Empire of Sin (Empire #2) by Rina Kent

“Nastyusha…”

“Please give him a chance, Papa. Please. You’d be surprised to see the lengths he’d go to protect me and be there for me.”

“What if he doesn’t succeed?”

“He will.” I have no doubt.

Because I realized something today.

Knox and I might belong to different worlds, but we belong together, and once we both put our minds to it, nothing can stop us.





40





KNOX





I meant what I told Anastasia. If she doesn’t call me today, I’m going back there, to the men she fears and doesn’t want to defy.

Her father will either have to give her back to me or he might as well shoot me. That’s the only way I would ever give up on her.

Fucking death.

I try to work normally, to pretend I’m a functioning human being, even though every neuron is urging me to go and find her.

Ten more hours, I tell myself.

Just ten more hours and I’ll go find her.

My desk has been crowded with cases since the Bell trials made me famous—more than before—so I have even more people wanting me to represent them. I’ll have to go through the details and choose which ones I’ll take on.

I know for sure they’re going to be cases for people like me—abused, broken, and with shadows crowding their lives twenty-four-seven. I always thought such cases weren’t good for me; they’d trigger me, which is why I turned them down.

I used to put myself first, not caring about the fate of others. But through Sandra’s case, I realized just how wrong that is. Yes, I’m allowed to feel pain, but not at the expense of ignoring theirs. I can have shadows, but I’m not supposed to be blinded to theirs.

It might have taken me some time to come to this conclusion, but better late than never.

And all of it is because of her, the woman who told me I could be a voice for those who have no voice. A bit like her, a bit like her mother.

She didn’t give up, even though she barely knew me at the beginning. She pushed on and on until I conceded.

She’s resilient that way, my Anastasia.

And now, I’m back to thinking about her, about how she begged me to leave, how she implored and insisted with those eyes that I can’t stop picturing.

It’s not lack of work that keeps me sitting in my chair, hands crossed behind my head, and staring at the ceiling.

I should’ve probably taken the day off and stalked her house, hoping the armed guards wouldn’t chop my head off.

And honestly? It’d be bloody worth it.

When I told Daniel about my plan for last night, he called me a crazy arsehole, so I might as well live up to the expectations.

The door opens and I resist the urge to roll my eyes.

Speak of the fucking devil.

He swings it shut with his foot and storms in my direction, holding his phone and grinning like a bloody fool.

He removes his AirPods and comes to my side, then holds the phone up. On the screen, there’s everyone from back home. Well, not literally, but most of them.

They’re gathered at a huge dinner table in the home of Jonathan King. Elsa’s father-in-law and Aiden’s father, who’s even worse than the sorry cunt.

Jonathan is sitting with his much younger wife. There’s Elsa and her shadow—sorry, husband—Aiden, and their son, Eli, who’s, unfortunately, turning out to be more and more like his father instead of his mother. It’s those destructive King genes, I swear.

Ronan and Teal are smiling at me while holding a giggling Remi, who keeps chanting, “Nokth…Nokth…”

There’s also the rest of my group of friends from secondary school, Xander and his wife Kim, and their daughter, who’s hiding her face in her father’s shirt.

The silent motherfucker with serial killer vibes, Cole, and the woman who tamed that destructive side of him, Silver.

And last but not least, the reason behind this call and who’s holding the phone, Astrid. She’s Daniel’s best friend and always includes him in everything that happens back home with live video calls.

Her husband, Levi, another one with the destructive Kings, keeps watching her while simultaneously holding their twin boys. It’s their birthday, I realize, because of the huge cake with “Landon” and “Brandon” written on it.

“Say hi to my bug, Knox!” Daniel says in his cheerful tone.

“You’re my bug, Dan!” Astrid protests.

“I agree to that. If anyone is a bug, then it’s this one.” I smile, waving at T and Ron and they wave back. My brother-in-law is making a show of it like the cheeky bastard he is and even making his son join in.

“That’s your uncle, Remi. And while you can love him, you’re not allowed to become as desperate as he is, mkay?”

“Says the one who sent a thousand clingy texts to his wife back in secondary school,” Xan teases.

Ron glares at him. “Hey! You shut the fuck up before I expose you.”

“I still have the screenshots,” Xan continues taunting.

“Me, too.” Aiden smirks, one hand playing with his son’s hair and the other stroking Elsa’s hand on the table. He always has to be touching her in some way.

“Me three,” Cole says with a perfectly straight face, wrapping a hand around Silver’s shoulder. “And I might have taken a picture of a recent clingy conversation as well.”