A Knotty Bargain: The Claiming of Cadence

A Knotty BargainThe Claiming of Cadence Book 2Leann Ryans Copyright © 2023 Leann RyansAll rights reservedThe characters and events portrayed in this book are fictitious. Any similarity to real persons, living or dead, is coincidental and not intended by the author.No part of this book may be reproduced, or stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without express written permission of the publisher.Cover design by: Dazed DesignsThis book is meant for a mature audience. Contents Title PageCopyrightA Note From the AuthorChapter OneChapter TwoChapter ThreeChapter FourChapter FiveChapter SixChapter SevenChapter EightChapter NineChapter TenChapter ElevenChapter TwelveChapter ThirteenChapter FourteenChapter FifteenChapter SixteenChapter SeventeenChapter EighteenChapter NineteenChapter TwentyChapter Twenty-OneChapter Twenty-TwoChapter Twenty-ThreeChapter Twenty-fourThanks A Note From the AuthorThis book was previously released as Proposition #2 in the Illicit Deals series. It has been rewritten from its original Contemporary Romance version into an omegaverse romance, featuring growling, heat, knots, nesting, and everything that goes with it.Interested in finding more books by me? Check out my website at https://leannryans.com You can sign up for my weekly newsletter and receive a Monster Romance novella, free! I may have gotten my brother out of trouble with the Galleons, but our situation hadn’t changed. We were still drowning in debt that kept piling up faster than I could pay.My plan to forget the night with Leo doesn’t work since he won’t leave me alone. He says he has another proposition for me, but can I risk accepting and losing more of myself than I already have?I still haven’t gotten over the night he owned me.I worry I’ve given him the wrong idea about what kind of omega I am, but it’s so hard to stay away. If I give in, I could afford the new treatment Momma needs.Denying him seems worse than admitting I still want him too.But I know my heat is coming, and I don’t think he’s going to let me out of our deal before it’s here. I know he’s waiting for it, but I can’t let him claim me. He doesn’t mean forever when he says I’m his.So I let him use my body again while I try to keep my heart locked away, but can I withstand such A Knotty Bargain? Chapter OneCadence“I have a proposition for you. Meet me at eleven.”The clatter of dishes jarred me back to where I was. My pulse fluttered in my throat, and I sucked in a deep breath to calm myself.How easy it would be to give in.I knew Leo had the means to solve my financial issues, but I was supposed to be forgetting about him. Moving on. He was an addiction I needed to end before it caused damage.I wasn’t supposed to be thinking about that night in his bed.Or how, if I sold myself to him again, I’d be able to quit working seventy-hour weeks and constantly worrying about paying the bills.I crammed my phone back into my pocket when the bell dinged for me to pick up my plates. Doing my best to ignore the thoughts racing through my head, I served the table before making an excuse to Sharon and slipping to the back for a break.My gaze lingered on Leo’s message, fingers hovering over the keyboard before I finally forced myself to type a response.“No.”Two letters had never been so hard to type, but it was the only response I could give him. My stomach roiled as I hit send before I could erase it. I knew it was for the best, but I couldn’t help the sick feeling that I was making a mistake by not even hearing him out.But it would be harder to say no if I saw him again.My brother had the number to the diner and knew to contact me here if there was an emergency, so I turned off my cell. I had no idea how Leo would react, but I couldn’t spend the rest of my shift focused on my phone.Dropping it in my purse, I gave myself a shake and blew out a sigh, shoving the mess he’d brought forward back into the box in my head that I was trying to avoid. Reminding myself we were caught up on the mortgage payments, I told myself I could find a way to take care of the car and other bills without selling myself to an alpha it was too dangerous to associate with.Pushing all thoughts of Leo and money aside, I left the breakroom and focused on my customers. The rest of the night passed in a blur, and by the time ten thirty rolled around, I was exhausted and ready to go home, but the sight of my phone sitting dark in my purse as I fished out my car keys made me pause.Was I really too stubborn to take the easy way out?Yes.I may have sold myself once already, but that had been a desperate situation. The amount Michael owed had been impossible to pay off in the time I’d been given, and I had exhausted every other choice.I left the phone where it was, not bothering to turn it back on before climbing into the Toyota and heading home. I didn’t even bother to check it as I plugged it in next to my bed, too tired to deal with whatever might be waiting.Flopping into my nest with a huff, I pulled my blankets around me and was dead to the world in seconds.***The alarm blaring in my ear had me groaning as I groped for the off switch. Sunlight flooded my room, burning my eyes as I forced them open. My room was on the east side of the house, so it was nothing I wasn’t familiar with, but it still sucked every morning.Rolling from my bed, I stretched before making my way to the bathroom to shower and get ready for work. It took longer than usual for the water warm, and I was rushing for the door, scared