Broken Crown (Gilded Empire Book 1) by MJ Crouch

Author:MJ Crouch [Crouch, MJ]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Calamittie Jane Publishing
Published: 2024-04-18T18:30:00+00:00

Chapter Sixteen

Mari

Leaving Nate at home was harder than expected. Despite my instinct to trust him, the thought of him in my space—guards or not—unsettled me. The house was a maze of secrets and spoils, and we didn’t know who held his loyalty. Even with Tennessee’s assurances that he’d glossed over the important sections of the house and knowing they were protected, I kept the video feed up on my phone.

“There’s nothing he can get into, reina. I made sure of it.” Grey laid his hand on my thigh, stilling the unconscious jiggling. Warmth spread from his skin to mine, and even as I craved it, I moved away and stared out at the rain-soaked streets. Grey’s hand tightened for a second, then slid off my leg and back onto his lap. He didn’t speak for the rest of the drive, but I could see in his face how badly I’d hurt him.

That was the problem, though. I couldn’t get what I wanted without hurting someone, and the last person I wanted to bear that cost was Grey. He was my person, but the robbery was a wake-up call. I’d let Rey’s death lull me into a complacency that couldn’t stand. My leadership of Seattle was only maintained by a small margin on a good day. The other territories were nearly equal, their forces the same as well. Just because my family had a long-standing history as heads of Seattle didn’t mean shit. We still had to defend our claim. I still had to defend it. Yet, here we were, heading into a situation where I couldn’t demand help from the other heads. The Aces weren’t affecting them directly, so I had to bargain for assistance. And I knew what Sean O’Bannon would ask for.

Greyson.

The Irish were our biggest allies, our greatest supporters. It’d taken years to form that bond, and I had no clue what would happen if I declined Sean’s proposal. Would he remove his support of me and throw in his lot with Cash and the Aces? Would he come after me for the insult? Would he turn the other heads against me and stage a coup, taking my power for himself?

I didn’t know, and that meant Grey and I had no future together. Because it was looking more and more likely that I’d have to give him up to defend our home.

My only saving grace was we’d only had one night. Outside the lifetime of loving each other from afar, Grey and I had only crossed the line once, and the club already felt like a fever dream. A moment outside of reality. With morning came clarity that we’d done something that couldn’t be taken back. Something that had consequences for more than just us.

Geneva pulled in front of Elysian Enterprises, our property management corporation. The Elysian team dealt with all the apartment renovations, maintenance requests, and other landlord duties for all of our buildings, including the houses out of the city. Only four stories, the building

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