Page 67 of Fierce Monarch

I glanced at Mari, realizing she was dealing with the same destabilization of her power base now.

“Things would’ve been different if Cash had still been in the city, but he’d left in the middle of the night, taking Mario’s product with him. After he burned the evidence, Mario offered me a quiet divorce if I signed the deal and left Seattle until it was time for Dominic to return. Once Dominic fulfilled the deal, everything would be forgiven.”

Mari sat back, tapping her fingers on the couch arm as she tried to piece together the puzzle. “What deal are you talking about?”

My mother’s brow furrowed as she looked between Mari and me, and my stomach dropped. “The marriage deal. You and Dominic have been engaged since you were sixteen.”

Chapter Eighteen

Mari

Itried to bring myself back to the conversation after that, but my brain was stuck trying to figure out what the hell had just happened.

You and Dominic have been engaged since you were sixteen.

There was no fucking way. Right?

I tried to remember if my father had acted strangely after his divorce, but nothing stuck out. Other than not pushing another match on me as I grew up, regardless of how old I got. It was pretty unheard of for me to get to sixteen without a match. Hell, Aislynn was engaged to her first beau before she was in school, though that obviously didn’t take. Men in our world were notoriously short-lived.

As if that wasn’t confusing enough, Mario never talked much about Dominic or Lucia after the divorce and their return to Chicago, nor did he attempt to woo anyone else to his side. By all accounts—though I didn’t keep track of my father’s sexcapades—he kept things casual after that. Nothing serious, nothing personal. In fact, his only real change after Lucia left was that he preferred escorts over attempting to find someone organically, and yes, I wished I didn’t know that.

He just went on with life, existing and ruling as if nothing was wrong.

Then he died.

That was the part that stuck with me as I sat on Lucia’s couch, mulling it all over. The pact would’ve ended as soon as Mario died, unless Antoni chose to uphold it. My brother hadn’t mentioned Dominic either, nor did he have any use for expanding our reach. Mario was the ambitious one; Antoni just wanted to survive his inheritance. He wanted to take Shara as his wife and grow old in Seattle with their children and grandchildren running around them. He wanted a pipe dream, but he hadn’t sold me out. I was as sure of it as I was of my own name.

If Antoni had asked, I’d have married Dominic in a heartbeat, but he didn’t. He wasn’t planning on honoring jack shit.

So why didn’t Dominic tell me?

I wasn’t sure and wouldn’t be until we talked, but did it really matter? Intention had always been the crux of Dominic’s and my issues. He wanted to bundle me up and keep me safe, protecting heart and head in every endeavor. I wanted a partner who trusted that I could handle myself.

Was the reality that we were just too incompatible? I didn’t want to believe that because losing Dominic for good felt like a fate worse than death, but I wasn’t as sure about us anymore.

Nate’s treachery had taught me one thing: I couldn’t be with someone who lied to me. Small things like whether they took out the trash or huge things like this, I couldn’t take it. I needed transparency or the trust was gone, and in both of their cases, I wasn’t sure we could get it back.

Greyson cleared his throat, reminding me where we were. Regardless of how I found out about it, Lucia was right. It had been the only way out for them, the only choice to ensure their survival. I could hate the situation all I wanted, but at least they were alive. That was better than most could get, and I was glad for it.

As the others talked around me, I felt this ache in my stomach. At first, I thought it was pain, but it felt like something else. Something urging me to be impulsive. To act.

But on what?

“Was there anything else you needed to know?” Lucia said some time later, startling me back into the room. Christ, what was wrong with me? I looked over at Grey, but his little headshake said it was nothing new or necessary for me to pay attention to. Thank fuck for that.

“No, that’s it.” Deciding to give Lucia the same honesty she gave us, I leaned forward. “You should go underground for a while.”

She sucked in a breath, clutching that necklace again. If she’d had another glass, I had no doubt she’d have emptied it. “So, the rumors are true.”

Dominic had mentioned soon after he arrived in Seattle that rumors had made their way to Chicago, but I didn’t realize that Cash was part of them. I glanced over instinctively before I tore my gaze away. Keeping my shit together meant I couldn’t look at him. Not now. Not yet.

“They are. He’s back and out for blood. I’d prefer not to give him an easy target.”

Lucia nodded. “Doug and I were planning to go on our yearly vacation next week. I’ll extend it.”

That infernal pressure pushed on my chest, making every breath a chore.

Engaged. We were fucking engaged. Had been for years.

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