Page 80 of Wicked Empire (Knight's Ridge Empire 3)

CHAPTERSEVENTEEN

Stella

My heart is slamming against my rib cage by the time Dad pulls up on a quiet street. We drove farther than I was expecting.

With how close all the others live, I assumed Toby’s house would be around the corner.

I was wrong.

It seems that Jonas wanted to keep his family away from prying eyes by moving them to the other side of the Cirillo territory.

What I’m also not expecting is to stop by none of the houses.

“Dad, what’s going on?” I ask, looking around, seeing nothing but the trees lining the street and giving the huge houses some extra privacy.

“We can’t just walk through the front door.”

“Jesus,” I mutter, running my fingers through my smooth hair.

“I know. Come on. They’re waiting.”

We climb from the car and Dad leads me toward an alley at the end of the street.

A lush green park spreads out before us. There are kids playing and dogs running around, but as we get closer, Dad turns to the side and we keep walking until he comes to a stop beside some thick bushes.

“What are—” Realization hits. “Fuck off. We’re breaking in, aren’t we?”

Dad winces.

“This is fucked up, Dad.”

“I know,” he sighs, sounding and looking utterly exhausted. “Maria’s got a few more weeks of treatment and then we’ll be able to come up with a plan. But until she’s finished, I’m not rocking the boat.”

“No more than breaking onto their land and spending time with someone else’s wife?” I ask, raising a brow.

He glares at me, clearly unimpressed with my attempt at humor. It was lame, I know, but I don’t know how else to deal with the nerves that are beginning to make my entire body tremble.

“Come on,” he says, reaching for my hand and tugging me through what I now see is a gap in the plants.

In seconds we’re engulfed by the trees and bushes, the park no longer visible as Dad treks through the undergrowth like he’s done it a million times—which, of course, he probably has.

“Oh wow,” I breathe when we finally start to emerge to find that we’re beside a small lake. But the pretty scenery only captures my attention for a few seconds, because movement on the other side of the water catches my eye.

I find Toby first as he stands from the bench he was sitting on, but my gaze doesn’t linger on him. They drop to the woman beside him.

The second our eyes connect, all the air rushes from my lungs.

Mom.

Even from this distance, I can see the similarities between us.

My heart aches as I take a step closer, and with the help of the bench arm, she pushes to stand, Toby quickly rushing to her side to steady her.

I don’t even realize that my legs have carried me closer until I’m standing right before her.

Silence ripples around us as we just stare at each other—until a broken sob erupts from her throat and tears spill from her eyes.

I move on instinct, wrapping my arms around her slim body and holding her to me.