Page 49 of Fierce Monarch

I jerked my head up from where I’d been watching the floor, contemplating Derek’s words. “What do you mean?”

“He got them out of town, living in Idaho.”

He’d moved the sisters out of Cash’s reach.

“Why did he do that?”

Derek shrugged. “Said he wished someone had done it for him.”

Because Cash nearly killed him once, and anyone that unhinged wasn’t stopping at one attempt. How many lives did Nate have? How many deaths had he escaped? Did it make a difference to me what he’d survived, when he’d thrown me to the wolves?

I wasn’t sure, and it pissed me off. “You’re singing his praises, but he threatened your family before. He beat your father. Hell, he probably beat you. Why say anything good about him?”

“Because we’re human. We make mistakes. But I don’t think our mistakes are the sum of our souls.”

If he was going to get religious, I was leaving.

Dominic scoffed. “You find Jesus, Derek?”

“No. Just self-reflection. Happens when you know you’re going to die.”

Oh good. A pragmatist.

“This has to do with Nate, how?”

Derek sighed, trying to get comfortable in his bindings before giving up. “Not everything is black-and-white. I betrayed you for my family, even when I didn’t want to. Yet I’m telling you everything I know now. I’ve made an effort to balance the scales. Nate hurt me because he had no choice, yet he protected my sisters when he didn’t have to. Which shows his character more?”

“What else did you do to balance the scales?” I asked, trying not to let his words sink in.

Did Nate’s kindness show his character more than his treachery? Could I forgive a liar if his reasons were sound? I didn’t know. I could’ve understood the actions of a desperate man. It was the lying I struggled with and the blatant disrespect that bothered me.

Lies were just words people said to keep you warm and compliant. I didn’t want manufactured friendship or love; I wanted honesty. I wanted something real.

Wasn’t I worth the truth?

“I helped when I could,” Derek said. “Gave money and volunteered.”

“For the family,” I corrected pointedly. “I don’t give a fuck about your good deeds when those people aren’t the ones you betrayed.”

Derek swallowed, clearing his throat. “I slipped you tips, told you where Cash would be when he stopped by for one of his reminders.”

I glanced at Grey, refusing to let the surprise show on my face. He didn’t even have to look at his tablet to shake his head.

We hadn’t gotten any tips. Not one in all the years I’d been in power.

“Who did you tell?” Because even if it was easier to believe Derek was lying, I didn’t think he was. In fact, I’d bet a lot of money that he wasn’t.

“I don’t remember.”

Okay, now he was lying.

“Derek,” I warned softly. “If you start lying to me, this is going to have a much bloodier end.”

“I’m already going to die,” he said with a shrug. “At least my siblings will be safe when I go.”

He was right. I wasn’t going to touch his sisters. I was a murderer, but even I had standards. We kept asking, needing that answer, but he stayed resolutely silent. Nothing we did could pry the name from his lips.

That he was willing to die with his secret told me how much power that person really had. It terrified me.

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