Page 66 of Forged

Zara smiles, something softer in her expression. “It’s how Enzo and I found our way back to each other.”

“You were a dancer?”

She nods. “For almost seven years while I was running from my father.”

That piece of information slots into a place somewhere in the back of my mind for a later discussion.

I clear my throat. “I’ve always liked clubs. Beautiful women. Good music.” I smile. “Lars will have to take me.”

Violette lifts her glass. “For research purposes.”

Zara grins. “Of course.”

“For research,” I confirm.

It’spast eleven when the door shuts behind Violette, and the quiet settles back over the penthouse.

Exhaustion hits me all at once.

“I love your family,” I say, rubbing my eyes. “But this has been a long day.”

Lars steps in front of me and wraps his arms around my waist. I sink into him without thinking. His hand slides slowly up and down my spine, steady and warm.

I tip my face up toward him.

“Zara and Violette told me about the Monarch.”

His brow lifts.

My finger traces the open collar of his shirt. “You should take me one evening. I want to see it.”

He studies me carefully. “How much wine did you have?”

I tap his chest playfully. “It’s not the wine. I’ve been to strip clubs before. And I’d like to see a piece of your world.”

His hand slides into the hair at the base of my neck.

“I’ll take you,” he says quietly, his thumb pressing lightly at my pulse.

“But for now,” he says, voice lowering, “let’s go to bed.”

The war roomat the Estate is filled with only the most important members of the Syndicate’s inner circle. Our Hacker, Rowan, called an emergency meeting so here we are, sitting around the heavy table bracing for what information he has for us.

Enzo takes the head of the table. I settle into the chair to his right.

Dom, Cormac, and Stefano sit opposite us. Rowan stands near the large, wall-mounted monitor, laptop open, cables trailing toward the main screen. He looks like he hasn’t slept or shaved in a week, but his eyes are still sharp.

“Well,” Enzo says evenly, folding his hands on the table. “You said you had something important.”

Rowan nods once. “We’ve been tracking irregular movement in Falco’s shipping routes for the past week. Smaller loads and staggered timing. Nothing odd enough to trigger a response yet,but things to note.”

Cormac leans forward. “He hasn’t changed routes in months.”

“There’s something more important that I need you to see…” Rowan redirects. “Especially you, Enzo.”

He taps a key and the screen flickers to life.

The video was taken at night, it’s dark, but there’s enough light that we can see enough to identify the dock. We all know it’s Falco’s private river access.