Page 59 of Fierce Monarch

Suddenly, that condom didn’t seem like enough.

“Mari—”

“Down, Nate.”

I felt his eyes on me, even as I kept mine planted firmly on the wall over his shoulder and the door to the room. Now that our moment was over, I needed to go. It had been a mistake to come when anyone could’ve walked into the room while we were busy. I could’ve died because I couldn’t just let Nate go.

Stupid.

Nate took a step back from the wall, bringing me with him, and I wondered if I’d have to fight him to get down. Then he dropped my legs one at a time, keeping his hands close to make sure I was stable before pulling away.

“Hand me that?” I asked, pointing to the bra on his bed. I could get it myself, but some sick part of me needed him to take the first step. He grabbed it quickly, squeezing it in his hands before lifting it toward me. I reached for it, but he didn’t let go until I met his eyes.

I saw a fragility there that I didn’t like, a vulnerability that felt too much like the hole carved in my chest for comfort.

“What was that?” His voice was raspy in that way that came from really good sex, and I forced myself to ignore it as I pulled on the bra and then my jeans so he couldn’t see how it affected me.

“That was goodbye. Since you got to do it your way, I decided I needed to do it mine.”

“I didn’t… That wasn’t what I meant… I’m sorry.” Nate’s voice fell off at the end, quiet and sad and a load of bullshit. I didn’t believe a word he said, so I pretended it didn’t matter as I fluffed my hair and straightened my shirt, even though I felt like I was leaving my heart on his bedroom floor.

Guess I was always going to bleed out tonight.

“It’s fine. I got you out of my system, and now I can move on for good.”

I grabbed my flashlight, not wanting to leave a single thing behind for him.

“Wait! Before you go, you should know something.”

I had no doubt it was a trap, but I couldn’t bring myself to walk away. I needed to know what he was going to say.

“Cash is setting up a rai?—”

My phone vibrated in my pocket, and I answered on autopilot since only a few people had the new number, grimacing at the number of missed calls and texts on the screen. Greyson and Dominic were pissed.

“You better get down here.” Cameron’s voice was grim, and fear gripped my heart immediately.

“Ash?”

“No. Shara.”

I stuffed my feet into my shoes, grabbing my gun and heading for the door the second her name dropped. Nate trailed me, but I ignored him. He wasn’t my priority when my sister needed me. “What happened?”

“Police raided the club, said there was an anonymous tip about drugs. They found them in her locker.”

My hand was on the doorknob when Cameron’s words hit me so hard, I stopped cold. “Say that again?”

“They came on a tip that led them straight to Shara’s locker.”

My heart was thundering in my chest, my vision swimming as rage took me over. “I see. Let me call you back.”

I ended the call and slid my phone back into my pocket before casually leaning down to tie my shoes.

“Is everything okay?”

“You tell me, Nate. What was it you were saying about Cash?”

He gulped, eyes averted as he told me again. “Cash is setting up a raid on Gilded. He wants to get your people in jail on drug charges.”

---