Page 24 of Knot Letting Go (Knotty Streak Omegaverse #4)

All through dinner I fought to keep my temper in check.

Aubrielle had come to the table fresh from the shower.

She practically glowed, smiling with flushed cheeks and a dreamy look in her pretty eyes.

I wanted to take her in my arms and kiss her all over, make her scream first with my fingers, then with my tongue, and finally with my cock.

Yet no matter that she washed, there was another Alpha’s scent on her. My brother’s.

Good thing for Quill he had a business dinner and was gone from the manor. I might not have been able to stop myself from giving him another split lip and a few missing teeth.

Instead, no matter how I tried to keep a hold of my territorial Alpha instincts, they directed themselves to the only other Alpha in the house who sat across the table from Aubrielle and Lillianna.

Yet as much as I was gruff with Evander, the other man took it all in stride.

He didn’t back down from me, but he made certain not to say anything directly to Aubrielle or even look her way.

“Did you really like my lasagna, Daddy?” Lillianna asked for the fifth time. I knew my facial expression didn’t match the fact that I was truly impressed with dinner.

I softened my eyes and smiled. “I love it, honey. You did a very good job. I especially liked that you added extra cheese.”

Lillianna puffed up and grinned. “It took a long time to knead the dough. Enid doesn’t like to use the machine to make it, but I think maybe it’s the wave of the future.”

“Your lasagna noodles looked like waves in the sea.” Aubrielle nodded. My focus went to her succulent lips as she smiled. Damn, she was the fucking perfect nanny. The perfect Omega.

“And the cheese like sea foam.” Lillianna giggled as she put her napkin on the table. “Can we go work more on our tails?” Then, like the good girl she was, she turned to me and asked, “May we be excused from the table?”

“Yes, but I would like a moment with Au—”

“Yay!” Lillianna grabbed Aubrielle’s hand and tugged her away from the table.

“I would like a word with you, Kon.” Evander’s deep voice jerked my attention in his direction. I scowled and he didn’t even raise a brow.

I clenched my jaw. Aubrielle glanced back at me, but when I didn’t call her back, she left the room with my daughter.

Lillianna chattered away about where the fins needed to be on the tails for them to be able to swim the fastest, and neither Evander or I said anything until the girls were rooms away.

Repressing a growl, I glared at the other Alpha. “What do you want?”

Evander took a sip of water and rested an arm over the back of his chair.

Relaxed as he looked, I could still see the tension in the muscles of his neck.

“So you and Quill, huh? You two need to work out a schedule because Aubrielle had a rough afternoon. I put Quill on the job, but now you’re the Alpha on duty. ”

“Rough afternoon?” What did he mean? I’d already been informed of Lorenzo’s men following Lillianna and Aubrielle while they were shopping.

Neither of the girls had noticed though.

They’d be home the rest of the day. If any of the Pacettis or anyone that worked for them stepped onto my property, there would be no mercy.

“Your Omega’s in heat,” Evander stated plainly. This time, when I bared my teeth, I did growl. “Quill was ready to fight me too. Just know, I’m keeping my distance from Aubrielle. I’m completely bonded to Callista, though, so you don’t have anything to worry about.”

He knew. I gripped the edge of the table.

While other Alphas could smell her scent, I didn’t like that someone outside of Quill and I knew that Aubrielle was in heat.

She was mine . And what the fuck did he mean he put Quill on the job earlier?

If she needed me, she could have interrupted my meetings. I would drop everything for her.

“What happened?” I barely got the words out from between my clenched teeth.

Evander studied me before replying. “She needed her Alpha. Quill took care of her. I didn’t know both of you were…” He pursed his lips and asked, “Is that what the black eye is about and his fat lip?”

I didn’t answer, and that was all the confirmation he needed. It didn’t bother me so much that Quill helped Aubrielle, but the fact that someone else knew and that someone was an Alpha who was apparently trying to tell me what was going on with my Omega.

“You two need to get your shit together and take care of Aubrielle. It’s only going to intensify from here on out.”

“I didn’t hire you as a relationship coach,” I snapped, but I knew he was right.

I hated that he was and that I was acting like an ass.

Yet I’d never felt such a powerful instinct to protect anyone other than my daughter, and this was different.

Lillianna had a hold of my heart, but whatever I was feeling for Aubrielle, it was on every level.

“It’s just some brotherly advice, man.” Evander lazily held up his open hands and pushed his chair back from the table.

“I’m going to go relieve Turner so he can have a bite to eat, and then we’re going to lock everything down after Enid leaves for the night.

The rest of the staff are gone. Levi and Tennant will be here at ten. ”

Evander stood and walked toward the kitchen door. No rush, all confidence.

He’d just been trying to be helpful, and I’d been an asshole, but I wasn’t about to say it. “We’ll take care of Aubrielle. You just keep my daughter and her safe. Don’t underestimate the Pacettis.”

He paused just before going out and nodded with a small smile. “No problem there. Anyone touches those girls, they’ll pay with their lives.”

“Good.” That pleased the Alpha in me. While I liked to think I could do everything myself, I didn’t have the expertise Callista’s mates had.

What I was good at was being the boss and knowing who was best for each job.

Evander and his pack were excellent bodyguards.

I didn’t hire them because they were family.

I hired them because they were at the top in the security field.

Evander left, and I took my last swig of wine. I swished the red around in my mouth before swallowing, leaving a tartness on my tongue.

I needed to get a better hold on my temper.

If Lillianna or Aubrielle saw me acting like a rabid Alpha, it could terrify them.

I’d always been proud of my self control, of the way I could stay cool in any situation.

But Aubrielle was my one weakness. She breached what I thought was my impregnable exterior so quickly that I had no idea how I was going to build it back.

Leaving the dining room, I made my way upstairs.

From down the hall, I could hear the girls laughing.

These past few weeks had been the happiest I’d ever seen Lillianna.

She’d been a content baby, but quiet, and when her mother passed, she’d become even more shy.

Moving here with Quill and Callista around had helped, but it was Aubrielle who had made Lillianna smile and laugh more than she had in the last few years combined.

For that alone, I would give Aubrielle anything she asked for. All the money in the world amounted to nothing if my daughter wasn’t happy.

But to have Aubrielle as my mate… Could I even get married again? My marriage to Giovanna hadn’t been unpleasant. Only the reason for it was foul. Yet it had taken the magic out of relationships for me.

And Aubrielle was pure magic.

Fuck. I kept taking the stairs up to the third floor and yanked off my jacket and tie. I chucked them on the floor just inside the exercise room. My shirt, shoes and socks came off next. All discarded just as carelessly.

I needed to burn off this fierce Alpha energy and the only way I could think to do so was the punching bag. So after a few stretches, I spent the next hour imagining I was smashing Lorenzo, both of his sons, and most particularly his nephew, Matteo.

After a refreshing shower, I felt a little more like my controlled self as I went to Lillianna’s room to read her a story before she was tucked into bed.

I arrived to the sound of Aubrielle’s soft voice telling the tale of Little Red Riding Hood.

The sweet feminine timbre went through me like a caress.

I entered to stand in the doorway, loving the way the two of them looked snuggled together on the bed.

Lillianna had her hair in a braid, was wearing her Little Mermaid pajamas, and her eyes were wide with wonder as she stared at the pictures.

Aubrielle’s long hair was in a messy bun, and strands turned deep gold by the sun framed her gorgeous face.

She traced a finger along as she read, tapping on certain words for emphasis.

Something in me melted at the sight. All the work I did upstairs with the punching bag washed away revealing this is what I wanted. My daughter, my Omega, my family. Happy, sweet, and loving.

Shit. It hit me with a force that I’d never recover from. I swallowed hard, and more audibly than I thought, because both of the girls looked up from the book.

“Daddy!” Lillianna wiggled and patted the spot on the other side of her. “Come sit with us. Little Red Riding Hood is just about to get to Grandma’s house and you need to be the wolf.”

Aubrielle flushed, immediately looking away from me. Her scent spiked, and I suddenly felt much more wolf-like as I mentally licked my lips in anticipation of eating Little Red Riding Hood. “I should let you two have your storytime.”

“No, Aubrielle. You need to stay and be Little Red Riding Hood. I’m going to be the magic mermaid who saves her.” Lillianna tugged on Aubrielle’s arm and she sat back down again.

I came around the other side of my daughter and sat beside her. I glanced at the still blushing Omega and couldn’t hide the little smile that quirked up my lips. “I didn’t know there was a magic mermaid in this story.”