Broken Anchor (Sinful Truths Book 6)

by Ella Miles

  “Who finances you? I’ve seen your bank accounts. I know you are wealthy beyond imagination. Those stupid tasks you sent me on were nothing more than a game to you. You haven’t made your billions from smuggling drugs and people. Who finances you?”

  “You think I’ll tell you, just like that?”

  “If you don’t want to die.”

  “I won’t be dying.” His eyes dart around the room to his men, who finally caught on and have their guns aimed at me.

  I lean in close. “My child is dead. My wife broken. You think I care about dying right now? I only care about wiping the earth of evil.”

  “Thomas, get us two whiskeys,” Julian snaps at one of his men.

  I narrow my eyes. “What are you doing?”

  “We have a partnership. You want to talk? Let’s talk.”

  The man brings over two whiskey glasses.

  Julian raises his eyebrows, waiting for me to decide how to handle this.

  I let him go and grab one of the glasses.

  “Everyone out,” Julian says.

  The man who brought us the glasses directs everyone to the back and then closes the door between the front and the back of the plane.

  “Enzo’s father,” Julian says.

  I frown. “Enzo’s father can’t be financing you, he’s dead.”

  “No, he’s not financing me. He’s the reason for all of this, though. He originally made a deal with Siren’s parents and mine. They had all agreed to work together, sharing resources and working together in drug and weapons trade. Eventually, Enzo’s father, Mr. Black, cut our families out and ensured we were powerless.”

  “So, this all started because your parents and Siren’s parents wanted revenge against the Black family?”

  “Yes, our families wanted to ruin the Black family. The box contains the ultimate tool to do that—a cancer that spreads like a virus with us having the only cure. We could control who lived and who died.”

  I nod, it makes sense. “But then Siren killed them all.”

  “Did she?” Julian sips his drink.

  I frown. “She did. She told me herself.”

  “She tried to. And she almost succeeded, but one man survived.”

  “Who?”

  Julian grins. “Her father.”

  “Siren’s father is financing you?”

  “Yes. He invested some money in oil. He made a killing. He wanted me to hire her so I could keep an eye on her. We never realized that she was the key to finding the box all along, though.”

  “If her father survived, wouldn’t he have known the truth?”

  “No, he thought Siren had failed in stealing the box from the Black vault. We thought you knew where the box was. We were wrong; she succeeded. We were too stupid to realize that a woman like Siren doesn’t fail.”

  I smirk. “No, she doesn’t.”

  “That’s what I remembered. That Siren doesn’t fail. I also know that you know Siren better than anyone. We may not know the exact location where she hid the box in Scotland, but you know her. If you want to find Langston before he hurts her again, we will have to work together to find her.”

  “Where is Siren’s father?”

  “Why would I tell you that? It’s one of the few things keeping me alive.”

  “Where is he?” I threaten again.

  “I’ll tell you as soon as I have the box and am safely away. He’s at the top of your death list, and since I want him dead too, I have no problem letting you do the dirty work.”

  “You’re scum.”

  “I know. But soon, I will hold the power of the world. You could have had it, but instead, you will trade it all away for love. Who’s the fool?”

  I don’t answer, but I know what he thinks—I’m the fool. A fool that would do anything for love.

  30

  Siren

  I take a deep breath and gasp as I struggle to walk up the hill toward the castle at the top. Where I last saw my brother. Where I hid the box with him.

  “Are you okay? Do you need me to carry you?” Langston asks.

  I stop and grip my waist. “No, I’m fine. It’s just this damn body armor underneath my shirt. It’s not built for pregnant women. It’s very tight around my chest.”

  Langston laughs. “You don’t look pregnant anymore with how tight that thing goes around you. I can imagine it’s hard to breathe in.”

  “Yes, but it keeps me and the little one safe, so I’ll deal with it.”

  I take another step, and a large boom explodes right next to me. Langston jumps on top of me as he draws his gun and looks around, but there doesn’t seem to be anyone nearby.

  I look over to the right where the bomb went off. Close, but more of a warning than an actual attempt on our lives.

  “That would be my brother,” I say.

  Langston frowns. “Are you sure you don’t have his phone number? We could just call him and tell him we intend to destroy the box and avoid all of this.”

  “I wish it were that simple, but Easton promised to protect it with his life, even from me. He hoped that someday someone would come along with a pure heart, someone who could break the cure from the cancer and use it only for good.”

  “But that person never came along.”

  “No. We could drop a bomb; blow the whole castle up and then search in the wreckage to ensure it was destroyed,” I say, my voice sounding cruel and harsh.

  “Could you really do that with your brother inside?” Langston asks.

  Maybe—that’s how far I’m willing to go to protect my family and the world. But I don’t say that. It’s an option if it comes to that, but first, we will try to get it by convincing my brother to destroy it.

  “Stay behind me,” Langston says as we continue up the hill. Zeke said the same thing to me back in Spain, and we ended up separated. I hope that doesn’t happen again.

  More bombs rain down around us, but none of them come close enough to cause us any danger, so we continue on up the hill. I hope that as much as I don’t want to kill my brother, he doesn’t want to kill me either.

  We make it to the top of the hill in one piece, standing in front of the looming castle. It looks like we’ve gone back in time. Other than a few vines growing higher on the side of the castle, it’s just as it was when I was last here.

  “Ready?” Langston asks me.

  I nod.

  “You know that you don’t have to come. I can meet with your brother on my own,” he says.

  “I know, but if he’s going to listen to anyone, it will be me.”

  We both walk with our guns up to the castle. Langston won’t let me get too close to the door, as he knocks, in case it’s booby-trapped.

  There is no answer, so Langston picks the lock and opens the door. He points his gun in as he enters the house, motioning for me to wait.

  A moment later, he returns to the door and waves me inside. I step in and a cold chill courses through me. If anyone is living here, they live a very cold, empty life.

  “Easton, it’s Aria, your sister. We just want to talk,” I say, hoping that if my brother is somewhere in the house, he’d respond to me.

  We creep around the large, seemingly abandoned castle, until a voice stops us in our tracks.

  “You should leave.”

  We turn around, trying to find where the voice is coming from, but I can’t tell.

  “Do you see where he is?” I whisper to Langston.

  “No,” he replies, his eyes peering around, trying to find him.

  “We want to destroy the box. I should have never left it here. I should have destroyed it,” I say.

  Suddenly, a man steps forward from the shadows—my brother.

  “Easton?” I say.

  “Yes,” he responds.

  I lower my gun, then push Langston’s down, although Langston doesn’t seem happy with it. He keeps his gun aimed at Easton’s feet.

  “You don’t have to give us the box. Just destroy it in front of us. Or go
destroy it and bring back the box if you wish. But there are evil men coming for it. They could be hours or minutes away. We have to destroy it—now,” I say.

  “I can’t,” Easton says.

  I frown. “Why not? I know I thought it was best to keep it around in case someone figured out a way to use the cure without unleashing the virus, but that opportunity has passed. We have to destroy it.”

  Easton steps forward, ignoring Langston until he’s right in front of me. “It’s good to see you again, little sis. I wish I could help you, I really do, but I swore to you a long time ago that I wouldn’t. I said I would protect the box, and that’s what I’m doing. Only someone who truly wants the box can get it. Only someone who is willing to give up everything, sacrifice the love of their life, and their own life will be able to send the box to someone.”

  “What did you do with the box?”

  Easton doesn’t speak, but his eyes tell me. They shoot across the ocean to an island through the window. He hid it there, not here.

  “Don’t go after it. It’s perfectly safe, Aria. There is no reason to go,” Easton says.

  I bite my lip and close my eyes. It’s not his fault. He did what I asked and protected it with everything he has. “The box may be safe, but the men coming for it won’t stop coming after my family until they have the box or it’s destroyed. The only way you can help save me from these terrible men and the world from the virus is to tell me how to get the box.”

  Easton looks at me and then Langston.

  I turn to Langston. “Leave us alone, please.”

  “Siren, I can’t. I—“

  “It’s okay, Easton won’t hurt me. We just need to talk, sibling to sibling.”

  “I’ll be right outside the door,” Langston says, giving Easton a stern look and then walking outside.

  “Tell me, Easton. Please, we are on the same side. Tell me what I need to do to destroy the box.”

  Easton steps forward and whispers in my ear, afraid Langston will hear. I listen carefully, my heart thudding wildly with fear and pain at what must happen, and who must do it.

  Once Easton finishes talking, he walks to the front door to let Langston back in. When he opens the door, a bullet flies at his chest.

  Easton falls down dead in front of me.

  “No!” I scream at the sight.

  I turn to look at the door, afraid to see what I’ll see when I look. But I look anyway.

  “Daddy?”

  31

  Zeke

  Julian and I stare up at the hill with Julian’s men surrounding us.

  “Siren’s here, good work. We will ensure she stays safe as long as you help me get the box,” Julian says.

  I don’t say anything. He’s crazy if he thinks I’m handing him over the keys to the virus that could kill millions of people—not going to happen.

  But I need Siren alive. And for the moment, I’ll do anything to keep her alive, so I keep my mouth shut.

  I tracked the plane Siren and Langston got on, then had Enzo and Kai track the car they rented here. Enzo and Kai tracked them here.

  We start up the hill as bombs start going off all around us. It’s a minefield heading up the hill. If I’m lucky, one of them will kill Julian, and I’ll have one less person to worry about. But if he’s dead, Siren’s father could just hire another man to come after us. As good as I am with security and tracking people down, I know it can take a lifetime to find someone who doesn’t want to be found. That’s not the life I want for Siren and me, so I’ll let Julian live until he’s no longer useful, then I’ll kill him.

  Julian and I make it up the hill. By my estimate, less than half the men we started with join us. We both gasp for air, but we don’t get a chance to catch our breath. I spot Langston standing outside the giant castle at the top of the hill.

  We both raise our guns in his direction.

  “Where is Siren?” I shout at him.

  Langston looks at me, then Julian. He realizes neither of us is on his side, not anymore. He betrayed us both, and now he’ll pay for what he did.

  “Where the fuck is she?” Julian yells, growing impatient.

  Julian won’t be the one who kills Langston. What Langston did is personal. If anyone kills him, it will be me.

  I fire my gun in Langston’s direction, purposefully missing just enough to scare him into answering my question. Instead of answering or fighting me, Langston starts running.

  Without thinking, I chase after. I fire another warning shot at him as he runs around the back of the castle. Hopefully, he’s leading me to Siren. A moment later, a firefight breaks out behind me.

  I glance behind me in time to see Enzo and Kai leading a cavalry of men and women toward the house. Julian’s small army won’t stand a chance. But then droves of men are suddenly coming to join Julian’s men—Siren’s father’s army, no doubt.

  Fuck.

  Langston keeps running, and I continue chasing him around the back of the castle, needing to know where he hid Siren. I want answers. I want to torture him for what he did, although there isn’t time for that.

  We make it to the other side of the castle, away from the fight.

  “Where is Siren?” I yell at him.

  Langston ignores me and turns his back to me, as he stands on the edge of the hill, looking me straight in the eyes. I aim my gun at his heart.

  “Where is she?”

  He jumps.

  I run over to the edge where he jumped and see him sliding down the side of the hill, the slick wet grass making it easy to slide down.

  I get a running start then start sliding down the hill, hoping my added speed and weight help me to catch up to him.

  We reach the bottom of the hill almost at the same time, but Langston has a slight head start on me. He’s faster than me, and I’ll never catch him on foot.

  Where is he going?

  He runs faster down to the beach.

  “Why did you do it?” I yell.

  He keeps running, while my heartbreak continues to drive me. I suspect it is a feeling that I will have to live with for the rest of my life. Here on out will be either great heartache or times of anger; I don’t think I will ever be at peace. I will never experience anything between heartache and explosive anger again.

  I fire again, and this time I hit Langston in the back. He falls, and now I have a chance to run up to him.

  He rolls onto his back, breathing hard. He doesn’t try to get up, even though I can see from where his shirt rode up that he’s wearing protective gear under his clothes. The shot just knocked the wind out of him; it didn’t penetrate his skin. So I don’t know why he stopped running.

  “Why?” I say again, through my anger.

  Langston looks at me. “I can’t. Not yet.”

  “You can’t what?”

  Langston shakes my head. “Shoot me if you have to. Do it, but it won’t save Siren.”

  “Where is she?”

  “The question you should be asking is how to save her.”

  I frown. “What the hell is that supposed to mean?”

  “The box isn’t here.”

  “Where?”

  Langston glances behind him, and I spot the island out in the distance. The box is there. Why is Langston telling me this?

  I hold the gun to Langston’s head. He either tells me the truth now, or I’ll kill him, just like he killed my child.

  “Zeke!” Siren’s voice rings behind me. I turn just in time to see her with fear in her eyes. When I turn back, Langston is gone.

  But Siren is alive. I can see her. That’s all that matters.

  32

  Siren

  “Daddy?” I stare at the man standing in the doorway of the castle. My brother lies on the floor.

  “Yes, it’s me.”

  Jesus.

  I lean down and put my finger to Easton’s pulse. I feel nothing. He’s dead from a single shot.

  A tear forms in my eye for the brother I never got to know.
A brother who became a hermit so my parents wouldn’t use him for their own means—a brother who committed his life to protecting me and the box.

  Gone, just like that.

  I stand back up and look at my father. There are more wrinkles around his eyes since the last time I saw him, and his head is almost completely covered by gray hair.

  “You didn’t have to kill him, you know,” I say, my anger on full display.

  He ignores me and steps into the castle over Easton’s body.

  I could run, but I don’t. I need to understand my father’s role in this, and how he’s alive when I thought I killed him along with my mother.

  “Is Mom—?” I ask.

  “Dead. You managed to get that part right.”

  “How are you alive?”

  “The same way your boy toy is alive. You threw me in the water with a bullet in the chest and expected me to die. But an angel came along and saved me.”

  “You’ve been behind everything. You’re financing Julian’s ventures.”

  “I am, not that the money has been very well spent so far.”

  “Why?”

  “My mission never stopped. I’ve always wanted the virus. I’ve wanted to control its cure, to decide who is worthy of living and who isn’t. It’s the only way to ensure the world survives. There are too many dangerous, evil people in this world.”

  “Yes,” I hiss. “People like you.”

  “Oh, my dear Aria. Or should I call you Siren? That’s what you call yourself now, right? A siren. Doesn’t sound like you’ve turned to the good side, my dear.”

  I ignore him, which only pisses him off.

  “Where is the box?”

  “Maybe you shouldn’t have killed Easton, and he would have told you.”

  He grabs my arm. “Where is it, Aria?”

  He moves to strike me, but I stop him, shoving his arm back. “I’m not a child anymore, Father. I know how to protect myself. I know how to fight back.”

  “And I have an army of men just outside that will kill you if you so much as step foot outside the castle. You’re stuck with me inside. Where is the box?”