Page 109 of Reckless Princess (Knight's Ridge Empire 8)

He continues to explain his plan for how we’re going to take them down and reclaim his hold on this estate.

We all listen, more than willing to take his lead on his own patch, but there’s no doubt in my mind that how we execute this will be on our terms.

Once he’s happy everyone knows where they’re going, he starts up another round of howling before he leads his crew out. Dax and Jace take up their positions right behind him, along with Jesse and the rest of his boys.

“Ready?” Theo asks.

“Like you have to fucking ask, man.”

We let the Wolves head out and into the thick of the fight for their territory before we follow, our role to stand back and take them out from a distance.

Fucking fine by me. Although I can’t deny that I could really do with getting my hands dirty.

Daemon, who has apparently been working with Archer closer on this than any of us realised, leads us in the opposite direction to where most of the Wolves go and toward an abandoned high-rise.

“This building has the best view of the valley. From each side, we should be able to take out those cunts without them even knowing we’re here. I hope you’ve been practising your shots, boys.”

“Fuck you, Deimos. You know we’re good for it,” Seb hisses, clearly offended that Daemon doesn’t think he’s got it in him to suddenly become a sniper.

“Toby, Seb, go to the west. It’s where the OGs are coming from if our intel is right. Alex, Daemon, take the south. Nico and I have the north covered,” Theo instructs.

“East?” I ask, aware that that’s where Sara and Jesse’s place is. I can only fucking hope he’s got her out of there tonight.

“You two can move around once they’ve cleared from the west.”

My heart races and adrenaline surges through me as Seb and I take the stairs first, the footfall of the others behind us pounding through me.

“Come dawn, all will be calm in Lovell,” Theo promises before we all split up.

Seb and I find ourselves in a room with a good vantage point of the valley, and the sight of the flames licking high up into the sky from the businesses the OGs have already claimed makes my stomach twist.

“I really fucking hope they know what they’re doing,” I mutter as we watch the chaos that’s raining below us as another explosion rocks the building we’re in, and a dark cloud of smoke plumes into the night sky.

“Fuck me. No wonder this took some planning,” Seb mutters as yet another explosion echoes through the air.

“This isn’t going to be as easy as Archer thought, is it?”

“He just needs to remember who trained those twisted motherfuckers. But he knew Luis better than anyone, so if anyone can topple what are undoubtedly his plans, then it’s Arch.”

“I hope you’re right.”

“I trust Emmie’s judgement.”

“Fair enough.”

“She thinks Arch has what it takes, so we just gotta hope a little peace is heading our way.”

“Look out,” I say as I spot movement at the end of the street before gunfire explodes beneath us and the darkness is illuminated with bright orange. More and more buildings are engulfed by flames as explosions go off like dominoes until one final overpowering one literally rattles the floor beneath me.

“Was that—”

“Move your arses now,” a deep voice booms through the building, confirming what we already knew.

“They fucking knew we’d be here,” Seb shouts as we run back toward the stairs. Smoke begins to plume up from the ground floor.

“Fuck. We need to get out of here before it goes up.

It only takes a couple of flights of stairs before the smoke becomes so thick around us it becomes hard to breathe. But we don’t let it stop us.