[
BONUS
Chapter
for reaching 600PS! Thank you all! 🤍]
=== 🤍 ===
[EVE]
I woke up to find myself in a hospital
yet
again
.
My head throbbed, and every part of my body ached as though I'd been hit by a freight train. Even the simple act of opening my eyes felt like an uphill battle.
"Eve, you're awake!" Victor's voice snapped out of my haze. Within seconds, he was at my side, concern etched deep into his features. "Don't move too much. The doctor said you still need to rest."
"W-what . . . happened?" I croaked, my voice barely above a whisper.
Sinclair stepped forward, his expression a mix of relief and unease. "Cole said one of the Ashford security guards was bribed to kidnap you. Luckily, they intercepted in ti."
Victor let out a derisive snort, his eyes narrowing into slits. "Intercepted? Is that what we're calling it now? How could they let this happen in the first place? If they were so damn capable, Eve wouldn't have been thrown off a cliff. She
almost
died
!"
"No one died, Victor," Sinclair replied, his tone calm but firm. "Cole saved her in ti."
Victor turned on him, his frustration boiling over. "Why are you even defending that man, Sinclair? Eve was
hurt
!"
Sinclair sighed heavily, rubbing his temple as though Victor's anger was a weight he bore personally. "And so was Cole. He risked his life to protect her. Can we not dwell on this and focus on the fact that everyone's alive?"
Victor wasn't having it. "It's his fault for being so incompetent in the first place."
Sinclair's patience visibly thinned as he gave Victor a pointed look. "I get how you feel, Victor. I do. But blaming him now won't help anyone. Let's take this as a lesson and move on."
While their argunt raged on, my mind was elsewhere entirely. Their voices beca a dull buzz in the background as fragnted mories of the incident ca rushing back to .
The danger, the fear, the kidnapping—it all faded into the background, replaced by sothing far more vivid.
The cave.
Cole and .
Our bodied intertwined.
The blood rushed to my face so fast it felt like I'd been struck by lightning. My pulse skyrocketed, and my entire body seed to shut down as if trying to protect from reliving the mory.
I sank back into the bed, covering my face with my hands, mortified.
"Eve! What's wrong?!" Victor's voice broke through my spiraling thoughts, laced with panic. "Gods, you're burning up! Are you running a fever? I'll call the doctor right now!"
"Victor, calm down," Sinclair said, though even he sounded slightly alard.
But I couldn't calm down. I couldn't think, couldn't speak, couldn't even look at either of them.
Because all I could focus on was what had happened between Cole and in that cave.
We almost . . .
Oh, gods.
I felt the heat creeping up my neck again, threatening to consu . My hands rubbed furiously at my face as if I could scrub away the mory. Enjoy exclusive chapters from empire
I wanted to disappear, to vanish into thin air, to
never
have to confront this again.
What had I done? How had I let myself be so . . . reckless?
In my defense, I thought he was going to die back there. I thought it was the end, and . . . and besides, sothing had felt off with too. My emotions, my body—everything had been in disarray.
But that didn't change what had happened.
And now . . . now, I didn't know how I'd face Cole.
The thought of seeing him again made my stomach twist into knots.
What would I even say to him? What would
he
say to ?
Oh, gods, what have I done?
Everything was finally starting to get better between us. He had been giving space, keeping his distance like I'd needed.
Just as I began to think we might finally find a way to coexist without stepping on each other's wounds . . . that happened.
I should have been pushing him away, keeping every barrier firmly in place—not
that.
Not
giving in.
Not letting my guard crumble into nothing.
What was I thinking?
My hands trembled as I clutched the blanket, resisting the urge to scream. My chest tightened, and a fresh wave of panic swept over .
I wanted to pound my head against the wall, to wake up from this nightmare, to undo every foolish choice I'd made.
Why didn't I stop it? Why didn't I stop
myself?
I thought he was going to die. That's all it was—I thought those were his final monts, and in my panic, in my stupidity, I let my emotions control .
But what now? How do I look him in the eye after this? What do I say to him?
I had crossed a line I could never uncross, and for what? A fleeting mont of weakness that would haunt for the rest of my life.
I pressed my hands against my burning face, wishing the earth would just swallow whole. I had been so reckless, so utterly blind to the consequences.
I was such a fool.
"Eve, are you alright?" Sinclair's voice brought back to the present.
I swallowed hard, forcing myself to push aside the panic for just a mont.
"Is Cole okay?" I asked, my voice hoarse.
"Yes," Sinclair replied. "He's fine."
I let out a shaky breath, relief washing over —but it was short-lived.
"And the person who kidnapped ? Were they caught?"
Sinclair nodded. "Yes. They're in custody now."
"Who did they say they worked for?" I pressed, my brow furrowing.
"Just a local kidnapping group," Sinclair answered, though he didn't sound entirely convinced. "They claid Lily and Sophie were their original targets, but you happened to be there, so they shifted to you instead."
"Local kidnappers?" I repeated, disbelief tingling at the edges of my exhaustion.
The man who had taken . . . he was far too skilled to be part of so low-level gang. Perhaps he belonged to a professional kidnapping syndicate.
But thinking clearly wasn't my strong suit right now. My mind was too clouded by everything else—by the mory of the cave, the sex, the near irreparable mistake.
I clenched my fists tightly, my nails digging into my palms. I'd survived the cliff, the danger, the kidnappers. But could I survive facing Cole?
That, I wasn't so sure.
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