Empire of Hate (Empire #3) by Rina Kent

Daniel beat up Christopher and probably threatened him, which is why he dropped the custody case. It must’ve happened that night he came back bleeding and with a devil’s expression on his face.

An onslaught of emotions attacks me and I grab the chair for balance.

The arsehole.

How dare he do all that for me, then leave me behind?

How fucking dare he?

The course of action I have to take clearly materializes in my head. “Zach?”

“Yes.”

“You have a private plane, right?”

“I do.”

“Please let me use it so I can wait for him in New York with a sledgehammer.”

“I will not allow you to hurt my brother.”

“It’s a figure of speech. I’m not actually going to do it.”

He narrows his eyes. “Fine.”

I’m just about to get ready when his phone vibrates. He answers with, “Sterling.”

He listens for a bit, then hangs up. Zach’s expression doesn’t change when he smashes my world to pieces. “Daniel was stabbed.”





My heart has been stuck in my throat ever since Zach told me the news about Daniel’s stabbing.

As in, Daniel is hurt.

As in, he was bleeding on the streets.

The only reason I held on to my cool during the drive to the hospital is the innate need to believe that it’s not as bad as I think.

He will be fine.

He has to be fine.

Or else…

I shake my head, my fingers strangling each other. Zach remains completely detached, typing on his tablet and replying to emails as if his younger brother couldn’t be dead as we speak.

It’s probably his condition, but the need to punch his chest and ask him to do something creeps under my skin like a wildfire.

When the hospital comes into view, I practically leap out of the car before it properly stops. My voice is surprisingly calm when I ask the nurse about Daniel. She asks me if I’m family and I want to strangle her.

I might not be Daniel’s family, but he’s mine. He did so many things for me that my own family didn’t.

He did something no one did.

Like making me feel alive.

Wanted.

Protected.

“I’m his brother,” Zach says, stopping beside me. “She’s his…significant other.”

I stare up at him with wide eyes, but he seems more interested in his phone, whatever he has on that thing.

As soon as the nurse directs me to Daniel’s room, I half jog there, then my rhythm falls into a stroll.

During all my life, I lost people because they tried to protect me.

Papa drowned because he tried to save me.

My mother, as power-hungry as she was, married a lord to secure my future. She killed an innocent woman and attempted to murder her stepdaughter so the field would be free for me.

My younger self lost her dreams and self-respect so I can move on.

Survive.

The thought of Daniel being added to the list physically nauseates me and I have to shake my head and blink my blurry eyes to remain on the right path.

During every disaster that befell me, it was Daniel or the thought of him that pushed me to stay afloat and do better.

This time, I won’t be able to move on with my life.

This time, it’ll be the end.

Zach told me his guy caught the one who stabbed Daniel. He was some low-rent thug and admitted to being paid by Christopher to stab Daniel.

So Daniel is hurt because of me. Because he beat up Christopher for me.

My heart nearly drops to the floor when I reach his room.

Please.

Please let him be all right.

If he still hates me, I’ll disappear. If I’m a bad omen to his life, I’ll never search for him again.

As long as he’s alive.

And well.

And healthy.

My unsteady fingers push the door open and I freeze in the doorway. Daniel sits on a hospital bed, only wearing trousers as a male nurse wraps a bandage around his midsection.

He’s…sitting.

Although his brows are knit together in what I assume is pain, he has his eyes open and he’s conscious.

The nurse clips the bandage, then tells Daniel something, gives him a pill and water, then waits for him to drink it before he shoulders past me.

That’s when Daniel looks at me.

And the emotion on his face shakes me to the bones. I expected surprise, anger, maybe even coldness, but the one I find?

It’s relief.

The encompassing type of it.

The tears I’ve been holding spill on my cheeks as I step inside. “Are you okay?”

He runs his fingers through his hair. It’s a bit tousled, a bit imperfect, just like him right now. “Some pesky stitches, but I’ll be good as new soon. Besides, I’ve been told scars are beautiful so I’ll be rocking that look.”

Despite his light tone, the fire still burns hot and bright inside me. I stop a safe distance away because his closeness would turn that fire into a volcano.

“If that didn’t answer your question, I’m really fine. Stop crying, I hate it.”

A sob bursts free and I cry even harder.

“Oh, for fuck’s sake.” Daniel grunts as he reaches a hand and pulls me to him, his warm, big palm wrapping around my hair, keeping me nestled to his side.

“Why?” I sniffle through the tears. “Why do you hate to see me cry, take revenge against Christopher for me, leave me your mansion and your money, but still refuse to be with me? Is it so hard to love me?”