Page 84 of Wicked Empire (Knight's Ridge Empire 3)

It was… nice.

I kept an eye out for Seb’s call, and it was long dark outside by the time he messaged to let me know he was on his way home.

“I’m going to go out, give you two some time,” Theo says when I tell him.

“You don’t have to do that. This is your home.”

“S’all good. I could do with blowing off some steam anyway.”

I quirk a brow.

“Don’t even start,” he warns.

“Did I say anything?”

“No, but I can read that filthy mind of yours, Princess.”

“Hmm. Any news on the Reaper thing?”

“No. I’ve got a meeting with Dad tomorrow. I’m gonna see what he thinks.”

“You have to book a meeting with your own father?” I balk.

“He was out of town with yours. They’re up to something.”

“Are they ever not?”

“Good point.”

“Dad said he’s working with Toby to fix the Jonas situation. Was it something to do with that?”

Theo shrugs. “Contrary to popular belief, I don’t get told all the Family secrets. Everything is on a need to know basis. I have no clue what’s going on with Jonas other than they need Maria’s treatment finished first. I think all bets are off after that.”

“Fair enough.” I look back down at the assignment I was working on as Theo tidies up the kitchen.

“It’s coming to an end,” he says, almost as if he’s talking to himself instead of me. “I can feel it. Something big is going to happen, and we’re going to catch that motherfucker.”

“Should I be worried?”

“Nah. It’ll take more than a deranged psycho to put you down, Princess.”

“Glad you agree.”

“Just be ready,” he tells me before disappearing to his room.

Seb and I spend the night as something resembling a normal couple. We order takeout and sit and watch some shoot ’em up movie on Netflix while we catch each other up on our days.

I still feel guilty about the fact that I met my mom for the first time while he was planning his own’s funeral. But he was insistent that he wanted to hear all about it, and as I’ve discovered, I’m not very good at saying no to him.

Theo went out dressed in his killer black suit not long after Seb got in, and he hasn’t reappeared yet. When he said he wanted to blow off some steam, I assumed he was going out with Alex and Nico to get wasted and laid. But seeing him dressed for work made me wonder if he has something else entirely planned.

“What are you going to do about your mum’s house?” I ask Seb after crawling into bed beside him and wrapping my arm around his waist.

“I have no idea. You wanna live there?” he asks, surprising me.

“Uh…” I hesitate, not wanting to say no quite as quickly as I wanted to.

He chuckles. “It’s okay, Hellion. It’s the last place I want to live as well.”