Page 29 of Sinful Empire (Mount Trilogy 3)
Silence hangs between us, and the fabric of our friendship shreds further with each passing second.
“Please say something. I’m trying to understand, but you have to tell me why, Mags.” My voice cracks on the last word. Even though I wouldn’t take back where I am, her betrayal is too fresh and raw to approach rationally. “You’ve been a sister to me, and you offered me up on a silver platter to a man you thought was pure evil. What am I supposed to think? Why would you do that?”
When Magnolia speaks, it’s like we’ve changed roles completely. There’s no emotion in her voice because it’s all ravaging mine.
“You wouldn’t listen to reason about Brett Hyde. The most logical, smartest woman I’ve ever met, and yet you were totally unreasonable when it came to him. I tried to steer you away but you wouldn’t listen. He had you under his spell so tight, I couldn’t get you free.”
“You could’ve told me what he was!”
“Would you have believed me? Every time I brought it up, you went on and on about how he was your soul mate. And you were sure of it. Fuck, Keira. You were so goddamned happy, and I knew it was all a lie. But how the fuck could I just tear your heart out and stomp on it? You are a sister to me, and I had to find a way to make you see it for yourself so you would run the other way.”
“And setting me up to have sex with a man I’d never met was the way you planned to do it? Are you insane?” I spin on a heel, my voice shaking as hard as the phone.
“You don’t live long working street corners unless you develop your gut instincts fast and sharp, and you sure as hell don’t rise to where I am without having intuition bordering on fucking psychic.”
I jam one hand into my hair. “What the hell does that mean? You’re avoiding my question.”
“Stop your fucking pacing, Ke-ke, and sit down. I’m trying to tell you why I was willing to make the wager of a lifetime with one of the most precious people in my life.”
I growl, hating that she knows I’m pacing even though she can’t see me. I sit back down on the bed, but only because my head is pounding again.
“So, tell me. Tell me why you were willing to gamble not only my life, but my family, my friends, my employees, my business, everything on your fucking intuition, and then lie to me about all of it.”
My stomach turns as I think about all the lies she fed me . . . and how I believed every single one of them like she spoke the gospel truth.
“I told you, you were wasted on Brett Hyde. And I watched Mount go through woman after woman, not a single one keeping his attention. The blood of voodoo priestesses runs in my veins. I may not be psychic, but when I feel something as strongly as I did about how Mount would react to you, I couldn’t not do it.”
“You played with my life!”
“No.” Magnolia’s cool streak snaps, and fervor intensifies her tone. “I was trying to give you a life beyond what you could ever imagine. You were born to be treated like a queen. You’re everything that’s good and loyal and true, and your strength shines through like the brightest fire I’ve ever seen. Every king needs a queen like you, even if they don’t see it. In my gut, I knew that if Lachlan Mount got one single taste of what you had to offer, he’d be hooked.”
This time, I’m silent. I don’t know what to say to her. She was right, but I still can’t get over how she played us both. Magnolia doesn’t need me to answer, though, because she’s not done.
“I was right. But you went and fucked it all up and eloped with that piece of shit who didn’t deserve to breathe the same air as you. If I could’ve killed him myself, I would’ve.”
“And why didn’t you bother to let me in on your grand plan, Mags?”
“How could I? You would never have agreed to it. I’ve always done what’s best for you. Always, even when you didn’t know it or couldn’t see it. I shield you when I can. I push you when you need it. I was setting you up to be the most treasured possession Mount has ever had in his life.”
“A possession, not a relationship! What if he wanted to own me and then got sick of me and shipped me off to God knows where like the rest of them?”
“I told you how to handle him, and you did it. I. Was. Right.”
Magnolia’s conviction comes through clearer than anything I’ve ever heard. She believes she did this for me, and that it was completely justified.
“You could’ve been wrong!”
“I wasn’t, though, was I?”
My free hand clenches into a fist as my head throbs. I want to strangle her right now for her self-righteousness and inability to admit she played with fire and could have incinerated my entire world. Even though part of me knows I should be thanking her, the other part, the part that goes back to childhood, can’t get over her deception.
“Why keep up the lies? Why not just tell me when he came for me?”
“I did what I had to do. Just like I’ve always done. From sucking cock to taking it up the ass, to making sacrifices that rip me apart. Just like I’ll keep doing. Tell me you wish I hadn’t done it. Tell me you want me to take it all back. I dare you.”
“I can’t and you know it, but that doesn’t make it right. Years of friendship, and then I find out from Lachlan that you’ve been lying to me for months?”
“Lachlan, is it now? Right there, with one goddamned word, you just proved that everything I planned came together like a perfect roux. You’re calling the most feared man in this city by his first name. And why’s that, Ke-ke? Tell me you’re not in love with him. Try to make me believe it.”
