Page 28 of Deviant Reign (Knight's Ridge Empire 6)

EMMIE

My grip on my dad's waist tightens as I watch Theo disappear around the corner without looking back.

He left.

All the air rushes from my lungs as that thought hits me.

He came all this way, helped Dad and Cruz get to me, and shot and killed multiple Wolves, if the bodies littering the building as we made our way out were anything to go by.

Why would he just walk away?

Because he walked in on you getting off with another guy grinding on top of you, maybe?

“Are you okay?” Dad asks quietly, his grip on my waist the only thing holding me up right now.

“You’re here. Of course I am.” Stepping in front of him, I bury my face in his solid chest and breathe in his manly scent.

I’m safe.

Kicking myself for making such stupid, reckless decisions, I vow to start being smarter.

There’s too much shit going on around me to put myself—everyone I love— at risk like I did on Monday night.

“Come on, kiddo. Let’s get you home.” He drops a kiss to the top of my head before grasping my shoulders and pulling me from his body.

“We all good here?” he shouts back, and when I peer around his body, I find Cruz and Xander standing in the doorway to the building.

“All good, bro. Fancy leaving the Wolves a little present?” Cruz asks, a wicked smile tugging at his lips.

“You know it,” Dad confirms, pushing me in the direction we watched Alex and Theo walk only minutes ago.

“Hey, cous,” Seb says, stepping up beside me, his concerned eyes searching mine. I have no idea what he’s looking for, but he clearly doesn’t find it, because even after long seconds, his expression doesn’t relax at all.

“Is… um…” I hesitate, both desperate to ask the question on the tip of my tongue but equally terrified to discover the answer. “Is he okay?” I ask, my eyes shooting in the direction Theo vanished.

“Uh… honestly, I have no idea,” Seb confesses with a wince, pushing his fingers into his hair and pulling it back, exposing a splattering of blood covering his brow.

“Shit, are you okay?”

He rolls his eyes dramatically. “Obviously. None of those motherfuckers had a chance with me.”

“Your ego really is something else,” I mutter as footsteps pound behind us.

“Ready?” Cruz asks, stepping out of the building with Link right behind him, a wicked smile playing on both of their lips.

“What are they doing?” I ask, not directing the question at anyone specifically.

“No idea,” Seb mutters at the same time Link says, “Just wait, I think you’re going to like it.”

Dad keeps moving us backward, and the others join us, standing in a line.

“Theo and Alex are gonna be pissed they missed this,” Nico says, rubbing his hands together in excitement.

My lips part to once again ask what’s happening when a loud explosion before us makes the ground beneath my feet shake.

“Was that— Holy fuck,” I gasp as the building I was locked inside not so long ago goes up in a fireball. “Wow,” I breathe, watching as the burning hot flames lick up into the sky, the heat from them burning my skin. “That’s—”

“Beautiful,” Cruz sighs, sounding much like I imagine a father might when he lays eyes on his firstborn, not a house fire. But whatever. I guess it comes as no surprise that my uncle is… different.