Page 106 of Deviant Princess (Knight's Ridge Empire 5)

“But his own granddaughter…” Stella says, as if we both need a reminder.

“My guess? Ram lost a lot of trust from my father and the Family after all the shit with Joker. Missing something as big as that, allowing one of his members to go after one of us like he did… it puts his loyalty in question. He wanted to make a huge gesture, something that would show just how seriously he took our relationship.”

“Couldn’t he have just given Damien a bigger percentage of profits?”

My brows lift, impressed but not really shocked at her understanding of how everything works around here.

“Dad doesn’t need money, especially the pitiful amount that the Reapers bring in from their arms deals. Ram would have known it wouldn’t have been enough. Offering up one of our own, though, handing her over knowing how important she should be to Ram and his family? That would have spoken to Dad in a whole other way.”

“And it worked. So, I’m assuming Ram knew Emmie is half Cirillo?”

“I can only assume so. But I’m not sure if he knew there were other factors at play with Cora.”

“He must have known that D and Cruz would lose their shit.”

“Yeah. Dad having Cora only helped with that because they convinced her to sign that paperwork, making her look like the guilty party. And if Cora had died, Emmie would never have found out that she didn’t know what she was signing.”

“Even still, there’s still a chance that Emmie wouldn’t have believed her. I can’t imagine she’s got a history of being all that honest.”

“She won’t be winning mother of the year anytime soon, put it that way.”

Stella pushes her hair back from her face. “Was it really that bad?”

“Yeah, and I think what Emmie has told me only scratches the surface. Cora’s a mess. An addict. Emmie bore the brunt of that addiction for years.”

“Okay, so…” Stella starts, her brows pinching as she tries to get all her ducks in a row with this. “Cora’s been dealing for Damien. But the Wolves run the Lovell Estate, right?”

“Right.”

“So surely Cora wasn’t stupid enough to deal on their turf?”

Reaching for the mug of coffee she made me that’s sitting beside her, I take a sip, trying to get my thoughts together.

“Dad wouldn’t have had her dealing the same. All the gangs have agreements. They stick to their products and allow the others to handle their business.”

“So what’s the issue with the Wolves then, if you deal different products?”

“I’m not sure. Dad thinks Cora’s been stealing. Cora blamed Emmie, apparently, in some fucked-up way to protect her.”

“So Cora assumed that when she brought Emmie into it, your dad would protect her?”

“Yeah, I think so.”

“And all the shit with Ram was just perfect timing.”

“Yeah. I think. Fuck, I don’t really know. Dad’s barely said fuck all. I’ve no idea if we can believe anything that falls from Cora’s lips, and Ram is clearly an untrustworthy cunt, so…

“All I know is that Emmie is innocent in all of this. And if the Wolves really have an issue with Cora, then ultimately, they’ll go after her—”

“But they couldn’t while you had her locked in here?”

I don’t need to agree with her. Stella sees it all in my eyes.

“Fuck, Theo. You should have just told her all this shit. How long would you have let it go on if she didn’t find that marriage certificate or Cora didn’t try killing herself?”

“I couldn’t. She was a job.”

Stella’s brows lift. She doesn’t need to speak for me to hear her chastising me.