Page 31 of Fall Before Her Throne

My grin stretched even wider. “He was jealous of my relationship with her. I was threatened by how obsessed he is with her.” I exhaled through my nose. “It’s fine now. They’re all like that. Obsessed. Possessive. It used to make me nervous and frustrated, but now I couldn’t imagine not having them. They would do anything to make her happy, to keep her safe. It’s not perfect. We fight and then we get over it. But we’re family.”

“Family.” He let the word slowly roll around in his mouth like it had a new meaning, a fresh taste he’d never experienced before. “Hmm.”

“Look,” I said as I sat up, rubbing the back of my neck. “I can’t make you tell her, or any of them, the truth. But you’re a mess, Max. Getting it all off your chest might help. Maybe you’ll be able to think more clearly after.”

He didn’t answer, but I saw his throat work as he gave me a tight nod.

I stood. “Sleep. You won’t heal if you don’t rest.”

I left him lying on the bed, staring up at the ceiling. Whether he let what I said inside that thick skull of his was up to him.

But after what he’d just told me?

Everything was different now.

10

LEONA

Three days passed while we got settled into our new home. We spent the time focusing on reconnaissance and building our supplies and resources—and trying not to kill our new guest while he recovered.

Ciel and I had been trying to track the Camorra as they spread through the city like a plague, and we were finally making progress, so I set out to update Obi.

I found him and Max in the library.

Together.

My eyebrow raised as I watched them lean over a map and talk in low tones. Max pointed at the map and shook his head before Obi responded and pointed somewhere else.

I cleared my throat. Max’s head popped up, eyes wide, like I caught him with his hand in the cookie jar. His bruises were yellowing, and the swelling on his cheek had finally gone down.

“What is it, nke’m?” Obi’s deep voice rumbled across the room.

I shrugged. “I guess I was just coming to make sure that neither of you had killed the other yet.”

“Not yet,” Obi said with a small smirk. His crinkling eyes brought a smile to my face.

“Ciel picked up Greco’s trail,” I said. “He and I were combing through security footage, and we finally found him. We traced him through the city for a couple of hours before he disappeared again.”

“Where was he?” Max asked.

I walked over to the desk and handed them both my phone. “This picture is from a skyscraper in Manhattan. He went inside, rode the elevator, and then he visited a business on the thirtieth floor. After that, he left.”

At least five of Greco’s men flanked him in a tight formation, and all of them had weapons hidden inside their jackets. Frankly, he looked like the mafia boss he was.

Obi zoomed in on the photo, focusing the image on a logo in the background. “He’s visiting a tech company. Nexus Solutions is a leader in artificial intelligence that specializes in facial recognition. The founder, Cole Hawkins, is one of my contacts.”

“Really?” I asked, back straightening. Now, why would Greco go there?

He nodded. “We did a job for him a few years ago. We stole some proprietary software from one of his competitors, which became the foundation for his latest technology.”

I whistled. “If that ever got out, his business could collapse.”

“Exactly,” Obi replied.

Max leaned in to look at the photo. “I know the founder, too. He was featured in an article about entrepreneurs changing the face of New York. We’ve crossed paths in social circles before.”

“Do you think Greco would try to tap him for laundering?”