Page 52 of Wicked Empire (Knight's Ridge Empire 3)

“You’re playing with fire, Emmie.”

“Yeah?” she shouts, the sudden volume making me wince a little. “Then watch me burn, motherfuckers.”

Before I get to form a response, she’s across the room and running down the stairs.

“I’ll call an Uber. You can all fuck off.”

“Em, no. I’ll take—” I cut Stella with a look that stops her words mid flow.

“Alex,” I hiss, giving him little choice but to take off after her.

“Fucking hell,” he mutters, although he follows where she just disappeared and closes the door behind him.

“I can’t believe she hit me,” I say, touching my still burning cheek.

“I can’t believe she didn’t hit Theo.”

“I’m pretty sure that’s coming.”

“They need to fuck.”

“You fucking think?” I ask with a laugh.

Stepping up to where she’s still sitting on the sofa where Gianna cleaned up her cuts, I stand between her feet and reach for her, pulling her against me.

“Hey,” I breathe, brushing my lips over hers.

She lets me kiss her gently for a few seconds before she presses her hands to my chest and forces me to back up.

“You’re not getting away with this that easily, Sebastian.”

The way my full name rolls off her tongue makes a shiver race down my spine that comes to a stop at my cock.

I’ve always hated it, but there’s something about the way it sounds falling from her lips that makes me hard in a fucking heartbeat.

“Getting away with what? Correct me if I’m wrong, but I’m pretty sure I saved you tonight, baby.”

“That may be so, but correct me if I’m wrong… you got fucking shot last week and you’ve been what?” she asks, lifting my hand to inspect my knuckles. “Beating the shit out of some guy? You should be resting.”

“I’m fine. My shoulder is fine,” I assure her, telling her almost the truth.

It aches like fuck after both lifting her through that window and then unleashing fury on that Italian fuck. But it’s all worth it.

“You’re a bad fucking liar,” she huffs, twisting away from me and storming toward our bedroom.

“Okay, so it aches a little, but I’d do it all again in a heartbeat if it meant I kept you safe.”

I trail her into our room like a sad puppy, and I don’t even care.

“What happened, Seb?”

“It was the Italians,” I confess on a sigh.

“The Ita— I thought it was neutral ground, no risk of any attacks or fucking gang wars.”

“Yeah, well. Someone seriously fucked up.”

“Why’d they do it?”