Page 41 of Deviant Reign (Knight's Ridge Empire 6)

“You told me on the way home that he wanted your mum,” Dad says softly. “But did he say anything else?”

I shake my head. “No. He just wanted to know where she was. Do you think…” Dad squeezes my leg again when I pause. “Do you think she’s lied to us about her involvement in all of this?” I finally ask, terrified of the answer.

I believed her when she explained to me both in the hospital after her overdose and in that house in the Cotswolds what happened with Damien. How the Wolves had tricked her into believing they could help her make a quick buck off the back of the Cirillo Family.

I believed she was an innocent, desperate drug addict being played by men who were more powerful than I wanted to think about.

I believed her when she assured me that the only reason I’ve found myself tied to Theo is that she wanted me protected. That she wanted me away from the Wolves.

She looked so sincere when she held my hand and relayed it to all of us in that house. Her pain was palpable. Her fear for what she thought both Damien and Luis would do to her when they found her was too chilling to ignore.

So what are we missing?

Was she never trying to protect me at all?

Were my initial thoughts correct? Did she sell me? Am I a bigger part of this fucked-up mess than she wants to admit to?

“Yes,” Dad states regretfully.

That one single word carves another deep hole in my already tattered heart.

Why do I always give her the benefit of the doubt? Why do I always believe her? So what, she carried me for nine months? So what, she was the one who gave me life? Not when it’s been one full of pain, heartache, hunger, and neglect.

“There’s more than she’s telling us. She might not know everything, but I’m convinced she knows something that will help us put all the pieces together.”

“This is a mess,” I groan, falling back and tilting my head to the ceiling.

“You’re telling me, kiddo. But we’ll sort it. You might not want to hear it, or accept it, but you’ve got some of the city’s more powerful men standing right beside you. Cruz, Damien, Theo, me. We’re not going to let anything happen to you, Em.

“Think of yourself as powerful, huh?” I tease.

“I may have been out of the game for a few years, but it’s in my blood. Just like it is yours.” He winks. “So, did you want to tell me why you broke some rich girl’s nose at school Monday morning?” he asks, desperately trying to fight the smirk that wants to pull at his lips.

“Other than because she deserved it?”

“She was the one who spiked your drink?”

“Yeah, for that and the fact that she’s a raging bitch.”

“Like the last one you made bleed?”

“They’re friends. They can have matching war wounds.”

He doesn’t comment, and any amusement that was on his face vanishes in the blink of an eye, making my stomach twist with nerves.

I might not give a flying fuck what most people in this world think of me, but my dad is a different story.

He’s my hero, always has been and always will be. I want him to be proud of me, and I desperately want to be the daughter he deserves.

“You’ve been suspended for a week, Em. What was our agreement when you started at that school?” His brow quirks, and I see the disappointment swirling in his dark eyes. It makes me feel about an inch tall.

“I promised I’d keep my head down and behave,” I mutter like a naughty kid who’s just been caught stealing the sweeties out of the tin. “Please, don’t take my bike, Dad. Please,” I beg.

If I lose that, my freedom, my way to escape when things get too much—although never to Lovell again—then I’ll lose my fucking mind.

“Emmie, I—“

“Things are so out of control,” I try to argue. “When I started school, I was just the girl from the wrong side of town everyone looked down on. But now…” I blow out a breath as my reality comes back to me. “I’m half MC, half Cirillo, with a fucking husband, and I’ve just been abducted, after being held captive by said husband. You can’t actually expect me to be holding it all together right now.”