Page 3 of Fierce Monarch

Couldn’t blame him. If I could destroy the house itself, I would. The walls were too ingrained with memories for me to ever feel happy between them again. They were already closing in, and I dreaded the reminders I’d find upstairs.

So, don’t go up there.

Sometimes I forgot that I was rich.

“Start looking for a new house. We’ll need to move.” I slid under the weight rack, fine to keep the base weight as a warm-up, but I didn’t reach for it yet. I was too caught up in my own head. The idea of a fresh start appealed more the longer I considered it.

Greyson tapped something else and flipped the tablet to show me two homes. From the pictures alone, I liked them. “Already done. These look good.”

“We’ll buy them both, retrofit, and then move to whichever one suits best at the time. We can always use the other as a decoy.”

He made a note on his phone then slipped both it and the tablet into his jacket. “For now, I’ve got the penthouse at the Celestine ready for the three of us.”

I was always grateful for Greyson, but in the middle of a personal crisis, I was in awe of how well he knew me. He could take care of me in ways I couldn’t fathom.

“The Celestine’s perfect. Thanks, Grey.”

It was a luxury condo building not far from Shara’s place, deep in the heart of my territory. With building security some of the best outside our compound, we always kept the penthouse ready in case of emergencies. Plus, we owned the whole building, so we could keep the family close while we worked through Nate’s treachery. Considering how dangerous life had just become, it was the best solution we had.

Cash had placed a target on our backs, and Nate helped him.

I sat up on the bench without lifting a thing. My head was too messy to be holding anything above my body. I’d be just as likely to slip and hurt myself. “I’m going for a shower.”

As I moved past him, Greyson stopped me with a soft hand around my bicep. “I’m sorry, Mari.”

Staring at him, I saw the agony I was carrying reflected in his eyes. When I hurt, he hurt, and I was fucking decimated.

“Me too.” I looked away, swallowing tears and anguish in one shard-filled gulp. He was right; we had to keep going. “I want us moved in to the penthouse by the end of the night. The others can follow tomorrow.”

“I love you, reina.”

I couldn’t say it back. All I could think about was last night in Nate’s arms.

I’ll never stop loving you.

Smiling tightly at Grey, I went upstairs, locked myself in my bathroom, and cried into the shower like someone had died.

Chapter Two

Nate

My first memory was my brother trying to kill me.

I was just a normal five-year-old at day care, playing with cars and laughing with the other kids, when this man showed up, saying he was my brother. I’d never met him before, but we had the same hair, the same eyes. He took me from the day care before I had a chance to say goodbye, telling me we were going on an adventure, just the two of us.

I was a fatherless kid, desperate to belong to someone. Who was I to say no?

According to my mother, Cash had suspected his father had sired another son, but for years, he had no proof.

Until he did.

Our father sent money to my mother, not enough to survive on, but enough to “help.” Apparently, Cash tracked it. He’d been in his twenties at the time and well into the underworld, so checking a few bank statements wasn’t out of his capabilities. Neither was hiding his tracks.

We drove around in circles for an hour before he took me to this little pond just outside of town, only stopping to pick up burgers for lunch, which we ate on the shoreline. As we munched on the fast-food fries, he told me all about being raised by our father. The good times, the bad times, the anger, the joy. All of it.

Then he told me to take off my shoes because we were going swimming. I didn’t know how to swim, but he was my big brother, and all the books said brothers could be trusted, right?

Wrong.

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