Page 53 of Fierce Monarch

She clicked on her screen, and there it was. The beginning of Cash’s plan.

The date hit me square in the chest, digging its way into my brain until I wasn’t sure I could fully breathe.

July. Twenty goddamn years ago.

Two decades, Cash had his hands in my business—my father’s business, Antoni’s business. Beyond being fucking annoying, the implications were insane. The Marcosa empire had had more than one stream of income fall by the wayside as we expanded and grew. Had Cash been involved in those too? How many of our people were really ours? Could anyone be trusted? Ronnie went over everything in such excruciating detail that we had to order lunch, and by the end of it, my eyes were crossing. Cash had stolen millions of dollars from us and used those funds to finance our destruction. It was poetic in a way, and if I hadn’t been on the receiving end of his bullshit, I would’ve applauded the psychotic bastard.

But I was, and I didn’t.

After Grey and I had exhausted every brain cell we could to get a deeper understanding of the scope of Cash’s treachery, we called the meeting to a halt. Ronnie packed up her things, pausing just before she got to the door. Her shoulders bunched under her shirt, and I could tell she was warring with something in her head.

“What is it?”

Another deep breath and she turned to me. “We’ve been monitoring the list of people we initially gave you, and although no one else agrees, I think there are more names to add.”

I felt Grey’s attention shift, his focus lasered in on every word out of her mouth. “Why do you say that?”

“Honestly, it’s a gut feeling. These people are still using their log-ins, though more or less than they did before. Never at the same frequency. Most of them have taken last-minute leaves of absences, only to come back immediately after, like nothing happened. They haven’t been seen in public in months, and some of their families haven’t been seen in twice as long. It’s just…odd.”

Grey and I glanced at each other, both frowning. Cash didn’t value human life, and he didn’t care about casualties. Anyone who stood in the way of his goal was a justified loss, but was he far enough gone that he’d take out entire families? Kids? I had no fucking clue, and the possibilities made my stomach cramp.

“We’ll look into it,” I promised as Grey told her where to send the information and the names. We’d have Moore’s team look over things and let us know if her concerns were founded. If not, no harm, no foul. If they were, then we had a problem. I couldn’t leave families under my protection to suffer.

I wouldn’t.

Ronnie’s trust was absolute, so with a nod to me and a wave to Grey, she was gone.

As the door shut, I swiveled toward the windows, bouncing my leg as I thought. She had given us so much information that it was hard to focus on any one piece of it, but one thing had been digging at my brain throughout the meeting. “Why would he start then?”

It’d been bothering me since Ronnie had shown us the first deposit. Twenty years ago, Cash was close to my father. I knew Mario like I knew myself, and he rewarded people like Cash, the ones who were devoted to the empire. Hell, he had likely been months away from being promoted to second-in-command. What caused him to defect? To steal product and fake his own disappearance. Why sever ties when he was close to power? Hell, he could’ve killed my father and uncles and been awarded the seat because my brother was too young to take it. He could’ve had it all.

So why fight like this?

“What was going on twenty years ago?”

“Our parents.”

My head snapped up as Dominic sauntered into the room, flopped into the chair at my side, and snuck his hand on my leg. He squeezed gently, forcing my absent-minded jiggling to stop. Two days ago, I would’ve squirmed at the feel of anyone’s skin on mine, but after last night, it felt good. Reassuring. Greyson must’ve realized the same thing because he took the chair on my other side and did the same. I leaned into it, letting them ground me. It felt right.

When Cash dropped his bomb, I’d needed time to process Nate’s treachery alone. I was too shattered to watch myself and too aware to watch them fret over me. I'd needed space, and now that I’d had it and was not good, but better, I was going to fall into them. Greyson and Dominic were my home, my center. I trusted them without reservation, and I was going to prove it.

I squeezed both their hands in gratitude and turned back to Dominic. “What about our parents?”

“That’s around the time they got married.”

And divorced.

Mario and Lucia Ricci had lasted ten days before my father pulled the plug. He’d never explained why, and I hadn’t asked, too heartbroken at Dominic disappearing back to Chicago overnight. Even though we’d kept in touch, it wasn’t the same, and after ten years, we stopped reaching out even occasionally. I hadn’t spoken to him in a decade before he’d waltzed into my home to take over as underboss.

“You think that’s relevant?” Greyson asked.

“Probably not, but we can’t discount anything.” Dominic seemed distracted, and I ran my nails over his hand to pull him out of it. He smiled and leaned in for a kiss. “How’re you feeling today, mariposa?”

“Much better.”

Two words changed the atmosphere of the room, and I didn’t even mind it. I needed a break from politicking and trying to outthink a man who’d been working on this plan my whole life.

“Oh really? So you’re not interested in a repeat?” Grey slid his hand up my thigh, fingers getting very close to my panties.

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