such a position of respect.”
