Page 81 of Fierce Monarch

Before I could say anything else, she tossed her hand in the air as if shooing away his worries. “Your friend and I were just talking. She’s a good girl. She deserved better than what you gave her. Hell, she deserved better than what the world gave her.” Her grip was weak, but she clung to me again. “Don’t worry, darling. It’ll get better one day. One day, those boys will see exactly what you deserve and give it to you.”

Heat pricked the backs of my eyelids and I tried to swallow back the sudden tears, but in the aftermath of Mama Ophelia’s death, kindness felt like too much for me to handle.

“Thank you, Marjorie.”

Nate and I kept staring at each other until I could feel Marjorie getting agitated, like she was falling victim to the tension between us, and I couldn’t handle it. Finally, I relaxed in my chair.

“We’re just talking, Nate.”

He sagged in relief, and a part of me hated that he truly thought I’d go after his mother. It poked at those fresh wounds and dug in until they bled anew. With a practiced smile Marjorie’s way, I stood. “I’m going to give you some time alone. It was wonderful to meet you, Marjorie.”

“You too, Mari. Come back anytime.”

I didn’t agree to that. No way Nate would appreciate me getting closer to his mom, not when she could easily be used against him. Instead, I gave her shoulder a gentle squeeze and left.

“Mari!”

I walked faster, not wanting a direct confrontation with Nate.

Just make it to the car, I told myself. I could break down with Greyson, but I would not do it in the halls of this place.

Because I’d come for a sign, and I’d gotten one. The problem was, I didn’t know what to do now.

“For fuck’s sake, Mari. Wait!” Nate caught me by the arm and kept me close, voice low enough to make my stomach clench. “If you want to kill me for everything I’ve done, fine, but leave my mother alone. She really doesn’t have anything to do with this.”

“She’s the reason you came back, isn’t she?”

“Cash would’ve come for me either way, but yes. I wanted to be here for her in case…” In case she died. I stared at him, letting myself actually look at his face again. A little empty, a lot exhausted, and a kind of weary I felt in my soul, but still somehow hopeful. Like a conversation with his mom would lift him up again. He looked so fucking beautiful, it killed me.

“Were you at Mama Ophelia’s today?” I asked abruptly. I focused on every part of him, desperate for a reaction, and I got one.

Confusion.

He looked at me from under furrowed brows. “Am I supposed to know what that is?”

“No. Why did you tell me to stay home?”

He looked around and crept closer, hiding me from view as a man wheeled a medical cart down the hall. I felt Nate nod at him, but other than a cursory glance my way, he didn’t stick around. Nate’s voice was barely higher than a whisper when he spoke. “Cash didn’t like that you got your girl out so fast. He had plans for her inside. He was pissed and wanted to do something bigger, something you couldn’t avoid.”

So he’d gone for my people instead of my family.

“Would you ever order a strike against an innocent family?” I was pretty sure I knew the answer, but I had to know for certain.

Nate’s eyes darkened, the pain in them so noticeable it made my chest ache. “No.” He looked away, clearing his throat. “Do you really believe I could do that?”

“Do you really think I’d go after your mother?”

We stared at each other, all heartache and mourning, the words unsaid but so fucking clear I could practically read them in the air. When neither of us took that first step, toward reconciliation, toward peace, I slipped under his arm and down the hall.

No, I didn’t believe Nate could condemn innocents to die. That was the problem.

If he wasn’t what I thought he was, and he wasn’t like Cash, who the fuck was Nate Beckstrom?

Chapter Twenty-Two

Nate

I’d never been to the Celestine, but I certainly hadn’t been idle when I was in Mari’s home. The security system was near impregnable, but I’d found a small blind spot on the penthouse floor. Telling Moore hadn’t been a huge priority since it was twelve stories up, and I doubted anyone in their right mind was going to climb twelve fucking stories to get to Mari.

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