Page 35 of Reckless Princess (Knight's Ridge Empire 8)

Stella throws me a pair of gloves before the two of them duck under the ropes of our state-of-the-art ring.

If they were anyone other than my sister and one of my best friend’s wives, I’d be in fucking heaven right now. But as it is, all I see is two more than willing, more than brutal opponents. And Stella’s right. I fucking need this.

“Let’s go then,” I say, tugging my gloves on and cracking my neck to the side. “And when we’re done. I need some advice.”

“Ooh, so there is an ulterior motive here,” Stella jokes. “I’m sure we can help come up with something. After all, we have experience of forgiving the unforgivable where you boys are concerned.”

The second I step into the ring, they’re on me like a fucking pair of hyenas.

Emmie’s gloved fist collides with my ribs before Stella’s uppercut sends my head flying back.

Pain shoots down my spine, but fuck if my body doesn’t sing.

* * *

The three ofus lay on the floor of the ring sometime later with our chests heaving and our skin covered in a sheen of sweat from dancing around, dodging each other’s blows and landing more than just a few.

My body aches in the exact way I was hoping for when I called Stella from outside Jesse’s place.

“So go on then,” Stella says after long minutes of silence while we all fight to catch our breath. “What advice do you need?”

“She won’t talk to me,” I confess.

“And you’re surprised?” Emmie asks, astounded.

“N-no. I just… I hoped she might at least want to hear me out.”

“She does,” Stella confirms.

“B-but—“

“She’s not ready,” Emmie helpfully offers.

“I get that. But I can’t keep waiting.”

“It’s been a week,” she scoffs. “She’s barely even touched the surface of what you deserve.”

“I know. I just—“

“Look,” Stella says, sitting upright so she can look at me. “We know you wanna fix this. Wave some magic wand that will make all your lies and indiscretions go away. But that’s not how it works.

“You fucked up, Toby. You fucked up big. And now you have to suffer the consequences.”

“But what if—“

“No. There is no what if here. No big declaration of love gesture is going to work. The wound is too raw, too painful. I know it’s not the answer you want, but it really is time. Then, if you’re lucky, she’ll be able to move on from the bad parts of what happened and focus on the good.”

“And if she can’t?”

“Then it wasn’t meant to be,” Emmie offers. “She served her purpose in your life, and the best thing you can do is move—”

“No,” I blurt, refusing to accept that as an option.

“I’m sorry, Toby, I know this isn’t what you want to hear. But it’s the truth.”

I nod, unable to talk around the messy ball of emotion that’s clogging my throat as I consider the possibility of there being no future beyond this for us.

I abandon the girls down in the gym after they give me the truth that I deserved but equally didn’t want, and I head down lower to the deepest depths of our basement where the vermin live.