Page 71 of Knotted their Beauty

“But there’s a man,” I hiss, craning my head to see if he’s in the crowd now. He could be, right?

Fuck, I just want to find Lennox to ask him about this guy. He said the people he works with are great. My alpha would never lie to me!

“What. Man. Arlo.”

“I don’t… Fuck. He’s a performer, Baron. He has a mullet and scary eyes.” Shaking my head, I struggle to remember what he’s wearing. “He’ll probably change, but he has purple balloon pants on and a white button up shirt.”

“What was he doing, baby? You’re shaking, and my heart is pounding. It’s not in your head if we feel this way, Arlo. Don’t doubt your gut.”

We’re walking out into the main lobby with a shit ton of other people, and it’s not really helping my feeling of claustrophobia. Between my anxiety and the press of people, I’m not doing very well.

“He was staring at…” I glance back at Cali before blowing out a breath.

“Got it. We’ll find Lennox and get the fuck out of here. Then, we’ll ask him who this guy is, baby. I don’t want to be here any longer than necessary.”

I nod shakily as I carefully pick my way through the crowd into the lobby. Cali’s eyes are wide as she leans against her dad, slightly overwhelmed by the crush of people as well. It gets better once we’re in a wider space, and I force myself to speak with her.

“What was your favorite part?” I ask. “Lennox is going to want to know.”

She’s wearing a cute lavender dress with leggings underneath it, because she told me ‘Lenny loves this color.’ Cali didn’t have many questions to ask about the two alphas joining us.

I mean, she has them, and asks about a shit ton of things, but she has never once been suspicious of either Lennox or Baron. Ves has taught her about stranger danger and being aware of her surroundings. None of what he’s told her has triggered her spidey senses.

Lennox tamed her wild curls with a special hair mask. He got her to agree to changing her shampoo and conditioner by explaining her hair is special and needs special treatment. He said she could either trust him, or he could explain the scientific evidence for it.

Cali said that as long as it was backed by data, she’d take his word for it. I love the way they banter and discuss things. He treats her like the tiny human that she is, instead of a child.

Cali frowns as she pulls away as if someone is touching her, but I can’t see anyone specific. Ugh, where’s Lennox? There’s still a shit ton of people around us.

“Honey, what’s wrong?” I ask.

“I don’t know. I thought someone was pulling my hair.”

This little girl is tender headed. It’s a struggle to untangle her hair anywhere other than the tub with conditioner. The hair mask makes things easier, and that’s why she got on board very quickly.

“You!” Ves yells, grabbing something.

“Ow, ow, shit! I didn’t mean anything by it, mister. Let me go!”

Reaching out, I snatch Cali up into my arms, big girl or not. She’s touching her hair andbreathing hard as her face becomes flushed with redness.

“It happened again!” she wails. “He pulled it and hurt me!”

A man is on his knees, where he was fucking hiding among the bodies around us. My face scrunches in disgust as I hug Cali to me, smoothing my hand over her curls as if to erase what he did to her. It’s the same man I saw before, but he’s bald now and wearing jeans and a t-shirt. The mullet must have been for the show.

“He wouldn’t stop staring at her,” I rasp. God, I feel sick. I’m going to be dreaming about this man’s evil eyes for a long time. Ves is holding tightly to the man’s fingers, and I suspect he’s about to break them. “Ves. Not here.”

“What’s going on?” Lennox asks. “Why is Corvus on the ground? Cali, honey…”

“He touched my hair!” Cali screams, completely distraught.

Lennox’s face curls into a mask of rage and Ves takes this as a nod of approval for whatever is about to come next. He yanks Corvus up by the collar of his shirt, tearing it as he does and then pulls the hand he’s holding behind his back.

“Out of the way! I’m making an arrest!”

Baron’s hands squeeze my waist as his lips press against the shell of my ear. “Ves needs Lennox and I. Can you get Cali back to the hotel?”

I nod quickly, swiping at my face as I hitch Cali up higher into my arms. When I’m really upset, I’ll start to cry. It’s the most frustrating thing, but there’s no sign of judgement on Baron’s face.