Page 97 of Wicked Princess (Knight's Ridge Empire 2)

“Of course I knew. I also know that she’s strong enough to take your bullshit and hand your arse back to you on a platter.”

“But—”

“But nothing, Sebastian. Now go and get your girl. Take her out, show her off, and trust that we have your back.”

Like you had my father’s. The words are on the tip of my tongue, but I bite them back.

Damien’s already had his say; bringing it up again is just a surefire way to piss him off. And that bastard is a scary motherfucker when he’s happy, let alone anything else.

“Trust us. Trust your brothers,” he repeats, as if he can read my mind.

“I’ll see what I can do.”

Damien chuckles—actually fucking chuckles—as I push to stand. When I glance at Evan, who’s sitting over on the sofa with a tablet in his hand and clearly eavesdropping on our entire conversation, I find his lips curled in amusement too.

“In the dog house already, son?”

“Nothing I can’t handle.”

“That’s good.”

With a nod, he dismisses me and I make my way back through the security room with my eyes locked on the door at the other end, ready to get the fuck out of here.

The moment I’m in the lift, I fall back against the wall, exhaustion slamming into me like a truck.

My need to go and convince Stella that our time isn’t done is going to have to wait.

I shoot a message to Calvin, her security, ensuring that she’s actually alive and breathing in the house, and after getting the confirmation I need, along with photographic evidence of her fast asleep in her bed, I call a car to take me back to Theo’s to do exactly the same.

* * *

I wake up angry. No, not angry. Fucking furious.

My heart pounds, my skin is covered in a layer of sweat, and my chest heaves as I try to catch my breath, my fist curled with my need to hurt someone.

The lingering images of some faceless, hooded figure with his hands on my girl fill my mind.

I was right there, within reaching distance, but fucking dream me couldn’t move. My limbs wouldn’t work, even as he pushed her pretty pink knife into her body over and over.

I was forced to stand there and watch as her blood began to pool around her feet, as the life drained from her eyes.

“Fuck,” I bellow. “Fuck. Fuck.”

Only two seconds later, my bedroom door flies open and Theo comes rushing in.

“What’s wrong?” he barks, concern written all over his face, but it soon softens when he finds me sitting in bed with the covers pooled at my waist.

“N-nothing. Just…” I trail off, not wanting to admit that I just had that kind of reaction to a fucking dream.

“It’s good to have you back, man.”

“Yeah?”

He looks around for a beat before his eyes land on my open bathroom door.

“Uh… where is she?”

“Clearly not fucking here,” I snap, my grip on the sheets tightening with my frustration over how she ended things between us.