My Sister Stole My Mate And I Let Her (Seraphina) novel Chapter 74

Chapter 74: Chapter 74 SUSPENSION BRIDGE EFFECT

Lucian’s sudden appearance froze me mid-step, and my body seized up.

My first instinct was to react—to explain something, anything—as though I’d been caught doing something wrong. Like a teenager whose parent had just walked into her bedroom at the worst possible moment, and her naked boyfriend was hiding out in her closet.

My pulse kicked into another gear as he came closer, my mind running wild with explanations for why my ex-husband was naked behind me and I looked kissed within an inch of my life.

But Lucian’s expression wasn’t suspicious. His gaze swept over me once, sharp and assessing, and then he sighed with relief.

“I’m so sorry I’m late,” he said, stepping forward to wrap me in his arms. “More rogues showed up, and disposing of them took longer than I expected.”

My stomach twisted.

Right. The rogues

While I was tangled up in Kieran’s arms, Lucian had been dealing with his own chaos—fighting for me.

He could have gotten hurt, and here I was, flushed and guilty over a kiss I never should have let happen.

Especially mere hours after Lucian asked to be my boyfriend. My stomach churned, and I thought I was going to be sick.

I felt so fucking awful. What had gotten into me? Why had I let that happen?

“Are—are you okay?” I asked, forcing my voice to stay even. His familiar scent wrapped around me, and I closed my eyes, breathing him in, hoping it would banish the Kieran’s scent that had inundated my senses and wouldn’t leave.

Lucian gently pulled away but held me at arm’s length, and did one more once over. “Nothing I couldn’t handle.” His smile didn’t waver, but there was a shadow in his eyes that told me it hadn’t been as easy as he wanted me to think.

The guilt pressed heavier.

Just because Kieran was the one who got me out of the car didn’t mean he saved me any more than Lucian had by taking on those rogues at the restaurant.

And I’d...

Fuck!

“Are you sure you’re okay?” Lucian’s brows furrowed into a deep V. “What—”

His gaze shifted behind me, and I stiffened. I watched his eyes as he took in the dead rogues behind us. And naked Kieran.

But other than the sharp tick of a muscle in his jaw, his facial expression didn’t change.

“Kieran.” Lucian nodded, like back in the theater, except this time, the gesture looked stiff. Force.

Heat warmed the left side of my body, and I instinctively bit my kiss-swollen lips as Kieran’s deep voice rumbled through me. “Lucian.”

Lucian arched a brow. “You did this?”

“I would have left some for you if you hadn’t been so slow.”

My breath hitched at the obvious bite in Kieran’s voice, but Lucian took it in stride. One hand fell from my arm and reached out to Kieran. “Thank you for saving her.”

I ground my teeth so hard it would have been audible if the tension between both of them wasn’t humming at a deafening volume.

“I didn’t do you a favor,” Kieran ground out.

Lucian’s hand dropped to the side, and he nodded. “Still. Thank you. She’s in safe hands now.” The rest of his unspoken sentence was clear—Kieran could leave.

“Sera?” I flinched at the brusque way he said my name.

I forced myself to turn to him and exhaled softly—he was wearing a pair of grey sweatpants and a black T-shirt he must have had stashed in his car.

“I’m fine,” I said softly. “Thank you—again.”

His dark eyes flickered with something I felt deep in my chest, but he tore his gaze away the next second and stalked wordlessly to his car.

Lucian and I stayed seemingly suspended in time as we watched Kieran enter his car. The engine sputtered twice before it came to life.

I winced slightly as he drove past us. I’d ruined the G-wagon once with my blood, and now the bumper was ruined.

It felt like I was taking my first breath as I watched his brake lights shrink to the size of fireflies and then disappear altogether.

“Sera?” Lucian’s gentle squeeze pulled me back to the present.

I sighed softly. “I’m glad you’re okay.”

Lucian’s eyes softened at that, and for a moment I thought he’d ask more.

But instead, his attention shifted slightly, his gaze dipping over my body, pausing on my arms, my temple. I tensed.

I didn’t know what I looked like. I couldn’t feel the pain from the injuries anymore, but I could feel...an awareness. And from the look in Lucian’s eyes, I got the feeling that maybe he could too.

I braced for the question.

It never came.

Instead, he nodded once, as if he’d noticed but decided not to pry. That somehow made me feel worse.

“You’re not hurt, are you?” he asked anyway, his tone light but edged with that same quiet intensity that made me think he already knew the answer.

I shook my head a little too fast. “I’m fine. Really. Just tired.”

“Good.” He opened the passenger door of the Aston, holding it for me like the perfect gentleman. “Let’s get you home.”

The drive started out silent, save for the low purr of the engine. I watched the streetlights streak past in blurred ribbons, the rhythmic glow matching the uneasy beat of my heart.

I wanted to fill the air with something—anything—before the weight of unspoken things crushed me.

“Well,” I finally said, forcing a crooked smile, “I’d say our first date was...eventful.”

Lucian glanced at me, one brow raised in amusement. “That’s one word for it.”

I chuckled under my breath. “You don’t think this is, I don’t know...an omen, do you?”

That was apparently the wrong thing to say.

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