Page 68 of Wicked Knight (Knight's Ridge Empire 1)

“No surprise there. Does he ever kick back and let go of the evil act bullshit?”

“Do you really need me to answer that?” Alex asks, demanding his joint back.

“Fair enough.” The trill of the doorbell cuts through the house before footsteps head in that direction. “What time’s the pussy getting here?” I ask, trying to ignore the fact that the only girl I want anywhere near me won’t be here tonight.

She’ll more than likely be at home. Alone. I rub my hands down the soft denim covering my thighs, trying to push aside thoughts of walking away from this party to have a private one of my own.

“That’s not going to help.” Theo mutters as if he can read my mind.

“Whatever.” Swiping what’s left of Alex’s joint, I grab a full bottle of beer from the table and head for the back door.

“Seb,” Theo warns. “Stay the hell away from her.”

Flipping him off over my shoulder, I turn the corner and blow through the door.

Nico’s house is on the same land as Theo’s, although most people would never know it with the thick woods between them.

I head for the woodland at the end of the garden and drop down with my back against the old oak tree as I lift Alex’s blunt to my lips.

Dragging my phone from my pocket, I open up that photo of Stella once more.

“Fuck,” I snap, throwing it to the ground before quickly swiping it back up again. “Fuck.”

Abandoning my beer, I find myself standing beside my car before I’ve even realised I’ve made a decision. And despite the fact that I know it’s a bad idea, I climb in and fly out of the driveway.

The drive to Stella’s takes less than five minutes. It seems that Galen wasn’t too concerned about them returning, because he’s moved them back right into the middle of Cirillo territory.

Her car is the only one parked at the front of her house when I walk up after leaving my own a little down the street.

Glancing through the windows at the front of the house, I find it empty. A smile curls at my lips as I slip around the back of the house and locate a door. I expect it to be locked, but to my surprise, when I push the handle down, it goes easily and the door clicks open.

Silently, I slip through the house and find the stairs. The sound of someone moving about in one of the rooms behind me has my heart in my throat as I make my way up, but it’s nowhere near enough to stop me.

Poking my head into every room on the first floor, I don’t stop until I find a room that can only be Galen’s.

My need to step inside and wreak havoc is almost too much to ignore, but as tempting as it is, fucking up his bedroom is hardly going to hit him where it hurts.

He might have left all those years ago, but it’s clear from this house, the fact that Stella is attending Knight’s Ridge, that he’s still got plenty of money.

It makes me wonder if there’s more to this whole story than we’ve all been led to believe.

I slam those thoughts down as fast as they emerge because none of it matters. All that does is that I right a wrong. That he learns that he can’t just walk back into this Family like nothing ever happened. Like he never betrayed us.

Failing on the first floor, I head up to the second.

The moment I open the first door, I know it belongs to her. Her scent hits me and my cock instantly jerks in my jeans.

I scan the room as I slip inside for any clue that she might be here, but there’s none. A door on the other side of the room catches my eye, and a smile tugs at my lips. If she’s in the shower then I’ve hit the jackpot. Not only will I have the element of surprise on my side, but she’ll have shed her armour.

Walking across the room, I take in everything she has on display, which to be fair isn’t a lot. There’s one photograph of her and two other girls that I assume is from America, but other than that, there’s nothing personal. Just the standard makeup and discarded clothes draped over a chair in the corner.

I pause when I get to her dresser, shooting a look over my shoulder to make sure she’s not watching me when I pull the drawer open and find exactly what I was expecting.

With a silent laugh, I pull out a red lace thong and swing it from my fingers.

Perfect to add to my growing collection.

I glance down at the rest of the drawer and consider taking the lot just to piss her off, but I refrain from filling my pockets full of her underwear and just stick to one pair.