Page 125 of Wicked Empire (Knight's Ridge Empire 3)

“You need to go. I’ll sort something out and I’ll be right behind you.”

I hear his words, but they don’t register. The only thing I can see is the bright orange flames that were engulfing our home, the place where I left my girl.

Fuck.

FUCK.

“Seb, take my car. Just fucking get back there.” He shoves the keys to his Ferrari into my hand and closes my fingers around them.

“I-is she—”

“I don’t know, Seb. That was from the security camera on the house. Just fucking go.”

“Y-yeah. Shit. Fuck.”

Theo jabs his finger into the screen of his phone and brings it to his ear a beat before I take off running.

His car is parked right out the front of the hotel, unlike Alex’s, who drove us here and parked in the underground car park.

My entire body is shaking in fear. The tires of Theo’s Ferrari screech as I round the final corner to get to his house.

There are already fire engines blocking the entrance, so I’m forced to slam my foot on the brakes and abandon the car in the middle of the road.

Smoke and flames billow high into the inky night sky as I race toward the devastation.

“Please, please. Fuck. Please don’t have been inside,” I whisper to anyone who might fucking listen as I get closer to the firefighters who are beginning to get the blaze under control.

“I’m sorry, but you can’t come—”

“Get the fuck out of my way,” I bark, cutting off what the firefighter was going to say.

He reaches out to try to stop me, but I dart forward too fast for him and round the high wall that surrounds the Cirillo estate.

“Holy fuck,” I breathe, my eyes wide in shock when I take in the mess that used to be Theo’s coach house.

One side has completely collapsed, both Stella’s and my car somewhere beneath it.

My hand trembles violently as I fight to drag in the air I need. Smoke burns my lungs as I stand there, my vision blurring as I try to force myself not to believe that she could have been inside.

“No. Please. I don’t fucking deserve this.” A sob rips up my throat as I stare at the flames. “FUUUUCK,” I scream, my fingers twisting in my hair, pulling, but I don’t feel it. The only pain I feel is that of my heart shattering into a million pieces.

The sound of someone calling my name makes me stand a little straighter, but when I don’t hear it again, just the sound of something collapsing in front of me, I begin to think I imagined it.

“Sebastian.”

“Shit.” Spinning around, I find myself face to face with Selene, Theo’s mum.

“I-I can’t—”

“She’s inside.” She cuts me off, her own cheeks wet with tears as she takes a step closer.

“W-what?” I ask, thinking that I misheard her.

“She’s inside. They’re both inside the house.”

“Fuck.” I run around her and toward the front door.

I fly through the hallway and into the living room. I have no idea if it’s where they are, but it’s as good a guess as any.