Sinful Empire (Mount Trilogy #3)

“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.”

I want to tell my best friend to go screw herself, because I hate how satisfied she sounds. Then again, she sees the truth too clearly.

“I shouldn’t even tell you.”

Magnolia’s laugh, harsh but clear, comes through the speaker. “Get over your f*cking self, Ke-ke, because I will never apologize for what I did. You’re right where you need to be. Sitting on a throne next to the man who rules this city. I don’t have to hear you say it, because I heard how he swept you away to Dublin. That man is gone for you. I may be getting my information from the outside looking in, but I know I was right.”

“And the ends justify the means? Is that what you’re saying?”

“f*cking right they do.”

A violent torrent of emotions swirls through me at her certainty and lack of remorse. I don’t know why I expected anything else from Magnolia. She’s unapologetic about who she is, what she is, and what she always has been. But there’s more. There’s always more when it comes to her. I want to believe Magnolia’s motives are as pure as she claims, but I know her better than I know my own sisters.

“So, tell me, Mags, tell me you did this only for me and there was nothing in it for you.”

That shuts her down for a solid three seconds.

“You really want to go there, Ke-ke?”

“We’re already there, Mags. No more lies. No more hidden motives. The only way we survive this with some scrap of our friendship intact is if you tell me everything right now.”

“Can’t you just be happy that you’ve got a real man like you’ve always wanted?”

That’s when I know I’m right. There’s more she’s not telling me.

“Now, Mags. Or I hang up this phone and never speak to you again.” Even voicing the threat eviscerates me. It would be like cutting off a limb to lose her, even now.

“Fine. But don’t you dare get all high-and-mighty on me. I put you first. So what if having Mount fall in love with my best friend made my life a little easier?”

And there it is. My brain spins at her confession. Even though I suspected an ulterior motive, hearing it packs the force of a Hulk-like blow.

“What the hell do you mean by that?”

“Use your brain, girl. Say your sister marries the prince of goddamned England. You don’t think you’ve just hit the jackpot right along with her?”

I laugh, or at least that’s what the harsh sound coming from my lips should be.

Now it’s all clear. Crystal, like the award that shattered and stabbed into my side. “You just tried to justify it as being all about me. You setting me up for life. But this was about you from day one. I was a pawn in your little game.”

“You don’t think I deserve a little easier time in life? I’ve seen and done things that would have you blowin’ your brains out in seconds. You want to begrudge me the little bit of slack I’d get by association if you’re with him?”

Guilt—slippery, slimy guilt—snakes through me. “You told me yourself you have no remorse for what you did, for the chances you took with my life, so don’t you dare play on my sympathies after everything you’ve said and done.”

“Don’t be a bitch, Ke-ke. We both know I’m better at it than you.”

“You’re right. You are.”

Magnolia muffles the phone and I hear her yell, “Hold on, I’m coming!” before she returns to me. “My appointment’s here. I gotta go handle some business because that’s how I make my livin’. You wanna hate me for what I did? Go right ahead. But don’t you dare think I didn’t have your best interest at heart. You’re where you were meant to be, with the man you were meant to be with, and it’s because of me. Now, I gotta go.”

“Mags—”

“No, Ke-ke. I ain’t got no more time to hear you throw your shit at me. I’m busy.”

The call ends and I lower my phone, staring at it like it just grew limbs. My lungs heave and my blood races as all of Magnolia’s confessions replay in my head.

How is it that the ones we think we know the best are sometimes the ones we truly know the least?

I can’t deny that her instincts were right, though.

Either way, Magnolia and I are not done with this conversation.





Keira





I try to bury myself in work, but I can’t. I’m stuck on what Magnolia said and did. I spin around, midway across the floor I’ve been pacing for half an hour, when the door opens.

It’s the man my best friend made sure I ended up with by using any means necessary. I want to condemn her for lying, but I’m having trouble with my righteous indignation. Lachlan wouldn’t be mine right now without her intervention, but that doesn’t mean my emotions aren’t completely conflicted when it comes to her and her underhanded manipulation.

He steps into my path, closing his palms around my shoulders. Somehow, the simple touch calms my chaotic emotions by a degree.

“You should be resting, but you’re in full hellion mode.”

“You could say that.”

“I take it you got your answers.”

I nod.

“Can you live with them?” His tone is quiet, but not patronizing. I hear what he’s not asking.