Page 92 of Fierce Monarch

I would still feel the heat and see the destruction; I’d just be less likely to die because of an errant brick or something, and they wouldn’t have a coronary. Compromise was a lovely thing.

“You want to say anything?” Dominic asked.

Not really, but I thought it. This is for you, cousin.

Then I set off the bombs.

The building went down with a bang that shook the car and fucked our hearing. A gust of air blew my hair back in streams as level upon level dropped like tipping dominoes.

It was beautiful.

I’d always liked destruction, the chaos of pulling something to the ground to make way for something new. This time, it was just joy that I’d taken something from the man who had stolen so much from me. It felt a little like justice.

No one said anything as we watched. We couldn’t stay long, but I wanted to see what the aftermath was like. I wasn’t surprised when no Aces came out of the building and no one drove up. The place was abandoned by Cash’s men, but the destruction was meant to be an emotional wound. I didn’t need bodies everywhere to make a point. I ignored my phone the first time it rang, but when it started up immediately after, I knew something was wrong. Seeing that it was Nate made everything feel far more dangerous.

“Nate. Are you okay?”

Dominic’s head whipped around, and I swear to god, if he could’ve shot fire out his eyes, he would’ve. “Give me the phone.”

“Fuck off!” I hissed, turning back to my call. “Sorry, what did you say?”

“I said I’m fine, but you have to get out of there.”

I batted Dominic’s hand away when he tried to snatch my phone and glared at him. “Why? Is he coming?”

“Worse.”

What the hell could be worse than Cash coming for me personally?

The flare of red and blue lighting up the darkened street was my answer. Cops. “Seriously, he brought the police? It’s my fucking building.”

“Angel, listen to me. These are not your cops. There’s a reason Cash wanted Shara in jail, and if he gets you in there, I’m not sure you’ll come out.” Nate’s voice was desperate, and he panted like he was sprinting somewhere.

“I have protection in jail.” Not a lot because my people didn’t end up behind bars, but enough. I’d gotten even more after the incident with Shara, but considering I had just thought about the pigs being on someone else’s payroll, I listened. I hauled Greyson and Dominic behind a small group of trees, hoping that it would give us enough cover to hide in.

“Not for this. Run. I’m begging you.”

“I can’t.” It was already too late. One of the cruisers flicked on their spotlight and shone it our direction. The only thing hiding us was the car, and once they got out of their cruiser, we were all fucked.

Our only hope was they were clueless about who they had at the end of their leash, which was obliterated when someone called my name over the loudspeaker. “Marianna Marcosa, come out with your hands up.”

“Don’t even think about it. We’ll hand ourselves over to the cops. You get your ass up and run,” Dominic hissed. “I already left you once today. I’m not doing it again.”

“You have to.” I pressed my fingers to his lips, speaking quickly because we definitely didn’t have time. “Someone set Cameron’s house on fire. Only three people knew where it was. Him, me, and Joaquin. That’s it. They tried to kill Aislynn, which would’ve set O’Bannon on the warpath. These idiots need a scapegoat, and our people need a leader they can trust. Right now, that’s you two. Keep Joaquin on ice, take care of Cameron and Ash, and get me out as soon as you can.”

“Mari—” Grey looked beyond horrified.

“We can work with this,” I said fast, hearing more cruisers stop. “People need a reminder that I’m on top, and we’ll give them one. I’ll make jail my bitch.”

Dominic growled. “No.”

“Dominic.”

“I said no.” He wrapped a hand around my throat and brought his lips to mine, biting until the bottom one split. “I’m not losing you again, temporary or otherwise.”

With a shove, I was in Greyson’s lap as Dominic slunk toward the car and stepped into the light.

“No!” I lurched for him, but Grey held me back, slapping a hand over my mouth as the cops screamed at Dominic.

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