Page 148 of Knot So Lucky

"Break it up already," I call out, pitching my voice into the lower register I maintain at work. "My brother needs to be winning races, not dealing with your noisy asses."

The group falls silent, heads swiveling toward me in synchronized shock.

Marco spots me first, his face breaking into a genuine grin.

"Rory! Holy shit, you're back!"

My regular crew members practically swarm me—Marco, Jenna, Chen, and Rodriguez, the core team I've worked with from the get-go. They welcome me back with the kind of enthusiasm that makes my chest tight with emotions I wasn't prepared for.

"We thought you quit," Marco says, clasping my shoulder in that particular way male coworkers do. "Or transferred because of the race incident and the press conference."

The press conference.

Right. The one where my Omega status apparently got revealed to the world before I got kidnapped, and then went into heat for five days.

I smirk, taking another bite of apple to buy myself a moment.

"Nah, I just got kidnapped and went into heat. No big deal."

The casual delivery makes the words hit harder.

Complete silence descends over the garage.

The guys are gawking at me with expressions ranging from shock to horror to confusion. A few mouths actually hang open, which would be funny if the circumstances weren't so absurd.

The female Betas—Jenny and Sarah—react differently.

"Wait,seriously?!" Jenny's eyes are wide, concern overriding everything else. "You were actually kidnapped? Are you okay? Did they catch who did it?"

"And your heat?" Sarah steps closer, lowering her voice even though everyone can hear. "That must have been terrifying, going through your first heat while being held captive. Oh my god, Rory."

I shrug, trying to project casual nonchalance I don't entirely feel.

"Yeah, but I'm good now. Safe. The kidnapping situation is being handled by people with the appropriate skill sets."

Which is code for:Cale and Elias are probably torturing information out of the assholes as we speak, but I can't say that out loud.

"And the heat was... fine," I continue, feeling my face warm despite my best efforts. "I had help. It's over now, and I'm ready to get back to work."

Help.

Such an inadequate word for five days of biological madness with four Alphas who are now apparently my permanent pack.

But the crew doesn't need those details.

"What did I miss?" I ask, deliberately changing the subject before they can ask follow-up questions I don't want to answer. "Give me the updates."

The crew shifts immediately into work mode—bless them for being so easily redirected.

Marco launches into a rapid-fire explanation of the mechanical updates they've implemented.

"We redesigned the brake cooling ducts based on your diagnostic from before the incident. Turns out you were right about the mounting bolts—all three prototypes had the same calibration error. Fixed it across the board."

Chen chimes in about aerodynamic modifications.

"Added vortex generators to the front wing endplates. Should improve downforce in high-speed corners without increasing drag."

Rodriguez discusses tire compound testing.