Page 129 of Deviant Princess (Knight's Ridge Empire 5)

“Of course it is. I’m not a fucking liar. I was just waiting for the perfect time to deliver the news, seeing as her father is too much of a pussy to do it himself.”

“That was fucking brutal, bro,” Alex says, bounding up behind Seb like an excited fucking puppy.

“Whatever. I’m fucking out of here.”

“Mate, you can’t bail before you’ve even started.”

“Fucking watch me,” I spit out, turning my back on them all.

“What about Emmie?” Stella calls.

“What the fuck about her? She made her point loud and clear.”

I only make it two steps before Nico joins in.

“Did you see something different to the rest of us? I’m pretty sure she was fighting for you back there, not against you.”

I shrug and keep going, slamming the door back on itself and sucking in a deep breath of cold winter air.

* * *

I don’t leave.

I never had any intention of doing so, but I wasn’t allowing those arseholes to convince me to head to class. Not when Emmie is in Mr. Davenport’s office, getting ripped into for giving me exactly what I needed.

Proof that she still cares. That she still wants me. That we have a chance.

The jealousy that darkened her eyes when she watched Sloane place her hand on my thigh was violent.

I knew exactly what was coming.

And while I probably should have stopped it from happening in the middle of the common room for everyone to see, it also needed to happen. They needed to see.

Because Emmie is mine, and the entire Knight’s Ridge student body needs to know damn well that I’m hers, too. Whether she’s willing to accept it or not.

I walk around the building, waiting for everyone to disappear into their classrooms before slipping back into the corridor at the other end of the building which will allow me to see the second Emmie is released.

I hide in the shadows in the doorway of an empty classroom, and thankfully, no one comes down this way.

Until my little hellcat blows out of Davenport’s office like a dangerous storm.

Her boots thud against the old stone floor as she closes the space between us.

Every muscle in her body is pulled tight, her tiny hands curled into fists as if she wants to find Sloane and do it all over again.

I don’t move until she’s right on me. She’s so lost in her own head that she hasn’t even noticed I’m standing here until it’s too late.

Reaching out, I wrap one arm around her waist and another around her mouth to stop her from screaming and pull her back into the classroom, kicking the door closed behind me.

She bucks against my hold, her arms flailing as she tries to break free. She can try as hard as she likes, but I’m stronger than her, even with my beaten and bruised body, and she knows it.

“Stop fighting,” I breathe in her ear. “You know I’ll win.”

“Fuck you,” she barks, although it’s muffled behind my hand.

“Ow, bitch,” I hiss when she sinks her teeth into my palm.

A grunt of surprise rips from her throat when I slam her back against the wall. Her bag falls from her shoulder, colliding with the floor with a loud thud that we both ignore.