Page 21 of Sinful Empire (Mount Trilogy 3)
“So this whole thing, from the very beginning, had nothing to do with the money . . .” My words come out awed at this ground-shifting realization.
He lifts a hand to tuck an errant strand of hair behind my ear.
“No, Keira. This has only ever been about you.”
Keira
“This has only ever been about you.”
The way he says it sends tremors rippling through my body, but not in fear. Never again in fear. They’re from something else entirely—the certainty that no one has ever wanted me like this man wants me. He admitted it himself. I was his addiction. He could have swooped in with his hood and his henchmen and taken me to his compound the day he found out I married Brett, but he didn’t.
Lachlan Mount isn’t just ruthless—he’s a study in perseverance. He said Magnolia was canny, but he’s a master strategist. I can’t fault the outcome, but I have to recognize the fact that I was just a moving piece in a bigger game than I realized.
“You were playing chess with my life, and I didn’t even know I was on the board.” There’s no anger behind my statement. I’m still just trying to understand this enigma of a man.
“Life is a chess game, Keira. Every single fucking day, you make moves that determine your future.”
“And Magnolia turned me into a pawn.”
“No.” Lachlan shakes his head slowly, once again caressing my cheek. “That’s where you’re wrong, hellion. You’ve never been a pawn. You’ve been the queen from day one. The most powerful piece on the whole fucking board.”
“What?” Suddenly I wish I paid more attention to the game of chess when my dad tried to teach me as a kid.
“A king has the most value, but without a queen, he’s a hell of a lot less powerful. Together, they have the best chance of victory.” He pauses, stroking my cheek again like I’m the most precious thing he’s ever touched. “I’ve spent my life avoiding any attachments because I thought they would create a weakness my enemies could exploit. I didn’t realize how wrong I was until you. You give me strength, and I swear to God, I’ll never let anyone take you from me.”
The vehemence in his tone should scare me, but I find it comforting. And then he says something that hits me even deeper.
“And while I’d never let anyone take you from me, right now I’m offering you a chance to ask all your questions. Pass your judgment. Make your own decision. I need to know if you can handle life by my side, Keira, because if you can’t, I have to find some way to let you go.”
The very suggestion tears at my heart in a way I didn’t know was possible, bringing a sting behind my eyes at the thought.
“If you have another question, ask it now.”
My brain is swirling a million miles an hour, and I can’t think of anything else that would change my mind. Not now.
Except . . .
I press a hand to my lips as I recall that first brutal story Magnolia told me about him. How he forced a woman to dance on broken glass until she slit her own wrists. I can’t reconcile that rumor with the man before me. What’s more, I don’t want to even give voice to the possibility it could be true.
Lachlan must see the confusion on my face as he releases his hold on me. “Ask your question, Keira.” It’s a command.
I heave out a breath, gathering my courage. I don’t know what I’ll do if I’m wrong and it’s true. “Magnolia told me a story about you . . .”
His expression goes blank, and a hardness infiltrates his features. It’s that granite mask I can’t stand to see on his face. It’s like he’s expecting the worst, and maybe he is.
“There are a lot of stories about me. You’ll have to be more specific. Some are fact, and some are rumor and myth.”
I just have to blurt it out. That’s the only way. So I go for it. “The story about the woman being forced to dance on broken glass. Is it true?”
His expression doesn’t change as he shifts away from me, and now the small distance between us feels like the Grand Canyon.
“It’s true.”
Mount
I shut my emotions down, one second at a time, preparing for the inevitable. The moment when Keira says she can’t be with a monster like me. I am the devil himself, and there’s no way she could want to be with someone capable of the things I’ve done.
It will shred everything left of my humanity to let her go, but I won’t keep her trapped against her will. Not now. We’re beyond that. If she says she wants to leave, I won’t stop her.
