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

CHAPTERTWO

Sebastian

The second I open my eyes, realisation hits me. My brain might feel like it’s been pushed through a mincer, but not even that, or getting fucking shot, is enough to make me forget the sound of her voice down the line when I answered her call.

The fear.

A violent shudder shoots down my spine.

“Where is she?” I demand when I find only one person in the room with me.

Dragging his head up, Theo blinks at me a couple of times, seemingly more dazed and confused than I am.

Lifting his hand, he pushes his hair back from his brow and rolls his shoulders.

“She’s fine. She’s in her own room being checked out.”

“Why? What happened? Is she hurt?”

He shakes his head, and relief like I’ve never felt hits me, knocking me back to the bed. All the air rushes from my lungs as reality swamps me.

I could have lost her tonight. If she didn’t call me when she did, he could have got her.

She could be the one with a bullet through her shoulder and lying in a hospital bed.

Or worse.

“Toby?” I ask, more memories hitting me.

“He’s going to be okay. He came back from surgery about an hour ago.”

“Fucking hell,” I mutter, tipping my head back and staring at the ceiling.

That motherfucker saved my life, there’s no doubt in my mind.

The cunt’s aim might have been off with his first shot, but the second one… if Toby hadn’t barged into me, pushing me out of the way, then that surely would have hit me.

“Is it bad?”

“Nah. You’re both gonna have kick-arse scars to impress the ladies with, though.”

I appreciate his need to lighten the tone, but it falls a ways from the mark.

“This is such a fucking mess.” Silence falls around the room, the pain in my shoulder almost too much to bear, but I’m alive, so there’s no fucking way I’m going to be a pussy about it and insist on more pain relief.The fucking sling they’ve got me in is bad enough.

I’m not staying here any longer than I need to.

I need to be with Stella. I need to keep her safe.

Look what happened tonight. I wasn’t there and she—

“Why’s she being checked if she’s okay?” I ask, remembering his words from earlier.

“She was drugged,” Theo confesses, scrubbing his hand down his face.

“He was at the party?”

Letting out a long sigh, he stretches his legs out before him. “I dunno, man. Either that, or he’s got one of our guys working for him.”