Broken Empire (Broken Empire Duet Book 2) Read online

  “I don’t know,” I confessed, leaning my head on her shoulder. “I hope they get a divorce. They’re horrible together. That’s not what bothers me. He said he wants her and someone else out of his life. Is she having an affair with someone?”

  “Who knows, mi amore. Nothing would surprise me at this point. Your parents spend more time apart than together. It’s been like that since before you were born. When Ethan was born, your dad was halfway around the world. He didn’t even bother to come home until a week later. Some people are not meant to be parents.”

  “How have you worked for him for this long? He’s awful. So is my mom. The way they talk to you and the staff makes me sick. How can you even stand it?”

  “Your father has his moments.” She leaned her head against mine and cradled me. “He’s not all bad. He helped me move to the States.”

  “That was about the only good thing he ever did.” I sighed. “I don’t know what I would do without you, Cara. Wherever I end up, I hope you’re there with me.”

  “You’ll always have me. Stop worrying. It’s time to get you ready.”

  I sat up straight and helped her stand from the bed. “He wants me to marry Karl Wolfe. Do you remember that little snot-nosed boy? He came here a few times when I was younger for play dates.”

  She laughed. “Yes. He was a little unusual.”

  “I can’t marry him, Cara. I won’t do it. I’ve let my dad control everything, but I’ve had enough. I told him no. I’m putting my foot down.”

  “Sometimes, it’s better to go with the flow than to fight him.”

  My smile turned into a frown in an instant. “You too? Are you kidding me?”

  “Of course not. I would never want you to marry a man you don’t love. But your father always seems to find a way to get what he wants.”

  I grunted in frustration, dragging her by the hand into the closet. “I know. That’s the problem. For once, I would like him to get what’s coming to him. Everything can’t go his way all the time. I just wish I knew how to punish him. Seeing Marco Salvatore doesn’t seem to be doing the trick.”

  Cara’s eyes widened in shock. “Sienna, are you crazy? Your dad would never allow it.”

  I flashed a victorious smile. “That’s why it feels so good to disobey him. I know it’s killing him, and there’s not a damn thing he can do about it.”

  “Be careful.” She placed a hand on my shoulder, looking at me in the full-length mirror on the wall. “I don’t want you to get hurt.

  “Too late for that,” I admitted.

  I was already in love with Marco.

  Chapter Five

  Marco

  I sat in my father’s office next to Antonio, with Giovanni on his right, all of us waiting for the old man to speak. He folded his hands on top of the wooden desk, glaring at me with a look of pure hatred in his eyes. My dad was furious with me for seeing Sienna behind his back, even after he told me to stop. I was forced to listen to him yell for over an hour after I’d arrived at his house that morning.

  Senator York had shared our tense conversation with my dad, the one where he threatened me. He reminded him of the repercussions of me dating Sienna. We weren’t dating. Fucking didn’t count. The wording I had used didn’t matter. Because Sienna York would marry Karl Wolfe, and a criminal like me wasn’t going to get in the way of the Senator’s plans. He made that crystal clear. So did my father.

  The office was located in the unfinished basement below the main house, disconnected from modern technology and encased in enough cement to make it impossible for the Feds to get a tap on us. We had complete privacy down here.

  Leaning back in his leather chair, my dad loosened his black-and-red pinstriped tie and tugged on his collar. He pinned down Giovanni with his cold gaze. “I need you to do something for a client. It’s a delicate matter.”

  “What do you need us to do?” Giovanni never said no, always did what he was told.

  To some extent, so did I. But Sienna was an exception. My weakness.

  He removed a brown box from the bottom drawer of his desk and slid it toward Giovanni. “I need you to plant a device on a car. It will be parked in the garage on 10th Street. Be careful. Make sure the driver doesn’t see you.”

  Without hesitation, he said, “When?” Giovanni lifted the box and glanced inside, before closing the lid. He balanced it on his knee, with his hand on top to hold it in place.

  “Tonight. At the benefit. The make, model, and license plate number is on a piece of paper inside.” He glanced at me, his eyes burning a hole through me. “Giovanni can handle this job alone. I shouldn’t have to remind you, but I will anyway. Stay away from Sienna tonight. We’re there to assist Senator York and help influence a few people for him. Do. Not. Go. Near. Her.”

  He annunciated every word to the point my anger shook through me. I wasn’t a fucking child, even though he insisted on treating me like one.

  “I got it,” I shot back, irritated.

  He folded his arms across his chest, his jaw clenched. “Good.”

  From across the rooftop, I nursed a glass of scotch. Leaning against the wall, I stared at Sienna’s tight ass. She had her back turned to me, engaged in conversation with Karl Wolfe, heir to the Wolfe shipping fortune and her soon-to-be husband. It turned my stomach to let her go, all because of the Senator’s pull over my family and me.

  Rage bubbled inside my chest, my skin on fire from the adrenaline coursing through my veins.

  Antonio tapped me on the shoulder to gain my attention. I looked at him out of the corner of my left eye.

  “You should stop being so obvious.”

  I cocked an eyebrow at him. “What are you talking about?”

  “Sienna. You haven’t stopped looking at her since we got here.”

  “It’s hard not to stare. Look at her in that dress.” I tipped my glass in her direction and took a long sip. “She’s fucking killing me.”

  “She’s hot but not worth getting on Dad’s bad side. Senator York already threatened you. He has enough power to have you sent to prison for the rest of your life. What is it with you and that girl? You’ve been obsessed with her since we were kids.”

  How I felt about Sienna was none of his business. “I don’t care what he does to me. It’s what he has on Dad that bothers me most. Moretti knows something we don’t. Why is it such a secret? Why does the Senator want him dead? And how did he find out?”

  He shrugged against the wall, his shoulder grazing mine. “Don’t worry about it. Dad will tell us if we need to know.”

  “I need to know. Whatever he’s hiding is the reason you were held at knifepoint by Tony and why Moretti defected from the family. It’s the reason we’ve been indebted to the York family for years.”

  He tugged on my shoulder. “C’mon, let’s take a walk. I hate these stuffy events.”

  “Don’t change the subject.”

  “We’re at a party. Would you lighten up for a second and try to have a good time?”

  I finished off my glass and set it on the high top table next to me. “Fine. I hate coming to this shit. We don’t fit in with these people, never did.”

  “Dad doesn’t seem to have a problem.” He pointed at our father who was with Giovanni. They were talking to the CEO of Wolfe Shipping, blending in with the aristocrats, as if they belonged here. “While they’re busy, we should go downstairs and smoke a joint.”

  I rolled my eyes at him. “You think that’s the best thing to do with so many people around? Dad’s been on the warpath lately. Maybe save that for later. We’re in the middle of the city. The last thing we need is to give the Senator another advantage over us.”

  We were on the rooftop of a building, which had an incredible view of Central Park. It was the perfect setting for the charity gala. The space was decked out for the occasion with strings of white lights hanging above us, intertwined with fresh flowers. Round, high top bar tables were interspersed, with a small makeshift dance floor at the cente
r of the roof. Servers walked past us with trays balanced in their hands, carrying the finest champagnes and hors d’oeuvres I couldn’t pronounce.

  This was Sienna’s life, and I was stupid for believing I could find a way to fit into it. She was part of the one percent club, the daughter of one of the most respected men in Congress, and never mine to keep. I couldn’t stop myself from taking one last look at her as we shuffled through the crowd.

  Antonio walked with me to the edge of the roof. He clutched the side and leaned over to get a better look at the people below us. “They really do look like ants from up here. Must be nice to have this kind of wealth.”

  I nodded, following his gaze. From this height, the people below us were tiny specks, so small I had to strain to make out their shapes. “One day,” I told him. “One day, we can have this, too.”

  He laughed and nudged me in the arm with his elbow. “Yeah, right. We were never meant for this life.”

  “If we want it, we have to take it.” A wicked smirk turned up the corners of my mouth. “We could have this someday. You just have to want it bad enough.”

  He returned my expression, recognition lighting a fire in his eyes. We stood at the ledge for a few minutes, taking in the scenery. The air was cold but dense, filled with exhaust fumes and smoke. Manhattan was crammed with hundreds of cars, lights shining as far as I could see. It wasn’t often that we were invited into the city, not unless it was to handle a job for our father.

  The sound of something exploding followed by women screaming pulled my attention from Central Park to the scene playing out below us.

  “What the fuck?” Antonio leaned forward, half of his body over the ledge. “Dude, someone jumped.”

  Not until I turned around did it register that the person jumped from this roof. It was someone who was at this party. And Sienna was holding herself, shaking with tears in her eyes. A sick part of me hoped it was Karl Wolfe, face down and flattened like a pancake on the sidewalk.

  Chapter Six

  Sienna

  I tried my best to act the part of a senator’s daughter as I moved through the crowd to make polite conversation with strangers. My mother never came home after her fight with my father. She was also a no-show for the charity gala. Because the Wolfe family was a major donor to the hospital, I was warned to be on my best behavior. Dear old Dad was furious with my mother, putting even more pressure on Ethan and me to perform.

  This was a performance after all, nothing more than a show for the man my father wanted me to marry. His parents were lovely, more down to earth than I ever would have imagined for billionaires. I almost wished I had Erik and Sonya Wolfe as parents, which almost made it easier to say yes to the arranged marriage. But I wasn’t going to be a pawn in yet another one of my father’s games no matter how charmed I was by the family.

  Karl, on the other hand, he was still the awkward and unusual boy I’d known from years ago, only better looking and well spoken. He hooked his arm through mine and escorted me around the party. I chugged several glasses of champagne since we were introduced, hoping I would get drunk enough for my body to go numb from the torture.

  My father’s colleagues stopped us—because everyone wanted to get close to Karl and me. I hated every second of it. Karl tugged on my arm when I glanced across the roof at Marco. He looked amazing in a navy suit. Marco owned every speck of fabric attached to his body. When Marco moved, he was graceful, as if every step was carefully planned out. Regardless of his attire, he looked out of his element at this party.

  Karl tightened his grip on me, whipping me out of my Marco-induced trance. “Sienna was just telling me how much she loves Aspen,” Karl said to people whose names I’d already forgotten.

  I nodded. “Uh-huh. Aspen is beautiful. My dad owns a house there.”

  One time, when I was a kid, we went to Aspen on what was supposed to be a family vacation. But it was all a lie. We made it to the slopes to take a picture for some article, and then we were sent away for a spa day. Everything in my life was a pre-planned stunt to make us look like a real family, when we couldn’t even stand to sit in the same room together for dinner.

  Fulfilling my role as Karl’s arm candy, I offered fake stories to people, leaving out the disgusting truth. We talked about my time at Columbia and Harvard and discussed what it was like to help my father with his campaign. Karl filled them in on the current state of Wolfe Shipping and his plans for the future of the company. He wasn’t the CEO, at least not yet. But he seemed pretty on point when it came to his industry.

  Compared to Karl, I was a misfit, a girl who only attended an Ivy League school to put the name of the university on a resume. I couldn’t confess I had no immediate life plans because my father wouldn’t allow it.

  It was weird to be so close to Marco without being able to touch him. Whenever we were near, the air hummed between us like an invisible force field drawing us together. To distract myself from staring at Marco, I drank flutes of champagne like a champ, pretending I didn’t hate transforming into someone else, someone I would never be. It was like wearing an invisible mask, one I could never take off.

  Ethan walked up to me, adjusting the gold cufflink at his wrist. “Having fun?”

  I laughed. “Is that a joke?” Lowering my voice, I turned away from Karl to talk to my brother. “Save me. Please.”

  He forced a smile. “Try talking to all these politicians who do nothing but talk about themselves.”

  Ethan had plans to run for public office someday. That was why he spent so much time with our father. With our familial connections, Ethan would have been a shoe-in. But I could see it was wearing him down, and with all the drugs he snorted up his nose or shot into his arm, he was falling apart. The weight of our family was heavy on his shoulders, as it was mine.

  I glanced around at the wives of powerful men, knowing the expressions on their faces all too well. They looked just as unhappy as my mother did most days. As miserable as me. Marco was the only person who made my heart beat, made me feel whole again.

  “Get a drink with me,” I said to Ethan.

  He tapped Karl on the shoulder. “Mind if I steal my sister for a few minutes?”

  He flashed a closed-mouth smile at Ethan and then me. “Don’t be too long. I have a few more people I want you to meet.” Karl released me from his strong hold, and I was relieved to have a minute to breathe without him hovering over me.

  “Five minutes,” I promised, even though I wanted to run the fuck away from him and never come back.

  Ethan steered me toward the bar and ordered a vodka martini with three olives for me, and a glass of whiskey for himself. “So, how’s it going?”

  I narrowed my eyes at him. “You want the real version, or the Dad approved version?”

  He laughed and handed me the martini a beautiful bartender with long, dark hair set in front of him. “I take it your betrothed isn’t as expected.”

  “No, not at all,” I said under my breath, making sure no one could hear me. “And don’t call him that. I can’t spend another hour with that man, let alone the rest of my life.”

  “I’m sorry for suggesting it.” He sighed and then sipped from his glass.

  “You came up with this ridiculous idea?”

  He shook his head. “No, that was all Dad. I confronted you about it. I’ve felt bad about it ever since you stormed out of my office during lunch. I shouldn’t have asked you to do that.”

  “Don’t worry about it. That was weeks ago.” I waved my hand to dismiss him. “I know it was because he told you to do it.”

  We moved away from the bar and closer to the edge of the roof. I raised the martini glass to my lips and stared out at Central Park. The sight was breathtaking, the city alive and full of energy. I loved coming to the city. It wasn’t hard for me to understand why my mother enjoyed being here so much. And yet she couldn’t even bother to show up. She had no excuse when her apartment was only a few blocks away from the party.

  �
��How can I get out of this?”

  Ethan shrugged. “You mean the wedding?”

  “Yes.”

  “One way or another, Dad always gets what he wants.”

  “Would you do me a favor?”

  He gave me a sideways glance. “What kind of favor?”

  “Lend me some money from your trust fund.”

  “Why do you need money?”

  “To run away. I can’t access my money for a few more years. He won’t even let me get a job. I’ve tried to apply for a few, and he finds ways to block me from getting them. The vacancies are suddenly filled or I’m not qualified. It’s like being a prisoner, Ethan. Please, will you help me?”

  He scratched the corner of his jaw, his head tilted to the side as he thought over my request. “I couldn’t give you much. Maybe ten thousand dollars. Dad monitors every cent I spend.”

  “How would you explain that much money then?”

  He pointed to his nose, and I understood he meant drugs. “I’ve spent more than that in one week when I was on one of my benders.”

  My brother was never meant to follow in our father’s footsteps. He was too unpredictable, too out of control to ever hold a public office. His manic bipolar episodes were controlled with medication, but when he would work for days on end and forget to take it, that’s when he went off the rails. We had to rein him back in every time he lost his edge.

  I hugged Ethan and squeezed the life from him. “Thank you so much. You have no idea how much you are saving me.”

  “The money won’t last long, Sienna. You won’t get far until you have to come back.”

  I released him and took a step back. “I only need enough to get me started.”

  “We can’t have contact if you decide to leave. And if Dad finds you, don’t mention I helped you. He will assume Marco took you. Think long and hard about this plan. Your secret boyfriend will go down with you, and you won’t even be around to bear the brunt of the fallout.”