Page 99 of A Knight’s Revenge: The Complete Series

CHAPTER TWELVE

JOLIE

“ H ome” was now my Family’s penthouse in Knight Tower, wiped free of any trace of my traitorous uncle and tastefully redecorated in a way that suited the modern young woman and her three live-in boyfriends.

Bennett had ensured the Knight penthouse became a proper home for us as a part of his various projects over the past week, and it was a tough call for me as to whether this extremely thoughtful gesture or his pounding Chad into a bloody purple pulp had turned me on more.

I woke Saturday morning in my new giant bed in the primary bedroom, the space around me where the guys had slept warm but empty.

My feet hit the floor—the carpet of my parents’ spacious room had been replaced with dark hardwood in the Anders era.

The designer Bennett hired had redecorated the room with soft grays and even softer pinks, and the rug under my feet displayed intricate floral designs in those colors.

There was a new white dresser, a matching chest of drawers, and the attached sitting room now sported a brand-new squishy gray couch, a pink armchair, and a moderately sized flat-screen TV mounted over the fireplace.

The en suite bathroom had also changed dramatically from when it had been my parents’—my mom’s beige tile and colorful accent borders were now a clean, gleaming white.

A clawfoot tub replaced the old jacuzzi, and Bennett’s designer had ensured there were towels, rugs, and even shiny new chrome plumbing fixtures that had never been touched by the treasonous hands of my uncle.

After I freshened up and threw on some dark leggings and a cropped long-sleeved shirt, I padded down the hall, past the spare bedrooms that had each been redone and assigned to Zach, Noah, and Bennett.

Anything they’d been able to salvage from their rooms at their respective Family homes had made its way here, and Bennett’s army of personal shoppers had filled in the gaps.

Each of my boys had a tasteful, masculine space to call his own, and I couldn’t wait to defile each of their beds on the rare occasion we didn’t all pile into mine.

I glanced toward the other end of the hall before I turned to head down the stairs, catching a quick glimpse of my dad’s study through the open door.

Noah’s team had thoroughly searched it for anything else incriminating Anders might have left behind—finding nothing of note—before Bennett’s team had cleared the old office furniture and created two mega desks that were built into the side walls, each with two workstations.

Now all four of us had a space to study, run the Knight empire, or plot James’ and Andrea’s ruin.

I trotted down the stairs, and I heard the low murmurs of voices in the kitchen.

The renovations done after my parents’ deaths had changed the main living area quite a bit, replacing marble tile with hardwood, opening the formal dining room to the new white kitchen with updated appliances and gunmetal gray backsplash.

Bennett’s team had delivered new furniture for the living room: comfy couches, richly colored rugs and throw pillows, and a giant flat-screen television connected to every kind of gaming console known to man.

Gleaming glass doors looked out onto our pool deck where I could see that even the lounge chairs were brand-new.

I loved it all. There were still hints of home here, and I tried very hard to channel that feeling into only the good memories of my parents or the time spent here with the boys growing up. But now it also felt like a fresh space for us to make new memories in as a family.

“Morning, Princess!” Zach called as I trudged sleepily into the kitchen, allowing the smell of fresh coffee to be my guide.

“Hi, guys.” I looked around the room and found Zach behind the stove, meticulously pouring pancake batter onto a griddle, shirtless, wearing only an apron and his pajama pants.

Noah sat at the dining room table, sipping coffee and typing on his laptop, his blond hair a little rumpled and his eyes focused behind his dark frames.

Bennett lounged in a chair next to him, lazily scrolling his phone and drinking something that looked suspiciously like green juice.

“What’s up, boss lady?”

I startled, suddenly noticing Rocky sitting at the large kitchen island. He drank his own mug of coffee while doing something on his tablet, his massive shoulders hunched over the counter and his shaved head gleaming under the bright kitchen lights.

“Rocky,” I said with a narrow-eyed stare. “Fancy meeting you here.”

He grinned at me. “Just stopping by. We’re all organized downstairs now, and I’m on the morning ‘make sure the boss is alive’ rotation.”

“Ah-ha,” I replied, moseying over to the kitchen after getting a quick good-morning kiss from both Bennett and Noah. “Well, as you can see, I am still kicking. All is quiet in the Knight penthouse.”

“For now,” he said with a wink. “And my man Ferrero is making some awesome-smelling pancakes.”

Zach huffed. “Don’t mind him, Princess. He can’t take a hint and has invited himself to breakfast.”

I kissed Zach’s cheek before I poured myself a cup of hot, delicious coffee. “It’s fine. I could use a status report, anyway.” I shot Rocky a pointed look and waved a hand at him. “Make yourself useful, my friend.”

He gave me a brisk little salute, took a sip of his coffee, and began his report.

“The three floors below us here in the penthouse are now your security command center, a mix of the Shadows who’ve decided to officially join the Knight organization and legacy Knight Enforcers who worked for your parents and whom we’ve thoroughly vetted.

We’ve also picked up a team from Hargraves who apparently had loyalties only to your boy over there. ”

I glanced at Noah, who just nodded as he continued typing away on his laptop. “They’re solid. Silver keeps an eye on them, anyway.”

Rocky continued, “And Ferrero here has engaged every independent security firm in the City to fill in the gaps, so we’ve got them on rotation here, around the Academy, and at Hargraves Tower as it’s being remodeled.”

“And most importantly,” Zach added, “we’ve prevented them from being hired by James Spencer or my mom.”

Rocky nodded. “Yep. And we’re essentially paying all the black-market merc groups just to stay away at the moment. Andrea is having trouble staffing her dirty fights and finding someone willing to take on the runs for whatever she’s smuggling these days.”

Zach began plating our pancakes. “It’s still guns and priceless, stolen artifacts that rich people think need to be on display in their homes and not a museum, as far as I know,” he said.

“And everyone’s moved in downstairs who wanted a spot?” I asked Rocky.

“Yep. Anyone on the team who wanted an apartment has one in the residence hall two floors below us. The gym and training center are also all set up, and we have a mini command center that links to Silver down on floor twenty-seven. And we, uh… gave the residence hall’s corner suite to Frankie Fingers. ”

I felt my eyebrows hit my hairline. “Frankie lives here?”

Zach slid a plate of pancakes in front of Rocky before glancing at me. “Where else would he live, Princess? He’s head of our personal security now.”

Rocky shivered. “He’s, like, the nicest guy, and yet somehow he also scares the fuck out of me.”

“Join the club,” Bennett muttered.

I climbed onto the barstool next to Rocky and dove immediately into my own plate of pancakes. Zach delivered plates to Bennett and Noah before hopping up on the stool next to me. I continued to pepper Rocky with questions as we ate.

“How’s morale in the big Family businesses?” I asked.

He shrugged. “Low for the ones that are failing, obviously, but everything Knight has been able to snag a controlling piece of is generally in good shape, especially since you guys raised everyone’s pay by… a lot.”

We were certainly doing what we could to give the working people who were the actual backbone of the City a better life, starting with a living wage, benefits, and access to affordable childcare .

Zach hummed in thought. “I really need to check in on everyone at the Club. It’s just been so fucking busy.”

Rocky grunted. “Club’s fine, man. Andrea would never let her pride and joy fail. And anyway, Knight bought up the shares of the Club sold by all the bailing investors, so everyone’s still got a job.”

I smiled, nudging Zach with my elbow. “Actually, the Club is now fifty-percent owned by Zach Ferrero.”

Zach jerked his head to look at me with wide eyes. “What?”

“I know you care about that place and the people in it,” I replied, shoving a bite of pancake into my mouth. “So, Knight gifted you its shares.”

That cocky, sexy smile appeared on his face, and he pulled me in for a very syrupy kiss. “You’re amazing, baby girl. Thank you.”

Rocky finished up his breakfast, drained the last of his coffee from his mug, and hopped to his booted feet. “Alright, team. Back to the grind of holding down this fortress and looking for ways to ruin our evil overlords.”

I snorted. “Bye, Rocky. Dom says he wants you down at the gym on your next day off to put the fear of God into his middle-school group.”

Rocky gave me a toothy grin as he cracked his knuckles. “Those kids are some little mouthy shits. Tell him I’ll be there Wednesday.”

He ambled out of the kitchen, and a few moments later, the ding of the elevator arriving out in the foyer announced his departure from the penthouse.

Zach watched him go with a furrowed brow. “Those assholes better not think this is a revolving door up here. I will not have one of them just popping in while I have Princess bent over the dining room table, screaming my name.”

“Only if they want to have their eyeballs torn out of their head,” Bennett said.

“Word,” Noah added.

So, it seemed we were all still settling into Knight Tower.