Sinful Empire (Mount Trilogy #3)

Temperance is silent for several long moments instead of brimming with the questions I expected her to shoot at me rapid fire. If I were her, I’d ask if I was calling from the mental health ward of the hospital and whether that’s why she’s been unable to contact me, but Temperance doesn’t. Instead, she surprises me.

“I know you think that life is all black and white, Keira, but for some of us, gray is a lot more accurate. Whatever you’re going to tell me won’t go beyond us. I know plenty of things that could already land me in a crypt, and I know how to keep my mouth shut. This isn’t the first time my life, or the life of someone I love, has depended on it.”

Her answer may be nothing like I expect, but it’s everything I need to hear.

“Someday, you’re going to tell me what that means, but we don’t have time right now.”

“Agreed, boss. Let’s get to what matters.”

“I’m not going to be coming into the office for a little while.”

“Now you’re really making me wish we had a code word for situations where you’ve been kidnapped.”

I can’t help but chuckle at that, and my body twinges in protest. “Yeah, we probably do need a code word, but not today. I had a bit of an accident, and there’s a security threat—”

Temperance interrupts, her tone panicked. “Accident? Are you okay? What happened?”

“I’m fine, but . . . the consequences of the accident are further reaching than just me. I can’t tell you everything, except that I need you to step up and be my new COO. You need to handle business in person while I work remotely.”

A harshly indrawn breath is her first response. “I’m reading between the lines here, Keira, and I don’t like it.”

I swallow, blocking out the aches in my body, determined to handle this like the boss I am. “I’m safe, and I’m certain that nothing is going to happen to me. But in order for that to continue to be the truth, I need you to do exactly what I tell you.”

“Okay. I’ll drop the questions. I know less is more. Tell me what you need me to do.”

I spend another five minutes giving Temperance her marching orders, along with the raise I promised her. “It’ll show up in your next check.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yes.”

I don’t care that Lachlan’s money will be funding the raise temporarily, because Seven Sinners is about to level up in the whiskey world, thanks to the very same man. Or am I just stepping up to finally be the leader he made me realize I am? Another shift.

“I’ve got what I need. Except . . . can I tell you to be careful? I know you’re not giving me everything, but I’m picking up enough to realize that you’re in some serious shit. And if it has to do with what I think, please make sure you know what you’re doing.”

“I’ve got this, but thank you.”

She’s quiet for another moment. “Okay. You better call your dad.”

“That’s up next. Thank you for listening . . . and reading between the lines.”

“I still want a code word for kidnapping.”

“I promise I’ll throw in something about chardonnay or prosecco.”

A laugh bursts from Temperance. “Then I’ll really know you’re in deep shit.”

“Exactly.”

When we hang up, I stare down at the phone, wondering how the hell I’m going to handle the next call.





Mount





“Where the hell is she!”

When I open my eyes and see the bed next to me empty and the unhooked IV line dangling from the pole, I’m not too proud to say I lose my shit.

The door bursts open, and Z and D rush inside.

“Where is she?” I demand, and both men recognize the quiet menace in my voice.

“With V. She needed to make a few calls. Business. Family.”

My first instinct is to bend her over my lap and spank her ass for leaving without telling me, but I rein it in. A little. Leopards don’t change their spots.

“Where?”

“Upstairs, because we’re still under lockdown in here with no signal. Your order, boss.”

V knows the penalty for anything happening to Keira on his watch would be death, and the man has proven his willingness to die for me. I expect he would do no less for her.

“Get her back down here now.”

“But, boss. Ms. Kilgore told us we couldn’t leave you unguarded. She said . . .”

When Z trails off, I prompt him to continue. “What did Ms. Kilgore say?”

“That she’d kill us both herself if we left you unattended.”

A smile tugs on my lips. The fact that Keira is now giving my employees orders comes as a surprise. Part of me wasn’t completely certain that the things she said to me earlier weren’t a product of drugs, adrenaline, and shock, but it seems that I was wrong. Keira is stepping into a role I wasn’t sure she’d accept, and she’s doing it without any prompting on my part.

“And you believed her.”

Both men nod. “She meant it, sir.”

I let the smile free. My little hellion.

“Send someone up to let her know her presence has been requested.”

The door, still partially cracked, opens the rest of the way.

“My presence has been requested? That sounds awfully official.”

Even in a scrub top the color of a Smurf and two sizes too big, Keira still has the bearing of a queen. She gives the men a nod and they leave the room, shutting the door behind them as she comes toward the side of her bed closest to mine.

“Did you handle what you needed to handle?”

“Yes. As much as I could. I’ve delegated a lot to Temperance. She’s COO in my absence, and I guilt-tripped my father—without remorse, I might add—into not coming until I’m ready for him to come.”

The mention of her father stops me cold. “Now is not a good time for your family to be in the city.”

“I know. And they’re not coming. Do you still have someone who can protect them? All of them?”

“Yes. They’ll be under protection until I give an order for that protection to cease. Which I have no intention of doing. I made you a promise, and I’ll keep it.”

Keira pauses between our beds. I can tell she’s running low on energy after walking around. I may be able to power through pain, but that’s because I’ve never had a choice. She should never have to.

“Thank you.”

“You don’t need to thank me for that.” I reach out and snag her hand. “Come here.” I gently bring her closer as I move over in my bed, ignoring the pain of the gunshot wound.

“I won’t fit.”

“Bullshit.”

Her mouth screws up into a stubborn expression, but she comes anyway, and we both get as comfortable as the bed will allow. Keira’s face is inches from mine when I speak again.

“You said you wouldn’t leave me, and here I am, waking up alone.”

“Emergency. I made sure you were covered.”

I shake my head. “That’s not your job.”

“Wouldn’t you do the same for me?”

“It’s different.”

Her eyes narrow on me. “No, it’s not. I don’t know what got us into this mess, but I do know that I’m riding it out with you.”

Us. The word reverberates in my chest. I’ve never been part of an us. But the way she says it, and the way she has stepped up when the stakes are the highest, makes me realize that this is the only woman who could possibly stand at my side.

“You can order my employees around, but never to the detriment of your own safety. That is a hard limit.”

“Fine,” she says with obvious reluctance.