Page 25 of Owned By Royal

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.

Chapter Seven

Sierra

The silence hanging over our house has never felt this heavy. Ever since I walked out of Marco Madera’s estate the night before with tears blurring my vision and Royal’s devastated expression burned into my memory, every room seems colder somehow.

Every familiar corner carries a reminder of just how spectacularly my life has unraveled. I barely slept, replaying our argument over and over until sunrise. I wondered whether I should have trusted him sooner.

Or if there had ever been a version of that conversation that didn’t end with him believing I’d manipulated him. The answer keeps eluding me. And now I sit in the living room pretending to read the same page of a book for the tenth time while waiting for my mother to come downstairs.

I know the conversation we’re about to have is long overdue. She doesn’t disappoint.

“You embarrassed me.”

I lower the book slowly as Yvonne enters the room, already dressed for lunch, even though neither of us has any intention of leaving the house.

“Good morning to you, too.”

“I’m serious, Sierra.”

“So am I.”