Page 66 of Sinful Empire (Mount Trilogy 3)
The hallways of the hospital are quiet, which puts me even more on edge.
“Where are we going?”
“Just another quick check of your head. You took a hard hit.”
I almost ask her if she did it, but then I’d lose the element of surprise if it’s really her.
My paranoia ratchets up the farther we get away from my room and my mom. Finally, I can’t stand it anymore. With the butter knife clutched in my hand, I turn my head, ignoring the pounding pain.
“Who are you, and where the hell are you taking me?”
She steps forward to punch a round silver disk that activates the double doors, and they swing wide.
“No need to panic, Keira. I promise, everything’s going to be fine.” She turns me toward an open doorway, and there’s nothing but darkness beyond it.
“If you try to fucking touch me, I swear to God, I will—”
She raises a hand in a defensive gesture. “No need to threaten. I’m not going to hurt you. I don’t have a death wish. I’ll give you two a few minutes alone.” She pushes me into the dark room and steps back.
You two?
My eyes acclimate to the darkness as her shoes squeak in retreat on the tile floor, and I find his face in the shadows.
Mount
Something metallic bounces off the tile as Keira bursts into tears.
Fucking Christ, her tears kill me.
“Where have you been?” she asks through a sob as I drop to my knees beside her bed.
Rivers spill down her cheeks, so many that my thumbs can’t catch the droplets fast enough. She jerks her face out of my hands as her lungs heave.
I’ve been dying for more than the glimpses I’ve gotten of her for days. I could only see her as they wheeled her in and out of her room for tests, and then I’d lose her again when she was pushed into a room. I cursed the hospital for only having security cameras in the halls.
“I’ve been watching. You’ve been protected. You’re safe. I swear it.”
“But where the hell have you been?”
Guilt claws at my chest at the sound of her ravaged voice. I’ve brought this proud, strong woman to her breaking point. All of this is my fault.
“I couldn’t be there. Your mom and dad came before you were out of surgery, so I had to stand down. Pretend it wasn’t killing me to wait and find out if you were going to pull through.”
“But—”
“When they called your family upstairs, I couldn’t go. I couldn’t explain who the hell I am to any of them. Who the hell I am to you. That I’m part of your fucking family too.” Reliving those moments of helplessness guts me just as badly the second time.
“So, you left me? Alone? For days? Wondering whether that crazy fucking blond bitch killed you too?”
I know exactly which crazy fucking blond bitch she’s referring to. “You haven’t been alone. Not for a fucking second, Keira. If you had, I would’ve been in there.”
“How is it possible that you—Lachlan Mount—with all your unlimited power, couldn’t manage to get me a single sign that you were okay?”
I blink as it finally occurs to me why she’s so upset. She’s spent this whole time worrying about me too. “I didn’t know you needed a sign.”
“I’ve been losing my mind, wondering if you were alive! Wondering if I was crazy. Wondering if anything was real.”
“Keira—”
