Page 116 of Deviant Reign (Knight's Ridge Empire 6)

EMMIE

Wrapping a towel around myself, I walk out of the bathroom, leaving Theo standing behind me like a Greek god with rivulets of water running over his insane body and soaking into the towel he has tied around his waist.

Something lights up on the floor as I walk toward the wardrobe, knowing that he’ll have unpacked properly even for a weekend stay, and I can steal one of his shirts to wear.

I grab my phone, which must have slid off the bed sometime between me showing Theo the gossip that was all over Facebook and him pushing inside me once more.

I’ve got a stream of notifications, some from people I haven’t spoken to since the day I walked out of Lovell. The sight of them makes my stomach twist painfully.

There’s no way this is anything good.

No fucking way.

My hand trembles as I hold my phone before me, willing myself to unlock it and find out what’s happened.

I knew this was going to be bad. The second I saw that Luis had been killed, dread lodged itself so deep inside me that I had no doubt it was about to complicate my life further.

“Oh God,” I sob quietly as I think about Dad and Cruz. “Please, please, please,” I beg. If they went after this stupid prick because of me and they ended up hurt or worse… No, just no.

Blowing out a slow, calming breath, I swipe the screen and open the first notification. I don’t even take the time to see who it’s from. I just need to know what’s hiding inside and how this newest revelation is going to change my life.

The second I read the headline of the article, my heart jumps into my throat.

“Theo,” I call, my voice coated in panic as I try to get my head around what I’m reading.

“What’s wrong?” he asks not two seconds later as he comes rushing out of the bathroom. “Emmie?” he breathes in concern when he gets a look at the expression on my face.

“It was my pops.” Confusion pulls at his brows for a beat. “He… he killed Luis.”

Theo’s lips part to respond, but no words come out. Instead, he shakes his head and moves closer, lifting my hand that’s still clutching my phone to read the news article I was reading.

“Weapon found at the scene believed to belong to MC President Charles Ramsey. Manhunt is in progress to find… Fuck,” he breathes as the article goes on.

“None of this makes any fucking sense, Theo,” I confess, throwing my phone back on the bed. I don’t need to read any of the other messages, I’m pretty sure I know exactly what they’re going to say.

“I know, babe,” he says softly, pulling me into his arms and holding me against him.

Pressing my face into the crook of his neck, I focus on the steady beat of his heart.

“Do you know what happened to Ram after you left?” Theo asks softly, and I shake my head.

“No, Dad didn’t offer any details. And mostly, I was happy to live in ignorant bliss. “Dad told me he wasn’t an issue and—“

“Didn’t he also tell you that about the Wolves?”

“Yeah, but—“ I blow out a breath instead of arguing about something I have no clue about.

“When your dad and Cruz turned up at my door after you left, they were covered in blood. Whose was it?”

I frown, remembering them turning back up at the house, looking the same.

My initial reaction was that it was all Theo’s, but the second I found out it wasn’t, I didn’t want to know, although I had my suspicions.

“Honestly, I assumed it belonged to either Pops or Luis or a few of his guys. Dad and Cruz assured me that things had been dealt with, so I tried to push it aside.”

He nods, looking down at me with sympathetic eyes.

“We should probably get back.” His hand cups my cheek and he stares down at me intensely.