Chapter Six
Royal
I don’t move after Sierra leaves.
The office door remains open, swaying almost imperceptibly from where she rushed past me only moments ago. And I continue staring at the empty doorway as though she’ll suddenly walk back through it and tell me this has all been one spectacular misunderstanding.
Instead, the silence settles around me like a weight. It presses against my chest until it becomes difficult to tell whether the ache I’m feeling comes from anger or heartbreak. I replay every conversation we’ve shared over the past weeks, every smile, every stolen moment, every kiss.
And now each memory comes with an ugly question attached to it. Was she falling for me, or was she simply getting closer to Marco through me? I want to believe the answer is obvious because I’ve seen the way she looked at me when she thought I wasn’t paying attention.
I’ve felt the sincerity in her quiet moments, and I’ve watched her slowly let her guard down around me. Yet I also caught her standing behind my father’s desk, confidential files spread before her, as if she belonged there.
The image refuses to leave my mind, and no matter how desperately I want to explain it away, I can’t. The sound of footsteps pulls me from my thoughts.
“She’s gone.”
I turn to find Riccardo standing in the doorway, his expression unusually serious. “You heard?”
“I heard enough.”
He quietly closes the office door before walking farther into the room. His gaze briefly lands on the open drawer Sierra had been searching through before returning to me.
“I saw her run out crying.”
I laugh once, though there’s no humor in it. “Good.”
“No.” His answer is immediate. “It wasn’t good.”
I sink into one of the leather chairs opposite Father’s desk and rub a hand across my face. “You didn’t see what she was doing.”
“I don’t think I needed to.”
“You usually defend people after hearing both sides.”
“I usually do.”
He sits across from me. “But I’ve also known you my entire life.”
I look at him. “And?”
“You look like someone whose heart just got ripped out.”
For several seconds, I don’t answer because saying the words aloud somehow makes them more real. “I think she was using me.”
Riccardo studies me carefully. “Do you actually believe that?”
“I caught her searching Father’s files. She admitted she thinks he murdered her father. And she never told me.”
“I heard.”
I lean forward, resting my elbows on my knees. “How am I supposed to ignore that?”
Riccardo remains quiet long enough that I finally look up again. “What?”
He sighs heavily. “Can I ask you something?”
“Go ahead.”
“If she’d come to you three weeks ago and told you she believed Dad had someone murdered, would you have believed her?”
The question catches me completely off guard.
Would I have? I know the kind of person my father is and the business he does.
Yet, three weeks ago, I’d probably have defended Marco without hesitation, because I didn’t know her enough.
I’d have assumed she’d wanted to frame him even if he’s capable of it.
Riccardo notices the realization settling over me. “Exactly.”
His interruption is calm. I frown. I’ve always assumed Riccardo was clueless. “You sound like you know more than I think you do.”
He leans back slowly, folding his arms. “I’ve spent years convincing myself I don’t.”
Silence falls between us. Finally, I ask the question that’s suddenly burning inside me. “What do you mean?”
Riccardo’s eyes drift toward the window. “When Mom died...” my entire body stills, “...did you ever think it was strange?”
“Our mother died in a car accident.”
“That’s what we were told.”
“It was investigated.”
“So was Mr. Thorne’s murder.”
I stare at him.
He continues quietly. “I’ve spent years buried inside Father’s companies, Royal. I’ve seen things that never quite added up. Payments that disappeared. Executives who suddenly resigned after disagreements with him.
Competitors who quietly backed out of deals after private meetings. Every time I started asking questions, there’d be a perfectly reasonable explanation waiting for me.”
I’ve always known my father toed the line of evil, but I didn’t know how deep it went. I’ve always wanted to distance myself from him, and maybe it felt better not knowing.
“So, you think dad is not as clean as we thought?”
“I don’t know.” His voice cracks for the first time. “I honestly don’t know.” The admission hits me harder than anything else tonight.
“I always thought you admired him.”
Riccardo smiles sadly. “I admire what he built.” He exhales slowly before continuing. “I stayed close because someone had to.”
“What are you talking about?”
“After Mom died, I was nineteen. You were fourteen.”
“I remember.”
“I promised myself I’d protect you.”
The words catch me completely off guard. “I didn’t need protecting.”
“I know that now.” He laughs softly. “But back then, you were just my little brother.”
I shake my head. “You’ve been pretending all these years?”
“I’ve been waiting.”
“For what?”
“For Father to make a mistake big enough that even he couldn’t hide it.”
I search his face. He’s telling the truth. Every board meeting. Every business dinner. Every compliment he’d paid Marco. Every obedient nod. It had all been another performance. Just like mine.
“I never knew.”
“I didn’t want you involved.”
I can’t help smiling bitterly. “That’s ironic.”
“It is.”
We sit quietly for several moments, each lost inside our own thoughts. Finally Riccardo speaks again.
“So, do you still think Sierra invented everything?”
I close my eyes. “No.” The answer comes far more easily than I expected. “I don’t know what to think anymore.”
“That’s honest.”
I do know that I’m in love with her. Ever since she met with the guys and Nadia, and she blended right in, I knew she was the one for me. I understand why she wasn’t honest about her suspicions before now.
“So why are you still angry?” Riccardo asks, interrupting my thoughts.
“Because she didn’t trust me.”
“Or because you think she used you?”
Both. The answer comes immediately. “I don’t know which hurts more.”
He stands, placing a hand briefly on my shoulder. “Figure out which one it is.” Then he leaves me alone.
And as I watch him leave, I realize that I’m also hiding a secret that may break the already fragile relationship Sierra and I have.
???
The next morning, I drive straight to 4R Ink before the shop officially opens. River looks up from the reception desk as I walk in.
“You’re early.”
“I need the basement.”
One glance at my face wipes the smile from his. “You okay?”
“No.”
He doesn’t ask another question. “Go.”
I descend the hidden staircase beneath the shop. The familiar security door slides shut behind me before I enter the room almost no one outside our family knows exists. Rows of monitors illuminate the otherwise dark basement while humming servers line one wall.
Each is custom-built over the years to handle the amount of surveillance, encryption, and investigative work our team performs. This is where I become someone entirely different from the billionaire the city thinks it knows.
This is where I tell the truth. I sit before the largest monitor, crack my knuckles once, and begin. Father’s network has always been difficult to breach. I designed most of its security. Ironically, that also means I know exactly how to dismantle it.
Passwords fall first. Encrypted drives next. Archived emails. Private servers. Financial ledgers. Deleted correspondence. Hidden offshore accounts. Hour after hour passes as I dig deeper than I’ve ever allowed myself to before, refusing to look away no matter what I find.
By early afternoon, I wish I’d never started. The evidence fills screen after screen. Bribery. Money laundering. Judges paid to alter outcomes. Politicians purchased through shell companies. Illegal land acquisitions. Witness intimidation. My stomach twists. Then I find the file.
Project Atlas.
Inside are communications between Father and one of his private security contractors discussing ‘the Thorne problem.’ My breathing stops. I open the attachments. Meeting schedules. Payment authorizations. Surveillance photographs. And one final email.
The issue has been permanently resolved. Proceed with the acquisition.
Dated two days after Sierra’s father died. I lean back in my chair, unable to process what I’m seeing. He did it. God, he actually did it. My hands shake as I continue searching. Another encrypted folder. It’s about mom. At first, I thought it was family photographs.
It isn’t. Insurance records. Vehicle maintenance reports. Communications between Father’s head of security and a mechanic. Brake failure scheduled two days before Mother’s fatal accident. I slam my fist against the desk.
“No...”
The word barely leaves my mouth. The room suddenly feels too small. Everything Riccardo suspected. Everything Sierra feared. Everything I’ve spent years refusing to question. It’s all true.
I reach for my phone. “Emergency meeting.”
Less than twenty minutes later the others gather in the basement.
No one speaks while I project the files across the largest monitor.
One by one I walk them through everything.
The offshore accounts. The murders disguised as accidents.
The corruption. The evidence tying Marco directly to Sierra’s father.
The room grows quieter with every passing minute. When I finish, no one says anything.
Finally, River breaks the silence. “So, he’s our next target.”
Raiden’s expression hardens. “We move fast.”
“He knows Sierra was investigating him,” I say. “If he suspects she found something...”
Roman doesn’t let me finish. “She’s in danger.”
“I know.”
I immediately open the tracking software I wrote years ago. I type in Father’s phone number, and the familiar map appears on-screen. The blinking location loads.
My blood turns to ice. “Fuck no...”
River looks at the monitor. “What?”
I point silently. The pin isn’t at Madera Holdings. It’s sitting directly on top of a residential address I know by heart. Sierra’s house. Every instinct inside me screams the same terrifying thought. Marco isn’t there for a family visit. He’s there because he knows.
And if we’re already too late… I don’t let myself finish that thought before I jump into action.