Page 16 of Sinful Empire (Mount Trilogy 3)
“Wouldn’t you do the same for me?”
“It’s different.”
Her eyes narrow on me. “No, it’s not. I don’t know what got us into this mess, but I do know that I’m riding it out with you.”
Us. The word reverberates in my chest. I’ve never been part of an us. But the way she says it, and the way she has stepped up when the stakes are the highest, makes me realize that this is the only woman who could possibly stand at my side.
“You can order my employees around, but never to the detriment of your own safety. That is a hard limit.”
“Fine,” she says with obvious reluctance.
“I have another deal for you.”
Her hand curls into mine, and I’m addicted to how she touches me so easily and voluntarily. “I’m ready to hear your terms, Lachlan.”
I smile again at her use of my name, something I’m doing altogether too often for my own comfort, but maybe someday I’ll get used to my lips curving upward. Or I could just make the streets run with more blood and call it balance.
“Terms. Unless I’m unavailable, unconscious, or in peril, I deliver orders to my employees.” When her mouth opens like she wants to protest, I continue before she can get a word out. “But I will make it clear that any order from you carries the same weight as one from me.”
Her lips press together for a beat before she responds. “I can handle that.”
“Second, if I tell you to do something for your own safety, you do it immediately. I think you realize that life-and-death situations are not out of the ordinary if you’re part of my life.”
“Understood.”
Her lack of argument or debate pumps a new feeling into my chest. Hope for the future.
“Finally . . . I still call the shots in the bedroom.”
Keira lifts her chin in that stubborn gesture I’ve grown accustomed to.
“Are you going to lie and tell me you don’t love it?”
She shakes her head. “No. But every once in a while, I get to take control.”
“We’ll see about that.”
This time, a sly smile crosses her face.
“One more thing.”
“What?” she asks, her tone edged with amusement.
“Kiss me.”
She bites her lip and leans in, skimming her mouth across mine, and I answer her with an equally light response. When I pull away, it’s with the taste of her on my tongue.
“You’re not giving any of those orders until you’re healed,” she says.
“When you’re healed,” I say, correcting her.
“Deal.”
I inhale and release a long, slow breath. I don’t want to change the subject, but it’s time. Before I let myself get drunk on her and the possibilities of the future, I need to answer her questions and tell her the truth.
It’s time to show Keira just how black my soul is, and see if she’s going to run in the other direction.
Which is exactly what she should do.
