Page 11 of Sinful Empire (Mount Trilogy 3)
“Too damn bad.”
V meets my gaze once more, and I speak my next words to him.
“Stand guard. No one gets in unless there’s a medical emergency, and then only approved staff. I’m told I need to rest so I can rain hell down on this city and whoever did this.” I glance at Keira with a crooked smile.
V nods and heads for the door.
Once it closes behind him, fatigue weighs down my limbs, but I still reach out my hand to clasp Keira’s, and she squeezes it.
This whole experience—her not fighting me, not trying to escape—is surreal. And so is me following her orders.
“I won’t let you—”
I cut her off with a glance. “I thought you wanted me to rest so I can be ready to exact vengeance.”
Her eyebrows wing up in the direction of her hairline. “You’re actually going to listen to me?”
“On one condition.”
“Name it,” she says without hesitation.
“You rest too.”
Her mouth screws up into a defiant expression, but for a completely different reason this time. “I’ll keep watch. You rest.”
“V is outside on guard. No one’s getting through him. So, please, fucking rest. I need you whole and healthy. I have a lot of plans for you, woman.”
Keira studies me for long moments before she finally responds. “And you will if I will?”
“Yes.”
“Deal.”
She reaches out her hand and I shake it, sealing the bargain.
Somehow, in the midst of chaos, our positions changed. No longer am I the one forcing her to bend to my wishes because she has no other options. Now, we’re equals. Partners.
It’s a new and different feeling, one that should scare the shit out of me, but it feels nothing like weakness. Actually, I’ve never felt stronger.
I drift off, my fingers still tangled with hers.
Keira
Even drugged by the pain meds, I wake up first. I think I forced my body to allow me to regain consciousness because I needed to reassure myself that Lachlan was still breathing.
I couldn’t care less about my injuries now. I’m much more concerned about him. The strain is visible on his face, even in sleep.
I swore I’d hate him until my dying breath. That I’d never give him what he wanted. That I’d build impenetrable walls around my heart, even if he messed with my head and forced my body to betray me.
Lachlan Mount destroyed those walls. When he turned his back, using himself as a shield, it became pretty damned clear where I stood with him, and that was before I knew he’d already been shot.
But if I’m completely honest, that’s not when my walls started to crumble. No, that mortar began to break down the moment I realized he was taking me to Dublin, fulfilling a lifelong dream of mine, even though there was nothing in it for him.
I may not have had the chance to ask my questions yet, but I’m willing to bet everything I own on the fact that selfless actions are new for Lachlan Mount.
The door to the room opens again, and V steps inside. Another shift, because I’m no longer thinking of him as Scar. He’s not the man who aids and abets my captivity, but someone who was also willing to lay down his life for mine.
“Is everything okay?” I whisper.
