Page 39 of Knot Your Sunshine (Snugverse Romcom #2)

Chapter thirty-six

Josh

My shoes squelch against the marble floor of the lobby, leaving dark puddles with each step.

"Welcome back." Claire, our assistant, glides over carrying our phones on a silver tray. "I was starting to worry."

"Just a bit of weather," Noa says smoothly. His hand finds Mia's lower back, but she doesn't lean into him like she did earlier. "Thank you for waiting up, Claire. You can head home now."

"Good thing I practically live here then." She smiles, handing us our phones before departing.

The screen lights up immediately, emails, messages, missed calls. My thumb hovers over the first notification when Noa speaks beside me.

"Hey, look at this! The numbers bounced right back." He angles his screen toward Mia, his other hand squeezing her shoulder. "We're back on track from the dip."

I pull up the same report. The revenue line curves upward, true, but we doubled our marketing spend yet the revenue barely matches yesterday's levels… which means profitability is down. Noa's conveniently omitting this crucial detail.

"Oh, that's great." Mia's smile doesn't reach her eyes, though the news seems to lift her spirits slightly. But there's something distant in her expression, like her mind is elsewhere. She's been like this since we left the overhang.

"We should celebrate," Keanu says, bouncing on his toes, clearly trying to lighten the mood. "Brunch tomorrow? Or I guess later today." He chuckles. "I'll get us a table at Neptune's. It has this massive aquarium wall where tropical fish swim right past your table."

Mia takes a small step back. Noa's hand falls from her back.

"Sorry, can we talk about that later?" She wraps her arms around herself, her phone in one hand. "I need to shower, sleep, just... recharge after the storm."

She turns to go, then pauses. For a moment, I think she'll say something else. Instead, she just walks away.

We watch her go. Three alphas standing in our luxury lobby, dripping on marble, while our scent match walks away from us.

The elevator doors close behind her with a soft chime.

"She's definitely off." Keanu's perpetual smile has finally flatlined. "Did we say something wrong?"

Noa's still staring down the hallway like she might reappear. "Her mood shifted during the fire. Do you think bringing up the endgame conversation was too much? Maybe we misread the situa—"

"Why?" I cut him off, irritation spiking at how detached he sounds when she's clearly upset. "Why did you tell her the revenue bounced back without mentioning the marketing spend?"

"I was trying to make her feel better. She looked stressed, exhausted. I thought this would cheer her up—"

"But the test is not doing okay. The revenue is barely back at yesterday's levels despite doubling the marketing spend. This means the franchises are half as profitable as they were—"

"The effects of a marketing push can last for days, sometimes weeks." His voice drops. "You know this. We've done this before."

"That's not certain. Revenue could dip again tomorrow despite the push." My fists clench involuntarily. "We shouldn't give half-truths to our omega."

"You don't know it's a half-truth. I showed her the revenue—"

"You hid the full picture. That's literally the definition of a half-truth."

"Nevermind the definition. I did that because the full picture would have—"

Our phones ping in unison, the sound cutting through our argument.

I look down. Chadwick: My team in New York just called. The attribution data is finally working. Video meeting highly recommended. Now.

The blood drains from my face. What the hell can it be now?

"We should get her." I'm already turning toward the elevator. "She'll want to—"

"No." Noa's hand catches my arm, his grip firm. "She's exhausted."

"This is her project—"

"And dragging her into a stressful meeting when she's exhausted isn't going to help." His voice softens slightly, but his grip doesn't loosen. "Look at me, Josh. Really look at me."

I do. Behind the determination in his eyes, I see the same fear that's clawing at my chest.

"We handle this," he continues. "We listen to Chadwick, figure out what's happening. If there's a decision to make, a real decision that needs her input, we get her. Otherwise..." He releases my arm. "Otherwise, we tell her everything tomorrow when she's rested and can actually process it."

The logic is sound. Protective. Caring even.

Yet it feels wrong.

"But she's going to be furious when she finds out we had a meeting without her."

"Honestly bros, this is a complicated dilemna," Keanu steps between us.

"She'd want to know, absolutely. But if there's nothing actionable we can do tonight, then she'll just be exhausted and stressed for no reason.

Personally, I'd rather have her furious but rested than watch her suffer through this when she's already running on empty. "

Seeing my disapproving expression, Noa straightens to his full height, shoulders squared, and the shift in his presence is immediate. Pack-head authority radiates from him, commanding attention from both Keanu and me without saying a word.

"We take the meeting. We assess the situation. Then we decide how to proceed. That's the most responsible approach," he barks.

I want to argue. To march upstairs and tell Mia everything: the marketing spend, the meeting, all of it.

But beyond his commanding presence, his logic is sound.

She did look exhausted. And the thought of watching her collapse under more stress when she desperately needs rest..

. Maybe this approach offers the best balance.

"Fine." The word tastes like ash. "But if a decision has to be made, we go get her. And we tell her everything tomorrow, even if nothing came up. No filtering, no protection. Everything."

"Agreed." Noa's posture relaxes. "Now, let's go."

We head toward our office where we can take the call privately, my shoes still squelching with each step. Through the windows, I can see the moonlit beach where just hours ago, this day was just about chilling and spotting dolphins.

Now, with each second away from her, the weight in my chest grows heavier.

We're trying to protect her. That's what I tell myself as Noa logs into our video meeting software. We're doing this for her.

But deep down, I'm afraid we might just be making things worse.