After I Left, His Empire Collapsed Chapter 15

After I Left, His Empire Collapsed Chapter 15

For a split second, irritation flickered across her face. Then venom.

But she recovered fast. Back into character. Hand pressed to her sternum. The deathbed expression. Pallid. Fragile. Heroic.

“It’s fine. Julian. Take care of Vanessa first. She matters more. I probably won’t die. I’ll just go alone.”

She struggled to her feet. Staggered two steps like she’d been stabbed.

Julian still didn’t move.

She upped the stakes. Let her ankle buckle.

She hit the pavement. A scrape on her elbow. The size of a fingernail.

Blood.

Julian’s lashes quivered. The war in his eyes. The pity. The pull.

He broke.

“Vanessa. It’s a medical emergency. I can’t just let her die.”

“I’ll get her to the ER and come right back. Wait here. We’ll finish this. Please.”

He didn’t wait for an answer. Lifted Sadie into the car. Tore out of the parking lot. Blew through a red light. Sirens in the distance.

I watched them disappear.

Of course. He chose her. Again.

Julian was terrified of speeding. Of red lights. When he was a kid, his father threw him in the back seat. Drove with some woman up front. Flirting. Speeding. One intersection. A crash.

His father and the woman walked away with scratches. Their seatbelts held. Julian, six years old, no seatbelt, flew through the windshield. A dozen stitches in his scalp. The scar still hid under his hairline.

After that, he couldn’t handle fast driving. I’d accelerate a little and he’d start shaking.

Now he was pushing eighty through city streets.

He really did care about Sadie’s safety. Cared enough to override twenty-plus years of trauma.

But this time, I wouldn’t wait for his explanation. I wouldn’t wait at all.