Chapter 4 - The Meeting at the Monarch
The Monarch Hotel lobby glittered with chandeliers and polished brass.
Iris wore shoes this time.
Ronan had arranged everything so she never entered the private meeting area.
Elias sat in a surveillance van nearby.
Iris remained with Ronan in a closed hotel office while audio from Gregor’s meeting played through a speaker.
Victor Sarno’s voice came first.
“You lost control of your daughter.”
Gregor answered, “Temporary problem.”
Iris’s fingers curled.
Sarno laughed.
“You said she would lead us straight to Moretti.”
“She did.”
Ronan’s face became stone.
Iris stopped breathing.
Gregor continued.
“Ronan has a weakness. He protects people who aren’t part of the business.”
Sarno said, “And now?”
“Now Iris is inside.”
Iris looked at Ronan.
Her father really had planned it.
Not the exact moment.
Not the exact street.
But he had known she might run.
He had expected to turn her desperation into an advantage.
Sarno asked, “Does she know?”
“No.”
Gregor sounded almost amused.
“She thinks she escaped me.”
Iris reached toward the speaker and turned it off.
Silence filled the room.
Ronan watched her.
“Turn it back on,” Iris said.
“You don’t have to hear the rest.”
“Yes, I do.”
“Iris.”
“I spent twenty-four years hearing only the version of reality Gregor allowed me to hear.”
She switched the speaker back on.
“I’m finished with that.”
The conversation continued.
Gregor had been feeding information to Sarno for nearly four years.
He had stolen money.
Sold names.
Manipulated meetings.
But his largest plan had depended on Iris unknowingly becoming connected to Ronan.
Then Sarno said something unexpected.
“Your daughter is becoming a liability.”
Gregor answered instantly.
“She’s my daughter.”
Iris frowned.
Sarno laughed.
“Now you remember?”
A long silence followed.
Gregor finally said, “Leave Iris out of this.”
Ronan looked at her.
For the first time, uncertainty entered the picture.
Gregor had used her.
But somewhere beneath his obsession with control, perhaps he had finally realized the game had gone too far.
Sarno replied, “You don’t make that decision anymore.”
The audio ended abruptly.
Elias’s voice came through Ronan’s earpiece.
“They’re leaving separately.”
Iris stood.
“What happens now?”
“We have enough.”
“For what?”
“To dismantle Sarno’s operation and prove Gregor’s betrayal to everyone involved.”
“And my father?”
Ronan didn’t answer.
Iris stepped closer.
“Ronan.”
“He answers for what he did.”
“Meaning?”
“Meaning I’m not asking you to approve anything.”
“No.”
Her voice became firm.
“You’ve spent two days telling me choice matters.”
“It does.”
“Then listen to mine.”
Ronan waited.
“I don’t want revenge.”
His eyes stayed on hers.
“I want Gregor unable to control my life again. I want Sarno stopped. I want the records handed to people who can make what they’ve done public.”
Ronan’s jaw tightened.
“That creates complications.”
“So does everything else in your world.”
“You don’t understand my world.”
“No.”
Iris stepped closer.
“But I understand what violence does to families.”
That landed.
Ronan looked away.
When he looked back, something had changed.
“Elias.”
His security chief answered through the earpiece.
“Yes?”
“Make copies of everything.”
“And?”
“Prepare the records for the attorneys.”
Iris blinked.
Ronan continued.
“And arrange delivery of anything involving financial crimes to federal investigators.”
Elias paused.
“That’s going to make some people very unhappy.”
“I’m aware.”
Iris stared at Ronan.
“You changed your plan.”
“No.”
“What was your original plan?”
Ronan buttoned his coat.
“You’re better off not knowing.”
“Ronan.”
He almost smiled.
“Fine.”
He held out his hand.
May you like
“Let’s call it a significant revision.”
For the first time, Iris took his hand without needing to escape anyone.
