Page 35 of Wicked Empire (Knight's Ridge Empire 3)

CHAPTEREIGHT

Stella

After the bloody and beaten man was dragged away from the ring, two new guys stepped up who were much more evenly matched.

They were the perfect warm-up for the crowd who were eagerly waiting for the main fight.

I hop up on a large crate behind me, Emmie following, giving us both a much better view seeing as almost everyone inside this old, dilapidated building is taller than us and blocking our view.

The building itself isn’t all that different from the one we had the Halloween party in, and that makes a trickle of unease race through me.

I should feel safe knowing that most of this place is full of men who’d happily protect both me and Emmie—assuming she gets recognized—but that’s exactly how Halloween was meant to be as well, and look how that turned out.

“This is fucking awesome,” Emmie shouts as the fighter who’s beginning to come out on top lands a particularly painful-looking punch to the other guy’s face, seeing blood spraying across the already disgusting floor.

Ripping my eyes from the fighters as they dance around each other, I find her bouncing in her seat right along with them.

“Yeah,” I agree. “It is.”

Scanning the crowd for the guys, I spot Seb talking to Theo over by the bar. Every few seconds, he looks over to make sure I’m exactly where he told me to stay.

Theo still looks pissed. Actually, he looks more than pissed. Even from here, through the darkened room and the smoke, I can see that his jaw is clenched tight as he listens to whatever Seb is saying.

“Hey,” a familiar voice says, passing me up two new bottles of beer.

“Hey,” I say, smiling down at Daemon. “I haven’t seen you for a while.”

“Been busy trying to catch your stalker, Princess.”

“Well, I appreciate that. How’s it going? The guys haven’t said much.”

“That’s because there’s not much to tell. The security footage from Seb’s house just showed a dark figure. Nothing to pin on anyone,” he says, repeating what I already know. “We’re still keeping tabs on people.” I assume he means the Italians but doesn’t want to say it when we’re inevitably surrounded by a few of them.

“If you need any help, I’m more than willing to—”

“You really think he’d let you do anything stupid?” Daemon asks, nodding his head in Seb’s direction.

“He doesn’t have the control to let me do anything.”

Daemon stares at me with an unreadable expression on his face as if to say ‘really.’

“Look, I want this motherfucker caught. He’s hurt too many people I care about.”

He nods once before the roar of the crowd cuts off anything he might have been about to say.

Looking toward the ring, I find the guy who was winning now celebrating while the loser limps off, looking rather worse for wear.

The excitement around me kicks up a few notches with the knowledge that the next two fighters in the ring are the ones everyone has been waiting for.

I have no idea who either of the guys are, or which gangs they belong to, but it seems none of that really matters here tonight. Everyone is here for the same reason, and they appear to have left any rivalry at the door.

The music gets louder as people start to chant, the alcohol and fuck knows what else in their systems making them start to lose control.

It’s quite a sight sitting up here, watching all the big bad gangsters lose their shit. They’re like a bunch of kids in a candy shop.

A little voice within wants to tell me that I should be scared. Emmie and I are only two of a handful of women in here that I’ve seen, but it doesn’t bother me in the slightest. I know how to look after myself, and I know those who are looking out for me are more than capable.

Seb reaches us just in time for the crowd on the far side of us to part, and two dark, hooded figures appear in the darkness through a heavy cloud of smoke.