Savage Empire: An Enemies to Lovers Dark Billionaire Romance (Broken Cross Book 1)

by Bri Blackwood

  6

  Anais

  Later that night, I was lying in bed and the things that Ellie said made the hairs on the back of my neck stand up. The kicker about the whole thing was that she was right about what Damien wanted with me. Sure, there were easier ways for him to find someone who would be at his every beck and call, so why me? I tried not to jump to conclusions because I knew I would spend my time overthinking instead of figuring out how to get out of this mess.

  I knew that beyond any doubt I needed to talk to my father. Why had he decided to go to Damien, of all people, instead of going to a bank and asking for a loan? Hell, couldn’t he do that now and use it to pay off Damien? If he could have, why didn’t he do it already?

  That made me sit straight up in bed. What had kept my father from trying to get a loan from a bank versus going to this man who had just threatened to take his daughter for his own pleasure? These questions caused a surge of energy to run through my body and motivated me to pull myself together in order to get ready for work. It didn’t take me long to get it together because I had my weekday morning routine down to a science and I knew exactly how much time I could waste before I had to jump in the shower.

  When I was done, I walked into the hallway and found Ellie’s door closed. She probably had an early day today and had already left for work. Once I had my coat on, I grabbed my purse and keys and headed out the door. As I waited for the elevator, I dug around in my purse and found my headphones. They would allow me to ignore the world for a bit as I rode the train to work.

  It didn’t take long for me to reach my office and I dashed through the lobby and went up to my floor on the elevator. A quick check of the time told me that I wasn’t late, yet I was still anxious. By the time I reached my desk, I let out a huge sigh. My anxiety was because of Damien’s proposal and the questions I wanted to ask my father, since that seemed to be the only thing I could think about. I looked through my doorway, which gave me the perfect angle to see my dad’s office. Based on the lack of lights on in his office, Dad still hadn’t made it in.

  “That’s odd,” I mumbled as I walked around to sit at my desk. I flipped open my laptop to wake it up. I pulled out my phone and sent a quick text to my father.

  Me: Dad, are you coming into the office today?

  I set my phone down and began reading the emails that had accumulated after I left the office yesterday. I had been so engrossed in what I was reading, I hadn’t realized that thirty minutes had flown by until one of my subordinates, Jake, was standing outside my door.

  “Sorry, I got caught up reading emails. What’s up?”

  “FYI, Edward is probably going to call you in a few minutes. Every time I give him an explanation of why a post wasn’t performing well, he listens to me and then says that he has to speak to you.”

  I sighed and closed my eyes. “That’s fine. Thanks for giving me a heads-up.”

  “Don’t mention it.” Jake lingered for a second longer before he left. I knew that at any moment Edward would call me, and it was pointless trying to work on something new when I was just going to get interrupted. So, I picked up my phone to check to see if Dad had texted me back. I confirmed he had, and I turned my phone on vibrate before I read his message.

  Dad: Yes, I’ll be in the office shortly. Had a meeting this morning, probably forgot to mark it down on my calendar.

  A quick search proved that he had indeed forgotten to mark it down. To be honest, this wasn’t shocking given the number of things he was balancing on a regular basis.

  Me: Dad, you really need a secretary or an assistant.

  I added a smiley face at the end of the text message and pressed send when a knock on the door startled me. When I looked up, I saw the woman I had passed at the front desk this morning holding a bouquet of pink orchids.

  “Anais?”

  I nodded.

  “These are for you.”

  I hesitated before I stood up and walked over to take the flowers. “Thanks so much for bringing these up,” I said.

  “Not a problem. Looks like someone wanted you to know that they were thinking about you.”

  “Yeah, I guess so,” I said as I stared at the flowers. “Thanks again.”

  With a smile, she left, and I closed my office door.

  My phone buzzed before I could inspect the flowers further.

  Dad: I should be in the office in a couple of minutes. I’m about a block away.

  Me: Sounds good. I want to chat with you about the money thing.

  I knew the flowers had to have been from him, unless it was some secret admirer that was coming out of the woodwork. With that, I placed my phone down on the desk and found the note card that came with the arrangement.

  Anais,

  Looking forward to hearing your decision.

  Damien

  The growl that left my lips shocked me. His arrogance jumped off the small piece of paper, as if he knew the answer that I was going to give. My thoughts were interrupted again by the buzzing of my phone. Apparently, I was popular today. I picked it up. I found a message from a number I didn’t recognize, and the words caused a small amount of bile to rise in my throat.

  Unknown Number: Did you get the flowers?

  Me: Damien?

  Damien: Would someone else be sending you flowers?

  My head jerked back involuntarily when I read his response. The possessiveness rolled off his words in droves. Who the hell did he think he was? I didn’t owe him an explanation, period.

  Me: How did you get this number? And I don’t owe you any explanation about anything going on in my life.

  He didn’t reply right away, and I figured either he was doing it on purpose, or he might have gotten pulled into a meeting. I stared my phone down for a few more seconds before looking at my office phone. Wasn’t Edward supposed to call me? A knock on the door removed that thought from my mind.

  “Come in!”

  Dad opened the door and stepped inside, closing it behind him. “Hey sweetheart, do you want to talk? I have a few minutes before my next meeting.”

  “Dad, I’ll cut right to the chase. How much money do you owe Damien Cross?”

  “How did you know I borrowed the money from him?”

  Shit. I hadn’t realized he hadn’t told me that he was borrowing money from anyone. “Uh. I put two and two together when you didn’t tell me that he was a new client of ours.” Thank goodness for my ability to think quickly on my feet.

  He didn’t respond at first, but he seemed to buy my explanation. He walked over to one of the chairs that I kept in a corner of my office and pulled it closer to my desk before he replied.

  “About $270,000.”

  “Dad!” I exclaimed.

  His gaze darted toward the door, probably checking to make sure that no one had heard me through the closed door. “I know, I know.”

  “$270,000?” I said. I knew I sounded like a parrot, repeating what he had said, but I couldn’t help it.

  “Sweetheart, I know.”

  “Are you anywhere near being able to pay that money back? Like, would you be able to get it in six weeks?” I knew the pleading in my words and the uncomfortable nature of this conversation were getting to him because he still hadn’t looked at me.

  “Potentially.”

  “What do you mean potentially!” I sounded frantic to my own ears. I paused and said, “I mean I know what potentially means, but why aren’t you sure? And what happens if you don’t?”

  “Monroe Media Agency is no more.” He stopped and ran a hand across the back of his neck. “We’ll have to shut our doors. I’m not sure what your mom and I will do but we’ll figure out how to make it work.”

  “Why didn’t you go to the bank and get a loan?”

  “Interest rates, and I wasn’t sure that they would loan us this amount.”

  “I’ve heard some things about Damien Cross, and I don’t think he’s someone to mess with.”

  “I know, but I had no choice. N
o bank was going to loan me that type of money that quick.” His eyes made their way around the room before they met mine. “He made me an offer I couldn’t refuse. I did it to save this business. To save what you, me, and everyone here worked so hard to achieve, and to give me some more time to fix everything. New companies were springing up and taking our clientele and we needed some more money in order to compete.”

  I could see tears welling up in his eyes as he ran a hand through his salt-and-pepper hair. I looked down on my desk in order to not start tearing up again myself. Not only had Damien made my father an offer he couldn’t refuse, he had done the same to me.

  At the end of the workday, I found myself staring at my phone. Damien had responded hours ago at this point, but I didn’t have an urge to read it until now.

  Damien: I have my sources. One more day.

  Reading the words again and again made my lip quiver. Although I was scared there was something else there—a tiny bit of excitement about the unknown? I didn’t know if I would call it that either. The fact that I was even considering doing this and not just telling everyone involved to go screw themselves told me a lot about myself. As I was staring into space in the direction of my phone, it lit up alerting me that I had just received a message. It was from Ellie.

  Ellie: You’ll never guess what happened.

  Me: This sounds dangerous and I’m not going to even try to guess what happened.

  Ellie: Fine. Sometimes I wonder why we’re friends. Anyway. You’ll never believe this.

  She didn’t type for a moment, drawing this out even more.

  Ellie: I just got you and me into Elevate.

  I felt my eyes almost bulge out of my skull.

  Me: You got us into a sex club?

  Ellie: I got us into the dance club portion. I hope you’re ready to party because we are definitely going tonight.

  I sighed and mumbled, “Damnit.” I was not prepared for this. Not at all.

  7

  Damien

  “You don’t look like you’re having much fun. Not that you have much fun to begin with.”

  I glanced at Broderick and I fought the urge to roll my eyes. “I know how to have fun.”

  I hadn’t intended on coming to Elevate tonight. The twins had insisted, and I didn’t give them much of a fight. We had opted to stay in the VIP section of the bar, and I was glad. The sleek black, gray, and gold was a theme across both the bar and the adult club in the basement. The atmosphere of the bar and dance floor could be changed on a dime by switching the music and the lighting, which was one of the reasons we had gone along with this option when the interior designer had suggested it. We knew it made the place look more expensive and that had been the aim when it came to making our money back on the investment. And we did, and then some.

  Instead of wandering down to the basement, I stayed up here and nursed the whiskey that had been thrust into my hand when I arrived. Based on where Gage’s attention lay, he might have found a woman to take home tonight. He leaned over Broderick and said to me, “Well, pull the stick out of your ass and have some fun.”

  Broderick shook his head, and I took another sip of my whiskey. Broderick was sitting between us, making it harder to talk one-on-one, not that I was complaining. The music blaring through the speakers didn’t help either. Although it was quieter in VIP, it was still difficult to hear.

  Both Broderick and I ignored him, and Broderick placed both of his elbows on the back of the couch we were lounging on. My brothers and I had always wanted to go in on a project together but could never agree on anything until we saw that this space was available. Elevate was born and it had been a tremendous success. The grand opening was a couple of years ago, and nothing had stopped the steady stream of people coming through its doors. We made it a point to make both the bar and club somewhat exclusive because we thought that would attract more attention and consumers and it had. Besides, there were well-placed rumors flying around that the three of us co-owned it although no one had proved it.

  Gage was right. I did have a stick up my ass because I didn’t want to be here and because of a certain brunette that I couldn’t shake no matter how much I tried. I spent most of my adult life focusing on work and finding the next company to conquer, but now things felt strange because I couldn’t escape my thoughts about her. My quality of work hadn’t suffered, however, and I made sure to keep it that way.

  There were plenty of women who came in and out of my life. We had our fun, and when it was time to let go, we let go. I can’t remember the last time a woman, especially one who I barely knew, stayed on my mind for this long.

  I took another sip of my drink and stood up. Broderick looked over at me and before he could ask, I said, “I’m going to check out the crowd tonight. I’m tired of sitting.”

  “I’ll go with you. I don’t want to be stuck next to him.”

  I looked at Gage and shook my head. He was flirting with a server.

  “Come on,” Broderick said and together we walked over toward a balcony that overlooked the entire ground floor. It was clear as day that drinks were flowing, and people were dancing and having a good time.

  “Excellent investment.” Broderick held up his glass and I joined him in a silent cheer before we took another sip. “So what else do you want to take over?”

  “What do you mean?” I asked, answering his question with a question.

  “Well, you are a mega tycoon, according to the supermarket tabloids.” We’d definitely turned the nightlife scene on its head with Elevate in more ways than one. It was then that I spotted her, and my gaze narrowed. “You’re one of the most powerful men in New York City. What’s next?”

  “Same could be said about you and Gage.”

  “That’s not an answer.”

  “Maybe a media firm.”

  Broderick took a glimpse at me, his eyes widening before he caught himself and turned back toward the balcony. He was trying to find what had made me say it. “Do you know her?”

  “Know who?”

  “Good job on being evasive, Damien.” Broderick looked down again over the balcony. “It’s the woman in the gold dress, isn’t it?” They were making their way across the dance floor and I almost strained my neck in order to get a better look at what she was wearing.

  I didn’t answer, instead taking another sip of my drink.

  “Is there something going on here? Are you fucking her?”

  “No.” At least not yet.

  “But you want to.”

  “That’s none of your business.”

  Broderick snorted. “And that explains why there is a bigger stick up your ass than normal. Maybe you do need to fuck her.”

  “Can you shut up? Or go back to watching what Gage is up to?” His brother didn’t need to know that fucking her wasn’t out of the realm of possibility given the deal I came up with. I never had to worry about whether I would be able to find someone to share my bed with. There was a mutual understanding between me and the women I slept with. Sometimes things got dicey, but it wasn’t anything I couldn’t handle. Relationships were something I didn’t want to deal with. Period.

  Broderick looked behind him prior to turning back to me, a smirk firmly planted on his face. “Looks like Gage struck out.”

  His words made me turn around to confirm. Gage was now by himself, looking at his phone. “Bet he thought he was going to end up taking her downstairs.” Broderick shrugged as I shook my head and downed the rest of my drink.

  Another server walked by and said, “Can I get that for you, sir?”

  “Yes,” I said, and the man took the glass and placed it on his tray. I buttoned my suit jacket.

  “Where are you going?”

  “I have something I need to take care of. I’ll probably be back.” With that, I headed off to find out exactly what Anais was doing here.

  It didn’t take long for me to get down the stairs, but I had lost sight of them. Anais had somehow gotten into Elevate with wha
t looked to be her roommate, based on the pictures and captions Dave had found on Anais’s social media profiles. And I wanted to know how and why.

  “Damien?” I glanced over and saw Kingston. He was my cousin and was doing us a favor by subbing in for one of Elevate’s security guards who’d called out sick. He was stationed near the stairs to stop people who didn’t belong in VIP from getting through. “Do you need anything?”

  “No, I’m good,” I said, just as I spotted the two women. They were making their way toward the bar. I walked around the periphery for a bit because I didn’t want to draw attention to myself, nor did I want Anais to spot me before I was ready.

  I watched as her roommate leaned over and whispered something in her ear and then she started making her way through the crowd leaving Anais alone at the bar. I knew it was my turn to strike. It took little effort for me to get to Anais and once I was close enough to touch her, I paused. She’d left her long brown hair down and it was a blessing and a curse because I thought about running my fingers through her hair while she gave me a blow job. The gold dress left very little to the imagination, and I could tell I wasn’t the only one near her who thought the same. I noticed a guy to our right making his way over to her with his eyes stuck to her body as I assumed mine had been.

  His eyes shyly shifted off of her and toward me and all it took was a look before he backed away. The person next to her grabbed their drink and shifted out of the way, leaving an opening for me.

  I slid into the space and leaned down to ask, “What are you doing here?”

  I could tell she was about to snap, but once her eyes landed on me, the words were gone. It took her a few seconds to recuperate from her shock but when she did, the feistiness returned.

  “What do you mean what am I doing here? What are you doing here?”

  “That’s none of your business.”

  “And the reason I’m here is yours?” I saw a ghost of a smirk appear on her face, probably because she thought she’d won this battle. All I could think about was ripping that slinky dress off of her and fucking her on the bar. In front of patrons? Why not?