Chapter 8
630 Words
The black SUV was still behind us.
I noticed it only because Lucien did.
His eyes flicked to the rearview mirror for the third time in less than a minute.
His expression remained calm, but his fingers tightened around the steering wheel.
“We’re being followed?”
I asked quietly.
“No.”
His answer came too quickly.
I looked over my shoulder.
The same black SUV turned when we turned.
It slowed when we slowed.
It wasn’t trying to overtake us.
It was watching.
“Lucien…”
“I said no.”
His voice wasn’t cold.
It was controlled.
As though he didn’t want me to panic.
A few seconds later, he pressed a button on the dashboard.
“Change of route.”
The driver nodded.
Instead of heading toward the hospital entrance, the car turned onto a side road.
The black SUV hesitated.
Then followed.
Lucien’s jaw hardened.
“Damn.”
“So we are being followed.”
He looked at me.
“I need you to listen carefully.”
Something in his voice made my stomach knot.
“If I tell you to run…”
“What?”
“You run.”
“I’m not leaving you.”
“You will.”
“No.”
“Sienna.”
His eyes locked onto mine.
“I mean it.”
The intensity in his gaze stole my breath.
Before I could argue, our driver accelerated.
The SUV behind us sped up too.
“What is happening?”
No one answered.
The silence was worse than any explanation.
After several tense minutes, flashing blue lights appeared ahead.
Two security vehicles blocked the road leading to the private hospital.
The black SUV slowed.
Then made a sharp U-turn.
It disappeared into the night.
Only then did Lucien exhale.
The tension left his shoulders so suddenly that I realized he’d been holding it in the entire time.
“You knew.”
I whispered.
He closed his eyes briefly.
“I suspected.”
“You still won’t tell me why?”
“I will.”
“When?”
“When I can protect you with the truth instead of hurting you with it.”
I wanted to be angry.
Instead…
I saw something I’d never expected.
Fear.
Not for himself.
For me.
The car stopped beneath the hospital entrance.
Lucien stepped out first and came around to my side before I could open the door.
He offered me his hand.
I hesitated only a second before placing mine in his.
His fingers closed around mine with surprising gentleness.
Inside, nurses rushed through the brightly lit corridor.
The atmosphere was tense.
A doctor hurried toward us.
“Mr. Kingston.”
“How is she?”
“We managed to stabilize her.”
Relief flashed across Lucien’s face.
“But…”
The doctor hesitated.
“She keeps asking for your wife.”
Lucien frowned.
“My wife?”
“Yes.”
The doctor smiled apologetically.
“She refuses to calm down until she meets Mrs. Kingston.”
Lucien slowly turned to me.
“It looks like you’re about to meet the most important person in my life.”
Before I could respond, a sharp voice echoed down the hallway.
“So…”
We both turned.
A stunning woman in a designer dress stood at the end of the corridor.
Her eyes were red from crying.
But the moment they landed on our joined hands…
They filled with fury.
She laughed bitterly.
“I leave the country for one week…”
Her gaze moved to the wedding rings.
“…and you marry someone else?”
She took another step.
“I warned you, Lucien.”
Her eyes settled on me.
“If you married her…”
She smiled.
“…she’ll be the first to die.”
- Writer
