Chapter 15 - The Queen’s Gambit
The private study of the Shadyside estate was lined with mahogany bookshelves reaching two stories high. Maps of Pennsylvania, logistical rail charts, and bank transaction summaries covered the central oak table.
Sadie stood over the map of Harrisburg, a steaming cup of tea in her hand. The rain outside had turned into a steady, freezing sleet, pattering against the bulletproof windows.
Marcelo walked up behind her, sliding his arms around her waist, pulling her back against his broad chest. He buried his face in the crook of her neck, inhaling her warmth.
"You were extraordinary down there," he murmured against her skin.
"I realized something in that cell, Marcelo," she replied, leaning back into his solid strength, feeling the comforting rhythm of his heartbeat against her spine.
"What's that, *mia regina*?"
"Boyd thought I was weak because I took care of people," Sadie said, turning in his arms to look up into his fierce, handsome face. "He thought being gentle meant being pliable. But in a hotel, the maid sees every secret. The guests leave their safes open, their phones unlocked, and their trash full of shredded documents they think nobody can read."
A slow, wolfish smile spread across Marcelo’s face. "And what did you find in the Governor's Chief of Staff's trash?"
Sadie reached over to the table and picked up a manila folder she had retrieved from her personal lockbox at the Queen Anne estate—the files she had kept hidden in the floorboards under Nana Rose’s old sewing machine.
"Three years ago, the Governor’s Chief of Staff, Julian Mercer, spent four weekends at the Omni William Penn under an alias," Sadie explained, her eyes sparkling with ruthless intelligence. "He had private meetings with Dominic Moretti’s logistics handlers. I found the burner phone SIM cards he flushed down the toilet. I fished them out of the floor trap when the pipes backed up."
Marcelo let out a low whistle of sheer admiration. "You kept the SIM cards?"
"Nana Rose always told me: *Never throw away a stone you might need to throw at a dog,*" Sadie quoted, her lips curling into a triumphant smile. "The encrypted data on those cards links the Sovereign Trust directly to the offshore accounts used to pay the hitman who came for you."
Marcelo cupped her face in his hands, his thumbs caressing her soft cheeks with intoxicating reverence.
"You didn't just save my life, Sadie. You handed me the entire commonwealth."
"Not handed," Sadie corrected playfully, her hands resting against his hard chest, her fingers toying with the buttons of his shirt. "We take it together."
Marcelo laughed—a rich, deep, dangerous sound of pure triumph—and pulled her hips flush against his. He bent down and kissed her with a consuming, possessive fire that left her gasping, his hands sliding down to cup the lush, full curve of her thighs.
"Tomorrow, we declare war on Harrisburg," Marcelo whispered against her parted lips. "Tonight, my only business is loving my wife."
As Marcelo swept her into his arms to carry her toward the leather sofa before the roaring fireplace, the red direct line on the mahogany desk began to flash.
It wasn't Leo. It wasn't the guards.
It was the secure line that connected directly to the private residence of Governor Albright.
May you like
Sadie caught Marcelo’s eye, a cold, sovereign smile touching her lips.
"Answer it, husband," Sadie whispered, smoothing her skirt over her hips with total poise. "Let’s tell them who’s cleaning house."