Page 97 of Knot Going Down

“I heard there’s a café right by the dock,” Emily suggests, pulling her hair into a messy bun. “Real food. Chairs that don’t smell like sex.”

Lucas snorts. “Speak for yourself. That chair has earned my respect.”

The things the furniture in this suite witnessed requires a trip to the confessional.

Ava stands, stretching like a cat. “I’m gonna grab my purse. Try not to do anything too exciting while I’m gone.”

“I make no promises,” I mutter.

She leans over and presses a kiss to my cheek, a tiny act of affection that makes my heart fucking soar, then saunters toward the stairs with Ly in tow.

Lucas plops down onto the couch. Declan watches our girls go, then flicks his gaze back to me.

We share a look. Not quite easy. Not quite hostile. Something in between.

A sharp, unmistakable ringtone cuts through the room—the one I set for Glenn. Not a default sound, but a ringtone I had to actually pay for, a short burst of techno chimes he always hated.

Declan’s already moving before I even register it. He reaches into his pocket and pulls out my confiscated phone, thumb pausing on the screen.

His eyes flick to the caller ID.

Then to me.

“If I don’t answer, he’ll know something’s up.” I hold my hand out for the phone, the outside world finally catching up to the ship.

“And what if you are busy?” Lucas asks. “Surely you do not always answer.”

“If Glenn calls, you answer.” I don’t know how much Lucas knows about my situation, probably little to nothing, but hopefully he gets the seriousness of this. I could use his help to convince Declan. “Look, you’re right next to me. I’ll put it on speakerphone. But if I don’t answer, he’ll get suspicious. ”

Declan doesn’t make a move to give me the phone. My heart rate rises with each chime of the tone.

“Come on, man! We just went through a fucking heat together. We’re scent matched to the same woman. That’s got to earn me some trust!”

Declan slowly swipes his thumb over the screen and puts it on speakerphone.

“Hey,” I say, aiming for breezy, but landing closer to strained. My heart’s pounding so hard I can feel it in my throat. Declan stares at me hawklike. Assessing. Judging. Maybe daring me to mess this up.

“Where the hell have you been?” Glenn’s voice crackles through the speaker, sharp and pissed.

“We just got cell service. Living that boat life.” I toss the words out like they’re no big deal, like I’m not sweating bullets in my borrowed luxury sex-pocalypse suite with a DEA agent staring me down. “What’s up?”

I flick a glance at Lucas. He gives me a subtle nod, smile crooked and steady, the way someone smiles at a tightrope walker halfway across the canyon.

“Do you have me on fucking speaker phone?”

The room is dead quiet, but I’m sure he can hear that unique muffled sound produced by the short distance between the phone and me.

This is fine. I can play this off. I go for smug, lazy charm. “Yeah, I’m a little… tied up right now.” I let the words drip with implication. “Hands full. Mouth about to be. Can’t exactly hold the phone to my ear, big guy.”

Glenn chuckles. “You fucking dog.”

“Guilty.” I lean back on the couch like I’m reclining on a throne instead of trying not to unravel under Declan’s glare. Doesn’t the man need to blink? “Look, Glenn, much as I love our little chats, is there something you need? Cause in about ten seconds, I won’t be alone anymore, and I’m gonna need my mouth for other things.”

“Yeah, I need you to pick something up for me in Bermuda. Since you’re there.”

I sit up straighter. “How do you know I’m in Bermuda?”

“You texted you were taking a cruise out of Paris when you left. It wasn’t difficult to figure out the rest.”