Page 56 of Rio (Knight Empire #3)

Jett leans against the oak-panneled wall, arms folded. “Doing things underhandedly again, father?”

The old man’s glare could incinerate a city. “I want this off the record. Expunged from the transcript. This was a breach of confidentiality, and anyone who sides with him will answer to me.”

“No.” I say, hands fisted deep in my pockets.

“You heard,” Jeff growls, stepping forward. “It won’t be erased, and Rio isn’t leaving alone.”

The old man’s nostrils flare. “You’re siding with him?”

Jett’s voice stays calm, but there’s steel beneath it. “You know it’s right. Just as you know what you did was wrong.”

Dex shrugs. “I’m siding with the truth. And frankly, it’s about time someone did.”

“Truth.” Matteo echoes, tilting his chin defiantly.

Zach hesitates, glancing around. “Can’t we find another way to—”

“No.” I cut him off. “Not this time. This stays on the record. The eco resort goes ahead, but not like this. Knight Enterprises will fund full environmental remediation and pause all construction until a new plan is approved. One that serves the people who live there.

“A local oversight committee will monitor every phase. We’ll launch paid training programs, guarantee jobs for Belizean workers, and invest a percentage of profits directly into their communities. What we do, to fix this, will be good, and decent, with long-term infrastructure, not PR fluff.

“Every step will be public. Every report. Every audit. Every promise.” I pause to take a breath.

“And Raquel Monteiro’s name will be cleared, officially and permanently.

And while I know you’ll never say the words—she will get the apology you owe her, one way or another.

That was the deal and if you go back on any of it…

” I pause, letting the silence stretch, letting him feel what’s coming. “Then I will burn it all down.”

The old man walks out.

“Dramatic, bro,” Dex whispers alongside me.

“Do you have to be so vicious?” Zach whines.

“Warranted.” Jett moves to leave. Then, “Are we celebrating or what?”

“Feels like a win, doesn’t it?” I look around.

It’s just us, the brothers, left. Not only are we in solidarity, but we all seem aligned with the same goal and it feels good.

Turning Knight Enterprises into something good, something decent.

Not the ruthless machine the old man has built.

Something that crushes people in the name of profit, but a company, and a legacy, that is worth fighting for.

***

RAQUEL

I don’t breathe for the entire time.

At least, it feels like that.

When the live stream ends, I sink back against the couch, my body turning to jelly as I let out a breath I didn’t even realize I’d been keeping in.

We all do that. We’ve all been sitting on the edge of the couch, huddled together, eyes on Cari’s laptop sitting on the sleek black coffee table.

When’s Rio face flashed across the screen, I stopped breathing.

It felt like my insides just vanished. For a moment I didn’t know whether to break, or hope.

He was amped up, and mad. Ready for a fight.

I saw it in the hard set of his jaw and in the way his dark eyes glittered with danger.

I felt the weight he bore, even though he appeared calm.

The man I loved, still love, looked so tired, but determined.

He’s always been brave, and what I saw, stern looking men sitting around a table, like Rio was on trial, it made me scared, but he was in it. There, taking them all on.

None of us have touched the wine, or the nibbles.

I’ve just watched Rio defending me in front of everyone. His father, his brothers, the board.

He did this in public.

My insides are so tangled up, I feel like I might be sick. I was a tightly knotted mess watching it, and I know how big a deal this was for him to go against his father.

He fought for me. He stood up for me. He told me he didn’t know his father had manipulated us both, and even I wanted to believe him, but I needed proof. And now, Rio just gave me everything I asked for.

This was about revenge. About keeping the boys in line, punishing them for working together and standing up to him when they helped get Uncle Arminio’s company back.

Dani and Cari sit on either side of me, silent. Disbelief hangs in the air. I’m still stunned.

“You okay, hon?” Dani asks.

I sit up slowly, resting my elbows on my knees, and my face on my hands, trying to absorb it all.

Cari puts her arm around my waist. Dani slips her arm around my shoulder.

We’re joined together, in solidarity, in support, in love.

I don’t realize I’m crying until Dani hands me a tissue and Cari quietly reaches over and closes the laptop.

Watching Rio stand there, I can’t imagine how he felt standing up to that monster.

Cari hands me my glass of wine. I mutter a quiet “thank you”, before draining it completely. I didn’t mean to gulp it all down so fast, but I needed that. I’m so amped up with emotion, my thoughts scattered all over the place.

Rio risked everything for me. Not in secret, not around the table at one of his dinners, not in some whispered apology. He did it out loud, in front of the men who judge. In front of the man who has broken him, and his brothers, and their mothers. The man who wants to play God.

Rio brought him back down to earth, and held him accountable. I see it like a shining, gleaming star. What we had, what I want, what we can be.

The pop of a champagne cork takes me out of my thoughts and look up to find the girls pouring champagne into delicate, long stemmed, glass flutes.

Cari hands me my glass. “Told you the champagne would come later.”

“We’re definitely celebrating now!” Dani cries.

They look at me, expectantly. “Make a toast hon.” Dani nudges me gently. I lift my glass, swallowing the lump in my throat.

“To you both, for having my back.” I nod, trying to compose myself.

“To justice, for all.” I pause and think of Alma, and the people in Belize, who will get their clean water, and the land restored in time.

They’ll get their cleaner future. It’s not hope.

I know , because Rio will see to it. “And ... to Rio.” I take a long, shaky breath, and feel tears running down my cheeks.

I see a flash of us laughing and kissing. Of us holding hands. Or Rio stroking my face. I miss him. I miss him so much. I want him back.

Dani rubs my back softly. “To Rio and Raquel, and to not letting fear stand in the way of going after what we want.”

Cari raises her glass next. “To loving the Knight boys, as messy, complicated, and sometimes inconvenient as it is. It’s love that’s worth fighting for.”

“Damn, hon.” Dani sounds impressed, as am I.

“That’s profound,” I say. We all clink our glasses again, before emptying them.

“Let the party begin!” Dani puts on some music, and Cari pours more champagne.

I already know that today is a day I will never forget.