Page 16 of Wicked Princess (Knight's Ridge Empire 2)

Regret swamps his features. “I don’t know, Princ—”

“Don’t,” I snap. “Don’t call me that.”

“Okay,” he breathes. “We’re trying to find out as much as we can.”

“We?” I ask, quirking a brow.

“Yeah, everyone.”

I stare at him, needing more.

“The Family. The boss. Everyone.”

My eyes widen. I’m not sure if it’s the shock of someone other than Calli actually being honest with me about this, or that everyone actually cares that much.

“Wow. So you’re really in the mafia then?” I mutter, finally lifting the spoon to my lips.

“I can’t believe I hadn’t figured out you were connected to us sooner.”

“Try living your entire life not having a clue.”

“I’m sorry, I—”

“Stop, please,” I beg. None of this is your fault. “There’s only one person I blame. And where is he, anyway?” Confusion flickers over Toby’s face, so I quickly add, “My dad.”

“Trying to find the arsehole who did this to you.”

“Huh.”

While I might appreciate that, why isn’t he here?

Toby smiles at me, a weird expression on his face.

“What aren’t you telling me?”

“Stella,” he sighs.

“No,” I hiss. “No. Not you too. I need the truth, Toby. The whole fucking truth.”

A soft knock sounds on the door and the nurse slips back inside, apologising when she realizes we’re in the middle of something, but she doesn’t leave us to it.

“I promise, I’ll tell you everything. But—”

A frustrated growl rumbles up my throat. The nurse steps closer, switching the bag of whatever is dripping into the back of my hand.

“We need you healthy, Stella. Focus on getting better and getting out of here, and then we’ll talk.”

“That’s bullshit, Toby.”

He shrugs, sitting back in his chair and appearing to not give a single fuck about it. Although the bouncing of his foot tells me something else.

I hold his eyes, shaking my head. I’m not happy about this, but what am I going to do about it? I can’t even get out of the fucking bed.

“I’ll be back in ten minutes,” the nurse tells me, completely ignoring the obvious tension in the room. “Then we’ll get you up.”

She disappears before I can say anything.

“I guess that’s my cue to leave,” Toby says, sitting forward once more.