Page 120 of Wicked Empire (Knight's Ridge Empire 3)

“Your dad is amazing, Em,” I tell her. “Most kids would kill for a dad as cool as him.”

“Jesus, Stel. Promise me you’ll never tell him he’s cool.”

I can’t help but laugh at her. “Of course not. He is, though. You’ve got to admit that.”

“He is. I deserve it after the shit show I got for a mother.”

“You’ve got Miss Hill now.”

Emmie smiles softly. “I’m glad they’ve found each other again. I’ve never seen my dad smile like he does now that she’s back in his life.”

“See, happily ever afters and miracles do happen.”

Emmie’s blank expression tells me that she isn’t entirely on the same page as me.

“So you mean that I might wake up in the morning and miraculously have my A-levels and some kick-arse place at uni somewhere very far away from Theo Cirillo?”

The fact that she even puts his name into that little dream tells me he’s way more in her head than she’d ever admit.

“We can all hope, right?” I say but quickly panic. “Not about you leaving, though. I’d miss you.”

“Aw, don’t go all soft on me,” she mocks. “You really think a uni would ever accept me? I’m a complete fuck-up, Stel. The fact that Knight’s Ridge let me in was possibly my miracle—that I didn’t want, I might add.”

“It’ll all work out how it’s meant to,” I tell her.

“You really believe that?”

My cell pings with a message and I reach for it in a rush, hoping that it’s Seb, but I still smile when I see Harley’s name on the screen.

It’s Friday night. Game night.

Despite being happy here, a wave of homesickness washes through me. It’s almost Thanksgiving. This time of year was always my favorite. The football games, the cheering, the pumpkins, bonfires, parties, turkey. Everything.

But it’s different here. Halloween was… well, the less said about that the better, but the guys did try to ensure it was something special. I’m guessing Thanksgiving will pass them all by.

I open the message before I get too hung up on everything I’ve left behind, and a smile plays on my lips as I find a selfie of Harley, Ruby, Kyle and Ash all smiling and kitted out ready for the big game.

Stella: GO BEARS! Good luck tonight. I miss you guys x

I hit send and wait to see if it’s going to be read. It never is, and the thought of them getting ready for their night makes my heart ache.

“You okay?”

“Yeah. It was just Harley. It’s game night.”

“You miss it all, huh?”

“Yeah, but when I was there, I missed here. Trust me when I tell you that I understand not belonging. That’s pretty much been my life.”

“You want to be here though, right? With Seb?”

“Yes, of course. If you handed me a plane ticket and the keys to my old life in America, I wouldn’t go. A few weeks ago maybe. But not now.”

She nods, seemingly happy with my response. “Good. And you’re wrong. You do belong. This is where you were always meant to be.”

“Maybe,” I breathe, thinking of how happy Dad is here compared to when we were on the other side of the pond. I think of Toby, Maria, Seb. I might miss my family from Rosewood, but they’re always going to be there. But here, I’ve got a real family. I’ve got parents. Okay, so it might be completely unconventional and an utter disaster right now. But they’re here, and if the doctors are right, Maria—Mom—still has time, and I might actually get to know her, to have the kind of mother/daughter relationship I’ve always dreamed of.

The sound of the doorbell cuts off any more conversation about my life, and I hop up to go and grab the food.