Page 84 of Fierce Monarch

Her body jerked, and I stroked a thumb over her collarbone, reminding her that I was here and she was safe. “Shh, don’t be loud, or they’ll interrupt.”

When she steadied again, I continued, picking up momentum now that we were close to the end. “When you disappeared, I nearly killed Sabine. I was mindless with grief, and the thought that she was responsible for delivering you to Cash when I’d been so careful not to was agonizing. When you came back alive, I knew I didn’t have much time. Cash started calling more, and the nurses let me know he was trying to visit my mom. I knew I could’ve told you—I should have—but the arrogant part of me thought I could fix it all before you noticed. I was wrong, and I lost you in the process. I’m sorry for that.”

Mari’s eyes were glassy as they looked my way. She was close to coming, but both of us were holding out even though it was obviously a struggle. My arms were shaking with the need to shove myself deep and come inside her, but I held back. Not yet.

“Why’d you leave?” she asked softly.

“He’d wanted me home for weeks, but I kept deflecting, saying I was close to getting into your systems. The night we torched the hospital, he told me he was paying my mom a visit the next night and whether she survived was up to me. I had to go, even though I hated it.”

“So you fucked me and said goodbye.”

“Yes.” I saw the hurt on her face before she turned it away, and I kissed the glimmer of a tear I knew she’d never let fall. “I’m so sorry for that. It wasn’t fair to you. I regret it.”

“You regret telling me you loved me?”

“No.” Instinct had me hauling her closer, reinforcing my claim. “Never. I’m just sorry I did something so shitty to someone I love. It wasn’t right. None of it was right. If I could do it all over again, I’d change so much, but I can’t. All I can do is promise it won’t happen again and beg you to forgive me.”

Dominic’s voice slithered over us, asking Greyson if Mari was okay, and I knew this had to end. Our time was running out. Sliding my arm tighter around her shoulders, I picked up the pace as much as I could without making too much noise. “I need you to come, baby. Let me have it.”

She shook her head, and I kissed her cheek sweetly as I circled her clit again and again. “Yes. You can do it. Come on, angel.”

When she squeezed around me, her eyes rolled back, and I fought not to do the same. I had to commit this look to memory in case I never got it again. My final thrusts were shallow since I desperately didn’t want to leave the deep warmth of her body, and when I came, we were as close as two people could be.

“I love you,” I whispered into her hair.

She didn’t say it back, but that was okay. I knew she wouldn’t.

For the longest time, we soaked in the press of our bodies against each other and the warmth of my come deep inside her.

Mari was the first to break the silence. “Cash killed an old woman yesterday.”

“He did.” I wanted to explain that I knew all about Mama Ophelia, but Dominic and Grey were getting restless in the kitchen. “Please trust me when I say I took care of it.”

“She was hit by a car.”

“She was high as a kite when it happened.”

“What? Why?”

The visit to Mama Ophelia’s had been somber and sad, but in the end, the old woman had made the choice. She loved Mari and she loved the city, but she was tired. She was older than dirt, and with no signs of her body giving out, she was desperate to be with her husband again. I gave her death a purpose, because it was the only solution.

“It was her or you, angel. She chose herself.”

“Did you send the Wolf the ledgers?”

“No.” I wanted to ask about the meeting, but I knew she wasn’t ready to trust me with those answers yet.

“Do you know who did?”

“Not for sure.”

“Give me something, Nate,” she begged. “I want to believe you’re not a heartless bastard.”

That wasn’t all. She wanted to believe me, but I couldn’t tell her who the spy was, not without putting all of us in more danger than we could handle right now. That was an endgame move, and we weren’t ready yet.

“My brother is obsessed with our father. He wants to emulate him. It’s a sick sort of hero worship to Cash.”

“Why?”

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