Page 157 of Wicked Empire (Knight's Ridge Empire 3)

EPILOGUE

Stella

“Man, I really needed that,” I say as Calli and I step out of her mom’s spa, the low winter sun making us squint.

Tugging the zipper of my coat up, I snuggle into its warmth as the freezing temperature threatens to ruin my mood.

"What next?” I ask, remembering her telling me when she came to pick me up this morning that she had plans for our whole day.

She pulls her cell out and taps on the screen, shooting off a message to someone as we make our way down to her car.

She doesn’t respond for a few seconds, as if she’s waiting for confirmation about something. Then, after her cell has pinged and she’s got her answer, she drops it into her purse and looks over at me.

“I think we should probably just head back. I’m wiped.”

“Oh… uh… okay. We can just hang, order takeout?” I ask, knowing deep down that she’s right. I fell asleep during my massage up there. I’m more than exhausted.

Things since the night I killed Joker, or Joseph as I’ve since learned, have been weird.

Most nights I wake up in a cold sweat, having just relived the moment I shot him in cold blood.

But every time, Seb is right there, dragging me from the moment and reminding me that everything is okay.

I hate it. I hate questioning what I did, especially when I know I did the right thing. But taking someone’s life, no matter how much they might have deserved it for hurting those I love, has still fucked with my head.

It’ll get better, I know it will. I also know that while Joker might have been my first, he won’t be my last, because if anyone, and I literally mean anyone, threatens or hurts any of my family again, I’ll be the first there with my fucking gun to prove a point.

Damien might be a little unsure about his leap into the twenty-first century by allowing me to stand beside the boys as one of his soldiers, but fuck it. My dad trained me my entire life for this, and I’m damn well taking my place.

I won’t be a woman who stays behind while the men go and fight our battles. I want to be a part of it. I want to play my part. I want to stand beside my man, my dad, my brother, my family with my head held high and my pink blade poised and ready to protect those I love.

I glance over at Calli as she pulls away from the curb, and the sight of the frown pulling at her brow makes me pause.

Something’s up with her. It has been for a while.

At first, I thought that the events of Halloween were just a little too much for her to handle and she backed away.

I got it. Hell, I more than got it. Knowing that some crazed lunatic was chasing me through the backyard of that place with a gun would be enough to put anyone off this life, but I’m starting to think it’s more than that.

“You wanna talk about it?” I ask, hoping that she might finally open up now she’s all relaxed from the spa. Hell knows that getting her drunk last weekend didn’t work.

“What? I’m fine. Nothing to talk about,” she argues.

“Right,” I mutter, totally unconvinced. “Whatever it is, you know I’d never judge you for it, right?”

“Of course I know that.” She glances over at me. “I’m really okay.”

“Okay,” I concede, knowing that I’m not going to get anywhere by continuing to poke her.

She’ll talk when she’s ready and not a second sooner.

The journey back to our apartment building takes forever with the busy afternoon traffic, and I almost fall asleep again as we stop and start, but eventually, Calli pulls her car into the almost empty parking lot in front of our building.

Daemon had already moved in before us, and now Theo is upstairs, but as of yet, the others’ apartments aren’t ready. The rest of the building is currently empty and mostly a building site, so we have our choice of parking spaces right now.

“Are the guys here?” I ask, glancing at the other cars.

“No idea.”