Page 13 of Knot Letting Go (Knotty Streak Omegaverse #4)

The coolness of the stone on the roof was a relief from the hot and throbbing aches in my body. If anyone told me earlier today that Konstantin knew how to fight, I would have laughed right in their face. My stoic, proper businessman brother? No fucking way.

Yet he’d kicked my ass good. I’d given back just as much, but damn.

I licked a bead of blood from my split lower lip. My chest heaved with each breath and my heart was starting to slow to a normal pace. “Where the hell did you learn to fight?”

“College.” Konstantin leaned back against the parapet, pressing an ice cube to his swollen eye. “I had a lot of stress to relieve, so I took up boxing at the gym.”

The full moon wasn’t at its height yet, but a pale pink tinged it like a donut’s glaze.

I didn’t know how long we pounded on each other, but it couldn’t be near ten o’clock yet.

I’d wanted to share the Strawberry Moon with Aubrielle.

I’d imagined us snuggling under the night sky, talking the night away.

Okay, fuck. I’d hoped for a whole lot more, but what I didn’t imagine was her running away when we found out we were compatible.

“You’re not so bad yourself.” Konstantin had taken off his suit jacket and stuck it behind his head. Blood spotted his white button-up shirt making him look like a real badass.

“I got into a lot of scraps at school and after. There was always someone who needed their butt kicked. That whole prep school was full of twats.” I snorted and regretted it, as I gently pinched my nose. It wasn’t busted, but it wasn’t going to look pretty for the next few days.

“Total twats.” Konstantin agreed, and I smirked.

I’d always thought he was just like them, but over the past year, he’d proven he was a good guy.

That’s why when he came at me, I had no fucking idea what had gotten into him until he brought up Aubrielle.

That Omega had gotten under both our skins, and I wasn’t sure what we were going to do about it.

“You know, I don’t think we’ve ever had a fight like that. I’ve told you to fuck off a lot, and you’d turn your nose up at me and walk away. I always thought you saw me as garbage. An unfortunate familial burden.” Hell, I thought the same thing about myself for years.

Konstantin sighed. “I did. Dad’s whispers in my ears, warping the way I saw the world. I’m so fucking glad he’s dead.”

“Same.” I stopped drinking the day I found out he died. The world was suddenly clear again. I didn’t need the alcohol to wash the shit away. I tapped my brother’s foot with my own. “So what do you think of me now? Am I the best looking one in the family or what?”

His chuckle made me smile. “Fuck, no. Lillianna will always win that one.”

“Yeah, truth.” No one could argue with that, and if they did, I would show them just how scrappy I could be.

Konstantin dropped his hand from his eye and let what remained of the ice cube slide free beside him.

“I always thought you were trouble, and you acted like it. Yet I think in the last year, I’m finally seeing you.

The real you. You’re smarter and more creative than you let on, you’re passionate about the things you like, and you have a real way with people.

Old, young, whoever. Everyone likes you. ”

That’s why I was head of marketing and why Konstantin had me flying off around the world to deal with business.

Sure, he wanted to stay home with Lillianna, and I got that.

I was happy to do most of the travelling, but being around family again made me realize how much I’d missed them. How much I wanted one of my own.

“You’re a good guy, Quill.”

I rolled over and winced at what would be a big bruise on my side. Sitting up, I rested my back against the parapet next to Konstantin. The moon was pretty tonight and only served to remind me of something even more beautiful.

“What are we going to do, man?” I glanced at him and he furrowed his brows as if he didn’t know what I was talking about.

If he went that crazy for our sweet Omega, she would be on his mind as much as she was on mine.

“About Aubrielle. You came at me like an Alpha protecting his mate. You’re compatible with her too, right? ”

Konstantin rolled his head from side to side as if preparing for another fight. I tensed up, ready to spring back, as he glared a hole into the roof. He then ran his hands through his hair and exhaled through his teeth. “Yeah. I may have lost my mind for a minute.”

“She has that fucking effect.” I would have jumped up and nabbed the moon for her if she asked.

“She ran.” Konstantin looked pained at that statement.

Aubrielle had run from me too, so I empathized.

I only wanted to hold her forever. Was that too much to ask?

“I wanted to talk to her about Lorenzo, but then… Fuck. She thought everything was her fault and ran. I didn’t want to scare her, so I came up here and beat your ass instead. ”

“Thanks,” I replied dryly. “Nothing is her fault.”

“Exactly.” He let out a small groan and tipped his head back. “But how do we get her to see that?”

“We tell her. Lay it all out. She’s smart.” If everything was out in the open, there would be no need for fighting or running away. I might have made a lot of messy situations when I was younger, but I was always bluntly honest.

“It’s not that simple.” Konstantin shook his head and rubbed his thumb lightly over his swollen eye. His jaw tightened as I caught a low growl under his breath. “Aubrielle is Lillianna’s nanny.”

“So?” I shrugged.

“That means I’m her boss. It isn’t right to step over that line.

” He huffed and then narrowed his eyes at me.

“She’s our staff. She has to feel safe in her work environment.

Plus, Lillianna loves her. I will not hurt my daughter by doing anything that might jeopardize the relationship she has with Aubrielle.

Lillianna has enough issues with people she cares about leaving. I won’t put her through any more pain.”

“Well, if you’re going to be upstanding bossman, I’ll claim Aubrielle and give Lilli a new auntie.” I raised my chin, absolutely serious. He bared his teeth at me, fury igniting in his eyes. I didn’t budge. I face down death for her. “What? Seems you’re set against it. There’s no reason—”

“Quill.” Konstantin snarled the one syllable. Never before had I ever seen him lose his cool until tonight, but he wasn’t going to dissuade me.

“There’s no reason why I can’t pursue her. None.” I punctuated the statement with sweeping my hands to say it was settled. “You can punch me into the ground, and I’ll get back up to be by her side. She’s not just a fling for me, Kon. I can see sharing a life with her.”

“Fuck.” He pushed himself up and started to pace. The intensity of his steps got on my nerves. I was tempted to throw something at him to get him to stop. “I don’t know if I can give her up.”

I stood and a gust of wind whooshed around us. Brushing my hair out of my face, I spread my arms. “You don’t have her yet, bro. Neither of us do. I’m not stupid enough to think I can just whisk her off her feet. She’s the type of woman you have to work for, and she’s more than worth it.”

Konstantin kicked at one of the chairs. “She’s in heat.”

Something lit up inside of me. I knew how delicate the situation was right now, but everything in me was more than excited to hear that. “Yeah? So she’ll need an Alpha to help her through. I’ll treat her like a queen. I’ll make sure she doesn’t suffer a single minute.”

“And what if she doesn’t want you?” He folded his arms as his tie fluttered in the wind.

“Then you will.” Whatever Aubrielle wanted, she would get, even if that wasn’t me. “But she wants me. I know it.” I smirked. “Why can’t it be both of us if that’s what she wants? Callista has three mates. And look at Kienna! That girl needs five guys to keep her motor purring.”

“Goddammit, Quill.” Konstantin rolled his eyes and shook his head, but I caught him almost smiling. Yet then he went all serious again. “I don’t know if I could share.”

“Right now, it isn’t up to us.” I walked over to a small cooler under one of the tables and retrieved two bottles of water.

I tossed one to my brother, which he deftly caught.

“It’s up to Aubrielle what she wants. Just know, I’m not going to step away.

I can share if it means having her in my life, and I only say that because I know you’ll treat her well.

You have to think about how much keeping her in your life means to you.

The only thing that will get me to back off is if she tells me she doesn’t want me. ”

Konstantin muttered something and glanced at me. “Smarter than you look.” He twisted off the lid of the bottle and took a long drink.

I grinned and opened my water. Whether I was smarter or not, it didn’t matter.

I was honest about my emotions, and Konstantin needed to come to terms with how he felt about it all.

Everyone always saw him as the cool-headed hardass, but he was a volcano about to erupt.

Yet if he thought he could get me to back off trying to win Aubrielle’s heart, he would see what a hardass I could be.