Page 73 of Reckless Princess (Knight's Ridge Empire 8)

“I truly didn’t think it was him. The way he was going about it was so different to the way he’d controlled Mum and me over the years.

“He was clever in enlisting help, I guess. He always had an alibi, made himself look squeaky clean. But as was inevitable, he fucked up, and we all watched CCTV of him meeting Joker after he blew up the coach house where Stella was living with Seb and Theo.”

“Jesus.”

“We did some digging and discovered that Joker wasn’t just some member of the Reapers, but Jonas’s son. A son he was obviously blackmailing, controlling somehow into doing his dirty work.”

“Joe idolised his dad. Always had. It’s not hard for me to believe that Joe did whatever Jonas said.”

“He did such a good job of covering you up, like I said before, but our PI is better. And eventually, Joe led me to you.”

Jodie’s eyes hold mine, the pain within them ripping me to shreds.

“I was blinded by rage, Jodie. The pain he’d caused me, my mum. Stella. He’d almost succeeded with his quest to kill her so many times. He hurt my brothers too. Everyone I loved had been tainted by him, and it needed to stop. His reign of terror needed to end.

“Once we knew the truth, we captured him and… dealt with Joker,” I say with a wince, although she already knows what happened. Just not who pulled that trigger, I’m assuming.

She sucks in a shaky breath as tears fill her eyes at the thought of her brother’s fate.

“I’m so sorry, Jodie.”

She nods, swallowing harshly as she tries to accept the truth. “I know. It hurts, but I understand, I think. He hurt you and those you love, and you couldn’t sit back and let that go.”

I hold her eyes, praying that she really does understand, that she’ll be able to see the real me past all of this and not just the monster who’s caused her immeasurable grief over the past few months.

“Where is he? Jonas?”

“Do you really want to know?” I ask.

She nods once.

“He’s locked in a cell in the basement.”

“Here?”

I nod.

“Shit. He’s still alive?”

“Yes.”

“Why? Why haven’t you killed him? You got your revenge. I thought that was the next step.” Her brows pull together as if this is the most confusing part about everything I’ve confessed.

“Because of you.”

“M-me?”

Shifting forward, I take both of her hands in mine.

“You shouldn’t be here right now, Jodie. You should have got yourself as far away from me as possible. The things I’ve done, the things I’ve told you about. Y-you shouldn’t—”

“I’m more than aware,” she whispers.

“But I couldn’t do that to you. I couldn’t go down there after you left like I’d planned to. I couldn’t rip the chance away from you before we’d talked properly, before I gave you the option to—”

“The option to what, Toby?”

I shrug, hating even the suggestion of allowing her anywhere near him, but knowing that it’s what she deserves.