Page 136 of Wicked Empire (Knight's Ridge Empire 3)

“You should call her, Stel. Check in,” Calli says innocently.

“Yeah, I will.” I force a smile onto my face and grab the plate Seb holds out for me, filling it with pastries and fresh fruit that I already know I don’t have the stomach for.

“Nico,” Theo barks, “get Toby here.”

“He is here. He crashed up with me,” he says, narrowing his gaze at Theo.

“Then fucking get him.”

“Yeah, all right. Jesus.”

Nico stalks out of the room before bellowing up the stairs for Toby.

My stomach knots as I stare down at my food.

I knew this was a fucking mess. But didn’t appreciate just how fucking bad it was.

Seb’s warm hand lands on my thigh, dragging me from my own head. I look up at him and find myself relaxing the second I look into his eyes.

‘It’s going to be okay,’ he mouths.

“I know.” I force a smile on my face because I do believe it. I just hate the pain it’s going to cause to those we care about.

We’ve all been through too much. We don’t need more.

A door in the house somewhere slams before Evan blows through the kitchen with Charon hot on his heels.

“Calli, Stella, boys.” He greets us all as he passes to join Damien and Dad.

Silence ripples around the room as we all sit there. Only Alex eats despite the fact that both Theo and Seb instructed us all to do the same.

Footsteps run down the stairs and I hold my breath as Nico, and finally, Toby, join us.

“Sorry, those painkillers knock me the fuck out,” Toby says as if everything’s okay. I watch as he moves across the room. “Oh sweet, your mum got the good shit.” He’s just stuffed the end of a croissant into his mouth when he looks up and his eyes lock with mine. “What the fuck has happened now?” he asks, correctly reading my face.

“Mum, Calli, could you give us a few minutes, please?” Theo asks, his voice not quite as cold as it was when he first walked in.

“Sure thing, sweetie. We’ll go and check on the kids in the den.”

Together they leave the kitchen, but not before Calli shoots me a worried look over her shoulder before Selene closes the door, giving us all some privacy.

“Guys?” Toby asks, meeting Theo and Seb’s eyes before looking at Alex and Nico.

“Fuck knows, bro. I’m hoping someone’s going to start talking,” Nico hisses, clearly pissed that he’s in the dark right now.

“Sit down and shut up and I might be able to fucking talk, dickhead,” Theo mutters.

It’s only as he speaks and I look over that I recognize his position at the head of the table.

Sensing my attention, he looks over at me, his brows pinching when he sees that I’m smiling at him.

‘What?’ he mouths.

Shaking my head, I look away and watch as Toby lowers himself to the chair beside me.

“This isn’t good news, is it?” he asks, forcing a lightness into his tone that I’m sure no one in the room is feeling.

“No,” Theo confirms.