Page 120 of Wicked Knight (Knight's Ridge Empire 1)

“Forgetting something, bro?”

“Uh…” I hesitate, trying to get my brain to focus on anything other than Stella and her sexy arse curves. “I-I don’t—”

“It’s Sunday lunchtime, Sebastian,” she growls, disappointment dripping from her words. “You said you’d be here.”

I sit up, pull my phone from my ear and stare at the screen to look at the time.

“Fuck. Fuck. I’m sorry. I’m coming now.”

“If I burn all this shit then it’s your fault.”

“Zoe’s there, right? I’m sure you can figure it out between you two. I’m only the baby, remember?” I say with a laugh, knowing how often they like to play that card on me.

“Yeah, yeah, just don’t complain when the Yorkshire puddings aren’t to your standards, master.”

“You’re funny. See you soon.”

Dragging on some clothes, I run some wax through my hair and race from the house. Theo is nowhere to be seen, but the trail of both his and a female’s clothes that seems to disappear into his bedroom clues me into the fact that he’s actually here.

How fucking hard did I sleep last night?

I guess that’s what happens when you spend the entire previous night watching to make sure a certain drunken princess didn’t choke on her own puke. That and the fact that you wanted to make sure no one else fucking touched her.

I’m pulling up at my house in only minutes to find both Sophia and Zoe’s cars parked out the front.

Excitement bubbles in my belly, my gorgeous niece is going to be inside waiting for me.

Pushing through the door, I make a beeline for the kitchen. I’ll deal with whatever state Mum is in later—I’ve got another woman in my sights right now, and she’s way less of a handful.

“Ah, look what the cat dragged in,” Zoe mutters from her place at the stove.

“Where’s my girl?” I ask, barely sparing her a glance as I scan the array of toys scattered around the kitchen. “Phoebe!” I say excitedly when I find her and take a step toward her.

“No,” Sophia shouts from somewhere. “Wait for her to come to you.”

“Uh, okay.”

Phoebe’s huge dark eyes hold mine as a gurgle of excitement bubbles up her throat. I remember Sophia telling me on the phone the other day that she was almost walking. Has she done it and they haven’t told me?

“Come on then, Phoebe,” I say encouragingly, dropping to my haunches and holding my hands out for her.

She gets herself onto her hands and feet as if she’s about to do some weird kind of crawl over to me, but then she reaches for the cupboard door and pulls herself up.

“That’s it, baby girl. Come to Uncle Seb. Come on.”

She takes one step, her face hard with concentration, before she lets go of the cupboard and takes another.

“Oh my God, she can do it,” I breathe, watching in amazement as she takes one wobbly step after another. My sister rushes out from the pantry and steps behind her just in case she stacks it on the marble floor, but she doesn’t need the support. She absolutely fucking kills it.

Tucking my hands under her arms when she gets to me, I sweep her off her feet and spin her around, making her squeal and laugh.

The sight of her happiness and the sound of her joy settles something inside me that I didn’t realise was quite so messed up.

“You’re so clever, Phoebe. I’m so proud of you.” Pulling her into my body, I hold her tight and breathe in her incredible baby scent.

“You seem to have cheered up,” Sophia says, walking over and dropping a kiss to my cheek.

“You woke me up.”