Page 38 of Knot Going Down (OlympicVerse #3)

DECLAN

K nox slams into me, hard enough to knock me back a step.

“What the hell?!” I yell.

“Not everyone has your perfect little support system, Officer McLaren.” My name comes out like a curse. “Some people don’t get the meds they need through the proper channels. You’d rather they go feral in public than get what helps them function?”

He’s in my space now, but I don’t back down. I angle my body to keep myself from getting boxed against the railing as he rounds on me. Waves crash somewhere below, loud and constant, but they might as well be a mile away.

“So you’re what,” I sneer, “a vigilante pharmacist? Doing public service out of nightclub bathrooms?”

Lucas shifts behind us, his presence a hum of unease. “Maybe we should?—”

“No.” Knox’s voice cuts sharp. He still has my wallet in one hand and the little bag of pills in the other. “I’m making sure people don’t get hurt.”

“Bullshit!” I snap, gripping his tux lapels and giving him a shake. “You’re dealing illegal meds to people who could die if they’re not careful!”

“I’m helping people who don’t have another option!”

“You’re breaking the fucking law! You—You—” I reach for the bag, but he pulls back. Not fast enough. I catch the edge. He’s got the top. I yank.

The plastic tears.

Pills spill out—tiny white capsules bouncing across the deck. They scatter like snow, and fall between the gaps in the railing into the water below.

“Fuck!” Knox drops to his knees, scrambling. “Lucas! Help me!”

Lucas kneels, frantically sweeping the deck, but most of the pills have already gone overboard.

“What the fuck does it matter?” I kick one of the stragglers into the ocean. “You can’t sell these. They were evidence.”

I grab Knox by the collar, hauling him back up to standing. “Tell me what the fuck is going?—”

I don’t finish.

Because he surges forward and slams me into the wall.

Not hard enough to hurt. But it’s hard enough to make the air between us crackle .

“You don’t understand what you just did.” He’s glaring at me, eyes dark and furious. His breath is warm against my lips. His eyes are wild.

And everything goes still.

Not calm. Charged . The tension doesn’t fade. It mutates. Morphs into something sharp and unspoken and dangerous . The air between us shifts from a loaded threat to a promise I don’t even know how to name.

“Back off,” I breathe, but there’s no warning to my words. Not anything close to a no .

His hand on my chest tightens into a fist, grabbing my dress shirt. “Shut the fuck up, Declan.”

Then he’s kissing me.

Or I’m kissing him. Does it matter?

It’s hard and fast and mean , like we’re still fighting, and this is just another way to win. But his mouth moves like he’s starved, like he’s wanted this and hated wanting it.

I grab his hips and yank him closer.

We stumble together as the ship surges on a wave, mouths crashing, teeth scraping. It’s rough. It’s hungry. It’s chaos.

And it’s real .

When we break apart, we’re both breathing like we’ve sprinted through fire.

Knox says nothing. Just stares at me, chest rising and falling like he’s still trying to catch up to whatever the hell just happened.

I step back, run a hand down my face, then straighten my jacket like that’ll fix anything. “This didn’t happen.”

A low chuckle cuts through the silence.

Fuck.

I forgot Lucas was still here.

He lifts an eyebrow, amusement flickering over his handsome features. “Oh, it happened.”

Something hard settles in my gut. Lucas didn’t blink when Knox told him to help get the pills. Didn’t question it. Didn't ask why.

He knows something.

I turn toward him, slow and deliberate, each step like a warning bell.

“Lucas.” His name drops like a stone.

He swallows and moves backward, away from me.

“Why were you trying to get the pills?” A million possibilities drift through my mind, deductive reasoning on overdrive. “You needed them for someone, didn’t you? Who?”

Is Lucas an omega? Emily!?

“Me,” a voice says. I spin to find Ava and Emily standing side by side on the deck. They’re dripping wet, from their flattened hair to their formal dresses.

Emily hugs herself, but Ava steps forward with the look of a shark ready to strike. Furious. Fierce. Defensive. Absolutely stunning.

She holds her chin high as she takes another step forward. “He was getting the pills for me.”