Page 99 of Fierce Monarch

We’ll talk about it later wasn’t the answer I wanted, but I knew the stubborn set of his jaw. He wasn’t budging. Fine, I’d wait and badger him tomorrow. “I’ll make it happen.”

“Thanks, mariposa.” He readjusted me on his lap and kissed my forehead before leaning back. “I know you’re stressed, but I just want to go home and shower. I’ll tell you everything when you’re naked and dripping on my cock, okay?”

That sounded amazing. All I could think about was reclaiming him, but that wasn’t in the cards yet. Greyson shut the door now that he’d made sure Laidan had everything under control, catching Dominic’s comment. “Orgasms have to wait. We’ve got work to do.”

Dominic groaned, dropping his head to the top of the seat. “I just got out of jail. What do we have to do now?”

“I called a family meeting,” I said. “It’s time to finish this once and for all.”

Dominic’s eyes widened, and he sat up with a wince. Fucking idiot was going to pull his stitches if he had them. Did they even do stitches in jail? If they superglued my boyfriend, I was going to burn that fucking place down.

His shock wore off at the likely feral look I was giving him, and he pulled my hand to his lips. “I’m fine, mariposa. Tell me more about the meeting. Are we going after Cash?”

“No. Joaquin.”

Dominic didn’t ask if I was sure about that, if I was okay, or if I wanted him to do it for me. He just gripped my hand tight in his. “Let’s do this.”

The boys were quiet on the drive to the Celestine, like I needed time to prepare. I didn’t. Admittedly, I had a pit in my stomach every time I thought of ending my uncle’s life, but then I remembered the flames on the walls, Dominic rushing away from me, a burned Nate carrying a worse-off Cameron in his arms.

My cousin nearly died because his father had told the Aces where to go. Joaquin betrayed not just the Marcosa family, but his own son. It was a decision he wouldn’t survive.

As Greyson parked the car in underground parking, I shot a text to Rafael. I didn’t know if it was necessary since I already had Tennessee and Moore’s teams waiting to intervene, but I figured it wouldn’t hurt.

Joaquin dies tonight.

Understood. On standby if you need me.

Stopping by the apartment so Dominic could change took precious minutes, then we were walking into the conference room as a unit, the boys at my back, guns loaded and ready to draw.

I was going to kill one uncle tonight, but we were ready to kill them all if necessary.

Joaquin sat close to the head of the table, smirking like there was nothing wrong with the world. I knew what he thought the meeting was about. He hoped I was coming to tell them I was engaged to Dominic. Greyson and I hadn’t formally announced our engagement yet, but I knew word had spread through the family that there was a ring on my finger, and only an idiot could’ve been blind to Joaquin’s choice of groom.

Gabriele, Leonardo, and Mathias nodded politely as I walked to the head of the table. Joaquin’s greedy eyes followed me the whole way, laser-focused on the ring. His son was in the hospital fighting for his life, and all he cared about was fucking jewelry.

I was used to rage. My father had been prone to fits of it, and even my brother, as wonderful as he was, had the gene to lose his shit over nothing. Me? I controlled it. I wielded that anger like a blade and used it to cut down my enemies.

When the fuck had that become my own family?

As the boys took their places behind my chair, I didn’t sit, instead dropping my palms onto the surface and taking deep, calming breaths.

That control I had was wearing really fucking thin.

Because he had no sense of self-preservation, Joaquin broke the silence. “I see congratulations are in order. Well done, my boy.”

I didn’t need to see to know he was pinning Dominic with a proud father look. Now that I was here, all I could do was stare at my uncle’s hands. They had guided me as a teen and thrown me into the air as a child. He was the man who’d made silly faces at boring dinners to make me laugh and snuck me candy behind my father’s back. When had it all gone wrong? When had he turned into a power-hungry prick capable of throwing his own blood to the wolves?

A brush of fingers against my back sought to give me strength and support, but I wasn’t balking. I was pissed.

We were criminals, but we had a code. Family first.

When had that stopped being enough for Joaquin?

My arms trembled with the need to punish, and I lifted my head to stare at him. “Did you know your son almost died last night?”

The words were whisper-quiet, yet in that room, they might as well have been a roar.

No one moved. No one spoke.

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