Page 111 of Wicked Knight (Knight's Ridge Empire 1)

“Let’s go.”

We might not be made yet, but the second we step into Marco’s in our black suits and scan the space, a ripple of fear races through the air.

One of the waiters looks at us and rushes out the back, all the blood drained from his face.

“Looks like he’s here,” Theo mutters. “Let’s go find him.”

Eyes follow our every movement as we slip uninvited behind the counter and push through to the kitchen.

Knives clatter at our sudden arrival, and the previous chatter immediately stops.

One girl looks over her shoulder, down a long corridor, and Theo takes off in that direction.

Pushing open each door we pass, he looks inside before we come to the final door.

Reaching under my jacket, I wrap my fingers around my gun, and he rushes through the door, no fucking care in the world.

“Fuck’s sake,” he mutters, heading for the stairs.

Of course the pussy has fled to his flat. Does he really think he can hide from us?

The second we storm into his living room, we find him standing in the centre. He’s as white as a sheet, his body trembling with fear. The bruises we left him with from our little warning Monday night have barely faded, yet here we are again.

“We didn’t think we’d have to come back here, Marco.” Theo’s voice is low, deadly. Alex and I flank his side, ready to go to war with him should we have to.

“I-I’m sorry. I-I—”

“Where’s the boss’s money, Marco?”

Theo takes a step forward and we follow until there’s a creak behind us and a pained grunt from Alex.

Lifting my gun, I have the safety down and my finger on the trigger the second I recognise the three men standing over Alex as Marianos.

“Motherfucker,” Theo growls when he looks back and finds one of the Marianos with his gun trained on me. “You’re a fucking stupid motherfucker, Marco.”

His terrified whimper fills the room, but I don’t look over to see what he’s doing. My eyes are fixed on the guy with his gun pointed in my direction.

“Marco’s, and this entire street, belongs to the Marianos now,” one of them states.

“You’re starting a fucking war, you know that, right?”

“Following orders, man. You know how it is,” the other Mariano says as Alex gets to his feet.

“Yeah, we fucking do.”

Before I know what’s happening, Alex launches himself at the armed guy, knocking his gun from his hand, although not before he fires.

I wait for the pain, but when it never comes, I jump into the fight, swiping my gun across the face of the guy who comes at me while the third goes for Theo.

All three of them are older than us, but that means fuck all. We’ve been trained for this kind of shit since we first learned to walk and make a fist.

Managing to get the upper hand, I get the guy to the floor, pummelling his face with my fists until he finally passes out. I stop the second his body goes limp, killing any of these motherfuckers will only be pouring fuel on this situation.

They’re clearly making a move, trying to prove a point.

I’d rather we didn’t send a fucking massive one of our own by putting these three into body bags before we’ve been instructed to.

My chest heaves and my face aches like a motherfucker where he managed to get a hit in as I climb to my feet, shaking my fists out.