Broken Empire (Broken Empire Duet Book 2) Page 3

  “Do you know how much I hate lying to Gio and Dad so you can hang out in Westchester with Sienna?” Antonio clutched the steering wheel, grinding his teeth together.

  He was pissed that I refused to stay away from Sienna. My brother had every right to be mad when I’d asked him to cover for me. But I would have done the same for him, and he knew it. Our bond was unbreakable, something no one could touch.

  “We have to do another favor for Senator York,” he told me.

  “What now? I’m getting sick of cleaning up after him.”

  “Me, too.” He turned onto the highway and punched the gas pedal, zipping past the cars in the middle lane. “I almost got clipped over whatever beef Dad has with Moretti. Dad is helping York. That’s what pisses me off.”

  “I don’t get it.” I shook my head, annoyed. “We have to do all the heavy lifting while that asshole sits behind a desk and orders us around.”

  “More like he orders Dad around.”

  “Same difference,” I shot back. “We’re the ones who are handling shit on our end, and without even knowing why we’re doing it for him.”

  “He’s got something on the old man.”

  “Yeah, I know. But what?”

  “I wish I knew, then maybe we could do something to stop him.”

  “He has a lot of connections and friends in high places. He keeps the Feds off our backs as long as we help him out, but there has to be more to it than that.”

  Neither of us ever asked questions. We did what we were told, followed orders, and executed them without as much as a word. But once I became involved with Sienna, I wanted to know why our father’s fought so hard to keep us apart, when all we wanted was to be together.

  I rested my elbow on the center console and stared out the window. “Where are we going?”

  “You know Ethan York has a major drug problem, right?”

  I nodded. “Everyone knows that.”

  “He’s on a bender. It’s worse this time than before. The Senator tracked his cell phone to a house in Williamsburg. Dad wants us to bring him home.”

  I sighed and raised my arms above my head to stretch. “Great. So, now we get to drive to Brooklyn to babysit a spoiled rich kid who can’t handle his load?”

  He switched lanes, his eyes fixed on the road. “If this keeps us out of jail, then who cares?”

  Over the years, we’d become fixers for a lot of people. We had enough reach and power to push our weight around and get things done. Small favors, like this one, were part of the normal exchange between my father and his business associates. Our father even sent us to college so we could look legitimate to outsiders.

  Once we were in Brooklyn, Antonio parked out front what appeared to be an abandoned house and turned off the engine.

  He eyed up the place, suspiciously. “This looks kinda sketchy.”

  I nodded in agreement. “Let’s get this over with.”

  Once inside the dilapidated house, Antonio stopped first, his hand held out in front of me to block my path. “That’s him.” He nodded at a man on the floor who was so wasted and dead to the word that his eyes were rolling in the back of his head.

  I squinted to get a better look, unsure if he was Ethan, and glanced at Antonio. “Are you sure?”

  Ethan’s track pants and T-shirt were covered in dirt, his lip busted as if someone had punched him in the face.

  I crouched down in front of Ethan and attempted to lift him over my shoulder. He was dead weight in my arms. I wasn’t even sure if he was still alive until I felt his chest move. One of his eyes was open, the other lolled into the back of his head.

  I looked up at my brother. “Can you give me a hand? He weighs a ton.”

  With Antonio’s help, I was able to drag Ethan outside. We threw him into the back seat and got in the car. In silence, we drove until we reached the gates of York Manor. Antonio entered the passcode into the keypad, and the gates opened inward to allow us to drive onto the property.

  “A doctor is supposed to meet us in the pool house,” Antonio muttered.

  “We don’t have to stick around, do we?”

  He shook his head. “Nope. Dad said to drop him off and leave him with the doctor.”

  Instead of steering to the left to continue to the main house, we followed the path to the right that led to a pool large enough to entertain guests at a hotel. Farther back, there were residency quarters for the servants along with an oversize bungalow where we were headed.

  My family had money, but not the kind of old money that passed through the York family. Generations of politicians, Wall Street bankers, doctors, lawyers, and technology moguls at some point lived in this house. It had been in Sienna’s family for over one hundred years, though from the outside it didn’t show a bit of its age.

  A plump man with glasses, dressed in a dark suit fit snug to his thick frame, greeted us outside. “Do you need help carrying him inside?”

  “No, we’re okay,” Antonio said.

  We didn’t exchange names, as was customary in our line of work. He was a concierge doctor on the York payroll to assist in times like this.

  Ethan had started using drugs back in high school. He was never like Sienna, always a giant fuck-up, even though she thought she was the family disappointment. This wasn’t the first time we’d hauled Ethan’s ass out of a crack house or had to teach a supplier a lesson for dealing to him. His drug of choice was cocaine until my father had him cut off.

  No one was allowed to sell him as much as a pinch of powder without my father’s approval. He controlled most of the drug trade in New York, and what he didn’t control was handled by one of his associates. Apparently, Ethan had resorted to harsher drugs like heroin. He had the track marks on his arms to prove it.

  I hauled Ethan over my shoulder and shut the car door. Antonio was at my side, throwing Ethan’s arm across the back of his neck, helping me drag him to the pool house. Once inside, I was in awe of the sheer size of the space. Couches were at the center of the living room, the white fabric so pristine they looked as though they’d never been sat on. An oversized bar occupied most of the wall on the right side of the room, opposite the kitchen.

  We passed through the small dining area and followed the doctor into a bedroom with a large master bathroom. In all the years I’d helped the Yorks, I had never been inside the house, never saw where Sienna slept. Now that I was here, I was somewhat curious. The pool house was bigger than most people’s homes, and yet it didn’t even compare to the villa that spanned most of the property.

  “On the bed?” I asked the doctor.

  “In the bathroom, please.”

  A tub was already filled and waiting for us. The doctor stood in front of Ethan, pulling off his shirt and pushing down the track pants over his thighs. Ethan groaned and laid his head on Antonio’s shoulder. I hoped he wasn’t about to puke on him.

  Leaving Ethan in his boxers, we set him in the tub. This was by far one of the worst jobs our father had ever asked of us. We could have made much better use of our time. Was this payback for seeing Sienna behind his back? He knew everything, and so I was almost positive my dad knew I was with Sienna.

  “Thank you, gentlemen,” the doctor said to us before we left the bathroom.

  We exited the house and made a beeline toward the car. Out of the corner of my eye, I thought I saw a shadow move. I strained to get a better look, positive I was hallucinating.

  Antonio tapped me on the shoulder to gain my attention. “Wanna grab a few beers before we head home?”

  I shrugged. “Sure, why not?”

  I was about to get in the car when the shadow moved again, and this time, Jonathan York stepped into the light. He had dark hair with some silver in it, his jawline strong and serious, with a bit of stubble. One look from this man pierced right through you. It was as if he didn’t have a soul or a care in the world other than the imaginary crown rested atop of his overprivileged head.

  Jonathan raised his hand and held u
p his index finger, beckoning me to come forward.

  I was surprised he could tell Antonio and me apart. Most people had trouble when they didn’t know us.

  When I approached him, Jonathan stuffed a stack of hundred dollar bills in my hand. I tried to return them, but he refused, taking a few steps back from me.

  “How much will it take for you to stop seeing my daughter?”

  I turned away from him and sighed. It was only a matter of time before we had this conversation. Why was I even surprised?

  “Is this how you get rid of anyone who talks to Sienna?”

  “You’re not just talking. Don’t think for one second I don’t know what goes on with my daughter. She will marry into the Wolfe family, and you will not get in the way.”

  Moving my hands to my hips, I pushed up my jacket enough to reveal the gun at my waist. The Senator’s eyes fell to the gun for a second, his jaw clenched. “I don’t take kindly to threats, boy. Keep your distance from Sienna, or you and your family will pay the price.”

  “And what is that?”

  “Do you like your freedom?” His eyes were so dark and cold, his tone even colder. “Would you like to have it taken away from you?”

  My jaw flexed in anger, my hands balled into fists at my sides. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

  “I’m a very powerful man. You might not know what I’m capable of firsthand, but your father does. I won’t repeat my warning. Stay away from Sienna.”

  Without another word, he turned his back to me and stomped off toward the house. I considered sinking a bullet into the back of his entitled skull but thought better of it. There would come a time when Senator York would have to answer for his sins. And I planned to make him suffer for them.

  Chapter Four

  Sienna

  My body ached from all the ways Marco had fucked me the night before. But at least the pain and the throbbing between my thighs left me with the reminder it was real. That Marco was real. Sometimes, I’d wondered if I had imagined it all.

  The night in my suite.

  The hood of my car.

  The bench at the restaurant.

  I was afraid that one day I would wake up, and I wouldn’t have him anymore. Losing Marco was my greatest fear. He was my addiction, my salvation, and without him, I thought I would lose my grip on reality. Because he was all I had left to keep me grounded.

  I rolled over, the sun from the curtains hitting me in the face, forcing me to cover my eyes with my hand. It was too early in the morning, especially after the night I’d had with Marco. He was insatiable, always ready for me, as I was for him. And I wanted more. I always wanted more of Marco.

  I was content with covering my head with the pillow and falling back to sleep, when I heard yelling downstairs. Our house was massive, an estate divided into sections that almost made it impossible to hear a sound. My bedroom was in the East wing, my father’s in the West, and my mother’s in the South, each of us occupying different parts of the mansion. Ethan’s bedroom was down the hall from my mother’s, but he spent most of his time in the pool house to avoid making his drug problem more noticeable.

  My room, on the other hand, was above my father’s study. The noise traveled straight up the air vent, the muffled voices of my parents filling the silent air. It was strange for my parents to speak to each other outside of public events. Knowing they were together, and arguing over something, piqued my interest. On occasion, they’d eaten meals on opposite ends of the long dining table with their faces buried in their cell phones or newspapers.

  But this morning was different.

  I sat up, tugged the black silk robe at the edge of my bed over my shoulders, and tied it around my waist. If my parents were fighting over something, I had to know if I was the cause of their unnecessary interaction. It was better to be prepared for a duel with my father, rather than be ambushed later.

  After I slid on a pair of fuzzy slippers, I crept out of my room and down the hall, taking the back stairwell. One foot at a time, I moved closer to the commotion, my ears strained to hear every last word. My father’s voice was like a growl that startled me. He almost never showed any emotion when it came to my mother. Their marriage was one of convenience, my mother the perfect wife who gave him two children to round out his perfect little political family.

  “Jonathan, I’m sorry.” My mother sobbed as if she’d been crying.

  “Sorry isn’t good enough this time,” he shot back, his voice sharp and angry.

  “It has to be.” She sniffed. “Let me explain.”

  Like my father, she never showed an ounce of emotion. My mother’s behavior was far from the norm. She was a coldhearted bitch. Even at my grandmother’s funeral—her mother—her face remained stoic, devoid of any feelings. She looked no different from a corpse. My mother never helped me with my homework, dressed me for a dance, or even brushed my hair as a child. All of those responsibilities were left to the staff. To Cara, the only woman who’d ever cared about me.

  I loathed my parents. The only reason I never left was because I knew my father had enough power to hunt me down. And he would make me pay when he found me. He always did. No matter how hard I tried to run from my family and our pasts, it was never far enough, always within his reach. A man who had no limits was impossible to escape. That was why I threw myself at Marco. I’d hoped he could save me. In some ways, he did.

  “If you weren’t sneaking around behind my back, this never would have happened,” my father said.

  I was at the bottom of the stairs, with my back flat against the wall, slowly inching toward his office.

  “If not for you abandoning us, our family would still be whole,” my mother challenged, now sounding more confident in her words.

  Were the waterworks all for show? Knowing her they were. She was a brilliant actress, the master of manipulation, where he was just cruel and cunning.

  “We had a deal, Elizabeth, and you broke it. After this campaign is over, I want you out of my house and out of my life. For good.”

  “You act like I was ever a part of your life.” Her heels clicked on the wooden floor and stopped, as if she was now standing in front of him. “None of us were ever a factor in the life of Senator York. I made certain decisions to make you happy, whether you realize it or not and whether or not they were the right ones. But I held up my end of the bargain. You wanted two children, a wife who obeyed and served, and I did as I was asked. As far as I’m concerned, I have fulfilled my contractual obligations to you and this family.”

  Her words sliced through me like a machete to the gut. I knew she hated us, resented us because of my father. But it still hurt to hear the woman who’d given birth to me say those things about us, as if we were all replaceable.

  “You gave me a lie,” he said. “All of it. And now I have to embrace that lie because you were honoring our deal. I want both of you out of my life. One way or the other, I will make sure that happens.”

  Both of you? Was he talking about me? Ethan? Her lover? I had no idea who he was referring to, but I was hoping it was me. More than anything, I wanted to be free of him and his impossible standards and demands.

  “We’ll see about that,” she muttered.

  The fight ended with my mother storming out of the office and into the hallway. I had to slide further down the wall to avoid her seeing me. That was all I needed was to be caught sneaking around, listening to their conversations.

  “Cara,” she yelled at the top of her lungs. Her voice echoed off the high ceiling in the foyer.

  Cara power walked down the hallway, her body tense as she moved past me to meet my mother. “Yes, Mrs. York.”

  “Get my jacket and purse and have Fernando bring the car around. I’m going to the city. Call Rosario. Make sure the apartment is fully stocked and ready for the week.”

  I let out a sigh of relief.

  Our family owned properties all over New York. The lavish apartment in Manhattan, on the Upper East Side, was
my mother’s oasis. She spent most of her time there, while my father shuffled between Washington D.C. and Long Island. If not for his campaign, I would have been free of them both.

  “Yes, Mrs. York,” Cara said before she walked away to grab her things and ring her driver who waited around on standby.

  I was about to ascend the stairs, one foot on the bottom step, when my father shouted, “You had better be back in time for the fundraiser, or so help me God, I will make you suffer.”

  I shuddered at his comment.

  How could I be the offspring of such vile people?

  An hour later, I was getting ready for the day, still wrapped in a towel from the shower, when Cara knocked on my door and then stepped inside, closing it behind her.

  “How are you, Sienna?” She approached me with her arms open wide to embrace me.

  “Not great,” I confessed, hugging her back.

  She smelled of fresh flowers and mint, and most of all, she reminded me of home. Not the one I lived in, the one I’d created in my mind when I was a child. The place where I went to escape my reality. Cara wasn’t the paid help to me—she was everything good in my life.

  I retreated into my walk-in closet, pulled on a pair of shorts and a tank top, and then sat next to Cara on the bed. “Did you hear the entire conversation earlier?”

  She shook her head. “I’ve trained myself to ignore anything that goes on inside this house.”

  “You had to have heard something. Do you know what they were arguing about?”

  “Sorry, sweetie, I wish I did. I was in the back of the house until your mother called for me. I had my hands full, too busy to pay any attention to your parents.”

  “My dad said he wants her out of the house.”

  “Your parents will never get a divorce. Don’t worry.” She took my hand in hers and rubbed the top of it with her thumb to soothe me. “Your mom might go away for a while, but she will come back. She always does.”