Page 35 of Deviant Knight (Knight's Ridge Empire 4)

EMMIE

“This place is insane,” I say to Stella as I follow both her and Seb into their new fancy flat.

The huge floor-to-ceiling windows showcase the views of the city beyond, and the inside… well it’s something I could only dream of.

It’s so spacious, modern yet homely and comfortable at the same time. I have no idea how Seb managed it, but it’s incredible. No wonder he gets laid at every possible moment.

Glancing over my shoulder, I find a soft smile playing on Stella’s lips as she stares up at Seb like he just single-handedly hung the moon.

“Yeah,” she sighs like a lovesick puppy, and I wait for the inevitable sound of lip-smacking to commence, but thankfully, it never comes.

“I’ll leave you both to it,” Seb says, and when I look back once more, I watch him peck Stella on the lips and disappear down toward the bedrooms.

Silence settles between us, and the knot I’ve become more than used to when it comes to everything that happened with Stella returns full force.

“You want a drink?” she asks, thankfully breaking it.

“Uh… yeah, sure.”

“I thought we could order takeout. Any preference? I was thinking Chinese, it’s Calli’s favourite.”

“Chinese is good with me,” I agree, trailing her into the kitchen.

She pulls the fridge open and grabs a couple of bottles of something before knocking the tops off and passing one over after I’ve hauled myself up on the counter.

Her eyes hold mine for a beat and they narrow in concern.

“Em, everything is fi—”

“Don’t,” I whisper. “Don’t say it’s fine. It’s not.”

I quickly look over my shoulder to make sure we’re alone and that Seb isn’t loitering, listening to me be anything less than the heartless bitch I portray myself as.

“Em?” she questions, taking a step closer, her brows pinched.

“I just… I almost got you killed, Stella. And I had no idea. I was literally leading him to your door.”

“You didn’t know,” she argues.

“But I should have.” I blow out a long sigh and drop my head. “I ignored all my dad’s requests and stepped foot into a world he warned me about. I might be okay, but look what happened.”

“You couldn’t have known. None of us could. If anyone suspected that Jonas had a secret family, a son who quite clearly wanted to impress him, then maybe all of this would have been over a long time ago. Hell, maybe it wouldn’t have even started.”

I shake my head, unable to believe it all.

Jonas, the man who everyone thought was Toby’s cunt of a father, ended up not being his father at all. Just a fucking psycho hell-bent on ensuring his legacy within the Family.

“If anything, this is our fault. Theo thought for a while that the Reapers were involved. If we’d have said something instead of letting him run around throwing accusations, then you might have had a reason to be a little more alert.”

“He really thought it was me.”

She doesn’t respond, but her eyes soften.

“He knows it wasn’t now.”

“Does he?” I ask, thinking back to our interaction only last night at Mickey’s.

He still hates me, possibly even more than he ever did when he thought I was involved with this shit with Stella.