Page 68 of Sinful Empire (Mount Trilogy 3)
“That I would turn back time to save you even a single moment of pain. Take us back to when we were eating cake and dancing. To before you almost fucking died because of me.”
Guilt underpins every single word, and I hate it. This isn’t his fault. I refuse to let him shoulder this burden.
“You didn’t pull that trigger. She did.”
“But I should’ve stopped it. I should’ve known.”
I reach out to touch his arm, drawing strength from him, desperate to take his pain like he wants to take mine. “I know you’re superhuman, but even you can’t know everything.”
The muscles in his jaw tense as he leans down to cup my cheek. “I said I’d keep you safe, and I didn’t. That’s something I’ll have to live with for the rest of my life.”
I turn my face into his hand and press a kiss to his palm. “As long as you live with me for the rest of your life, we’ll deal with it together.”
“Keira—” My name sounds like a prayer torn from his lips.
“I just need to know one thing.”
“What?” he asks, cupping my face like he never wants to let it go.
“Am I safe now?”
He nods. “Yes. Completely. I’ve taken care of everything.”
I want to ask a dozen more questions, but like he said—not now. So I settle for the most important one.
“And what happens when they discharge me?”
Lachlan’s eyes narrow, his gaze intensifying. “You come home to me. Where you belong.”
Keira
My discharge papers have been signed. After seven full days in the hospital, I should be rushing out the door, but I’m not.
“Honey, are you sure?” Mom squeezes my shoulder as my wheelchair halts at the door of a private room. A private room I’m willing to bet anything is being paid for by my husband.
“I know you never liked Mags, but—”
Her grip stiffens. “It wasn’t that I didn’t like her, honey. It was that I didn’t want to take a chance that you’d be pulled down her path.”
I swallow at her words. How can I ever tell my mother that I’m standing at the end of a path that is infinitely more dangerous than the one Magnolia has taken? I’m the queen of a sinful empire, and I plan to spend the rest of my life beside its king.
I especially can’t tell her that Magnolia is totally responsible for putting me in that position, and that there’s nowhere else I’d rather be.
With the hand that’s not strapped to my side in a sling, I reach up and cover hers before looking up at her. “I love you, Mom. Thank you for everything.”
“I love you too, honey.”
“Now, I need a few minutes alone with Mags. I . . . I have a few things I have to say to her, and I need some space.”
She releases my shoulder and steps away. “Okay. I’ll be right outside, and Dad is getting everything else in order.”
The aide wheels me into the room and parks my chair beside Magnolia’s bed, then retreats, shutting the door behind her.
Magnolia’s dark hair is wrapped in gauze that covers her entire head. No one would tell me anything about her condition except that she’s being monitored and provided the best possible care. She hasn’t woken up, and they don’t know if she ever will.
I extend my free hand and clutch her limp one. “Magnolia Marie Maison, this is so like you.” I sniffle back tears. “Gotta cause all the drama to get the attention and leave the rest of us in suspense, wondering what’s going on.”
The beeping of the monitors is the only response to my poor attempt at humor.
