Page 8 of Wicked Empire (Knight's Ridge Empire 3)

The second I push the door open and look around, Toby’s eyes meet mine and a smile curls his lips.

“Hey, Sis. How’s it going?”

I have no idea where it comes from. I was feeling good, strong, but the second he speaks, the floodgates open and I start sobbing like a baby.

Through my tears, Toby stares at me with a completely helpless expression on his face.

“I’m sorry. I don’t know what happened,” I confess, walking over to his bed and taking his outstretched hand.

“Hey, it’s okay,” he whispers. “I’m going to be okay.”

Lifting his hand, his fingers brush my tears from my cheek as I sniffle.

I thought it would be Seb that broke me, but clearly not.

“I thought you were dead,” I say, repeating the same words I said to Seb when he first looked at me.

He doesn’t even attempt a witty comeback, sensing that I can’t handle the jokes right now.

"As long as you’re not.”

Dropping my head into my hands, I blow out a long breath.

“That was too close.”

“It was. But also, it was the closest we came to catching him. He’s taking more risks. Which means he’s more likely to make a mistake.”

I get what he’s saying. But at the same time, sheer fucking terror washes through me as I think about what will happen the next time this guy takes a risk. Two of us were shot. Three of us ended up in a hospital bed. What happens next?

“We’re going to beat him, Stel. I fucking promise you that.”

He pulls my hand from my face and holds it tightly.

“He’s not going to get to you. Not when he’s gotta get through us first.”

“That’s what I’m scared of.” I’d rather he just kill me than hurt everyone around me. It’s me he wants for whatever reason. Not them.

“Maybe I should just—”

“No,” he spits out, his voice hard and stern despite the state of him. “You do not get to make decisions alone about this. And you’re not putting your neck on the line in the hope to save the rest of us. We’re family. We do this together.”

“Fuck, Toby. I hate this.”

“So do I, but we can hate it together. Yeah? We’re not alone anymore.”

The sincerity in his eyes makes tears well in my own all over again.

“What did I do to deserve you?” I ask as his door opens behind me.

I don’t turn to look, assuming it’s going to be a nurse or one of the guys.

But the second Toby looks over my shoulder, his entire body tenses, his lips turning down in a grimace.

“Dad, what are you doing here?”

All the air races from my lungs.

Dad?