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

Turning to look at him, I see a fierce determination in his eyes that settles something inside me.

I nod, unable to do anything else.

“It’ll have been the Italians,” Alex adds, forcing me to remember the reason I made Theo chase Stella down in the first place.

The image of her walking out of that cinema with his arm around her shoulder.

My knuckles split open once more.

Landing that punch felt almost as good as the one which just broke her father’s nose.

“Let’s go home. Clean up. And I’ll talk to my dad. Get the feelers out for a sign of her. We’ll get her, bro. Okay?”

I nod once more and take off back toward Stella’s house, only pausing to spit on her father, who’s still sitting on the pavement trying to stem the flow of blood from his nose.

“You’re going to regret ever being alive by the time I’m done with you.”

“Sebastian, please,” he begs, as if anything he could say would make this situation any better.

I take a step forward, but Toby steps between us.

“Haven’t you got in my way enough recently, Ariti?”

“Fighting isn’t going to find her,” he hisses, getting right in my face. “And I need her back just as badly as you.”

“She’s fucking mine and you know it.” I stand nose to nose with him, more than happy to prove my point in a more painful way.

“Yeah, that’s become abundantly clear,” he mutters, making my brow furrow.

Not having the patience for him to get all cryptic on me, I turn my back on him and storm away.

The walk back to Stella’s takes longer than I was expecting, showing me just how far I really did chase her in the hope of helping.

You’re a fucking idiot, Seb.

Even if I did catch that van, there’s every chance she’d have rather stayed inside with the hooded guy who’s clearly as interested in our princess as I am.

A growl rumbles in my chest as I continue forward, the footfall of my boys slightly behind me filling my ears.

“Why did she run from the house?” Alex asks when we finally get into Theo’s car and close the doors behind us.

When neither of us responds, he continues.

“She was inside with Galen and Toby. What could they have possibly said that would make her run like her ass was on fire?”

“The truth.”

“Stella’s not an idiot, Seb.” My teeth grind at his words. “She’d figured us out. It’s got to be more than just the Family.”

“Just drive,” I snap when Theo starts the car but just sits there. I don’t want to see either Galen or Toby again for a while.

Without saying a word, Theo backs out of the drive and heads toward his house while my head spins with possibilities and my stomach knots in fear. If someone hurts her then they’ll have signed their own death certificate, because I’ll happily do whatever it takes to watch the life drain out of their eyes for hurting something that belongs to me.

The silence in the car is almost unbearable as I clench and unclench my fists, watching the skin crack open and revelling in the pain that comes with each movement.

I’m out of the car the second Theo pulls up in front of his place, and without so much as glancing at the mansion, I storm into the coach house and run up the stairs, taking them three at a time.

I blow through the place like a tornado. Swiping the fresh bottle of Jack that Theo’s housekeeper must have replaced since the other day, I make my way through to my bedroom, swallowing down shot after shot as I go.