Page 50 of Reckless Knight (Knight's Ridge Empire 7)

Every time I see him, I see more of myself in him, and it settles a little of the concern I have deep within me that Jonas might have poisoned me enough over the years, and that even without his evil blood flowing through my veins I might be a younger version of him.

Spending time with Galen, seeing the way he is with Mum, Stella, even the way he opened his life up to me the second he learned the truth, gives me hope for the future.

It makes me think that maybe once I’ve got all this out of my system, dished out the revenge that is so desperately needed, I can go back to my old life, can reclaim my title as the nice one and actually think about my future.

It’s funny, because I used to hate that everyone thought I was nicer than the others. It made me feel like they all thought I was weaker. But now, with this dark monster and need for revenge growing bigger every day, I crave that normalcy.

There’s nothing wrong with appearing to be nice. I guess I always was a wolf in sheep’s clothing. It just took the right kind of betrayal to really bring that wolf out.

“It’s so good to see you all,” Mum gushes the second we’re out of the car.

She pulls Stella in for a tight hug, while Galen shakes Seb’s hand.

A smile pulls at my lips, seeing Mum with her daughter. If I’d had any clue she’d even existed, that she’d been ripped from Mum like she was, then I’d have raised hell to get her back sooner. As soon as they reconnected, it became glaringly obvious that it wasn’t just Jonas who put the dark shadows in her eyes but also her loss. I watched them vanish as a part of my mum I never knew was missing slotted back into place when her daughter stepped back into her life.

“My babies,” she says softly, gesturing for me to join them.

Seb takes the cheesecake from Stella before it gets squished between us, and I step into Mum’s side.

“You’re looking really well, Mum,” I say, holding her tight.

She’s still wearing a hat, mostly to keep her head warm than to hide the hair she’s missing beneath, but her eyes are sparkling and her skin has colour instead of that grey pallor I hated seeing on her so much.

“I’m feeling good, baby. Galen’s looking after me so well. I feel like a new woman.”

I smile at her, reminding myself why I need to see my plan though. Fuck what that monster did to me. I can get over the years of abuse I suffered. I even understand it, to a point. I wasn’t his kid, and he felt the need to torture me for that.

But Mum? She was his wife. The one he’d promised to protect, to lay his life down for.

The way he treated her, the way he controlled her. That’s something I’ll never forgive him for. How he managed to have an entirely separate life outside of us. How could he betray her like that when she had no choice but to do everything he said? All the while she could have been with the man who really had her heart. With her daughter. They could have supported her while she fought for her life, battling the tumour that was threatening to rip her from me all too soon.

My fists curl at the thoughts, the beast inside me rising to the surface once more.

“Come on, let’s go in. It’s freezing out here,” Galen says, disappearing inside, quickly followed by Seb, Stella, and then Mum and me.

She turns to me the second we’re in the kitchen and looks at me—I mean really looks at me.

My heart begins to race as I wonder what exactly she can see within my eyes.

Can she see the darkness? The need to cause pain?

Does she recognise it from him?

The thought of being like him in any way makes my stomach twist, threatening to bring up the breakfast I had with Jodie this morning before I had no choice but to deliver her home so she could get ready for her shift at the coffee shop.

“Sweetie,” she sighs, taking my cheeks in her hands. “You look exhausted.”

Over her shoulder, I don’t miss Seb as he snorts a laugh.

“Well, obviously. He’s got a girl on the go,” he helpfully offers.

And as Mum’s face splits in two with a smile, I swear to God I could put a bullet through his fucking head.

“Don’t get excited, it’s nothing serious.”

“Yeah, not everyone needs to be moving in together and getting married at eighteen,” Galen points out, dragging Emmie and Theo into this despite them not even being here.

“What? We haven’t got married,” Stella argues.