Page 32 of Tying the Knot
Dammit.
I’m going to be forced to wait for it or abandon my knickers and limited clothing to this pack. I chew my lip as Elijah inhales deeply.
“As you know, your pack is in some deep trouble.”
“Not my pack,” I spit out with more bitterness than I thought possible.
He blinks. I can see the thousand and one questions on his lips, but he presses them together and continues in a business-like tone. “Chief Justice Halstead…”
I scowl and cross my arms defensively.
“…offered them a deal,” he carries on as if a thundercloud hasn’t just descended in their living room to settle directly over my head.
He pauses as my scowl deepens. “What kind of deal?”
Suddenly, my hands start to shake, and my heart thumps erratically. ‘Deal’ usually means they get out in exchange for something else. Something bigger. I watch TV; I know how this goes.
Dylan’s hand rests on my shoulder, making me jump. I snap my head to the side, my loose blonde hair flicking me in the face.
“It’s okay,” he says. “They aren’t getting out.”
“But what then? What kind of deal, and what does it have to do with me?” I’m panicking now. Should I tell them about the box? But that would mean showing them the letter, and I don’t want to do that. I feel embarrassed that I let them treat me like shit for so long.
“One of them wants to see you in exchange for giving us some information on their supplier,” Elijah says slowly and carefully so that I understand his words.
I jump up again, wringing my hands in front of me as I push past him to cross over on my slightly twisted ankle to stare out of the bay window that overlooks the street.
“No,” I stammer. “I can’t.”
I don’t want to.
“Don’t you want to know who?” Dylan asks quietly.
“No. It doesn’t matter. They all treated me like a possession.” I bite my tongue to stop myself from blurting out my sob story to these guys. What do they care? They have a job to do, and apparently, I can help them do it.
“They are arseholes who didn’t know what they had.”
I turn and gulp to look over at Nik, who muttered these words almost reluctantly.
When I meet his gaze, I see something that I have never seen, and it makes me want to cry again. He has empathy for me. Not pity, not scorn, not anger. Understanding of my situation, however that is.
I can’t tear my gaze away from his. His dark eyes are beautiful and soulful. He knows without me even telling him.
“They are a pack of narcissistic, gaslighting fuckheads. You are better off without them,” he murmurs.
I nod slowly. “You forgot liars.”
“That too.”
I swallow and rip my stare away from him and back to Elijah. “So I have all the information before I tell you to get knotted. Who was it? Adam?”
“Pierce.”
Okay. I wasn’t expecting that.
“Do you know what he wants with me?”
Elijah shakes his head. “Are you willing to find out?”
