Scarred Empire: An Enemies to Lovers Dark Billionaire Romance (Broken Cross Book 2)

by Bri Blackwood

  There was a small light flickering in a broken window of the warehouse. Before I could examine it further, another dark colored car drove up and two men exited the car. One guy reached into the back seat and brought out another person, who looked to have a dark colored hood on his head. My eyes widened and I covered my mouth, fear pooling in my stomach as I watched them jerk the man forward. They entered the warehouse as well and then all was silent.

  My eyes darted back to Rob. “Can you tell me what is going on?” My words came out much calmer than I was actually feeling.

  “It wouldn’t be wise, Miss.” His words were even with no emotion behind them, causing my stomach to drop further.

  Time moved at a snail’s pace until…it didn’t. I heard two loud bangs and some more commotion, causing me to jump in my seat. My heart pounded in my chest and before I could process screaming, I saw someone exit the warehouse. Under the flickering light of a street light, I caught a glimpse of the face of the man who had turned my life on its head. Yet now I couldn’t imagine what life would be like without him. I exhaled loudly, without realizing that I was holding my breath in.

  Rob unlocked the vehicle and Damien slid into the backseat next to me. Once he was in the car, Rob pulled away, hopefully taking us home.

  I glanced at Damien and found him looking straight ahead. I waited a beat to see if he would break the silence, but he didn’t. I took a few deep breaths as I did my best to control my heart rate, but I could feel adrenaline creeping in. I could only imagine what he was feeling.

  “Damien, what happened back there? What was that bang? It sounded like gunshots.”

  “It was.” He seemed calm, but his breathing was still heavy.

  I reached over and grabbed his hand, squeezing gently. His hand shook slightly, and he had a wild look in his eye. It was clear that his behavior was from anger. “Are you hurt?”

  He shook his head but stayed silent.

  “Did you hurt someone?” My tone was gentle but worry had a hold on me and I couldn’t shake it.

  It was then that Damien turned to me and when his gaze landed on me, I felt the brutal force of the inferno behind his eyes. I knew it wasn’t directed at me, but I was afraid for the person who had put that look in his eyes. “I killed Jon Moretti.”

  “You did what?!” I screamed and dropped his hand as both of mine flew to cover my mouth. I'd suspected he'd shot whoever it was in the hood, but I didn't think he'd killed them. “Why would you do that? I thought you told him he had forty-eight hours to get out of town?”

  “I changed my mind. He continued to disrespect you, and no one disrespects what’s mine. I should have killed him after that dinner.”

  “Damien, I—”

  “He fucked with what’s mine and paid the price. When news of his death hits the streets, that should be a warning for all not to mess with what’s mine.” His eyes blazed, as if daring me to be pissed off at him over it.

  I recalled the information that I saw in Jon’s folder in Damien’s office. “But he works for Will? Aren’t they a part of the Vitale family? Did you just start a war with the mafia over me?”

  I replayed Damien’s words in my mind multiple times, but I didn’t have the reaction I thought I would. I closed my eyes and deep down I knew that him killing Jon wasn’t a shock. He kept testing Damien and all that I'd heard and now knew about Damien told me that what happened tonight wasn’t out of the realm of possibility. What concerned me more was that Damien might have started a confrontation with the mafia that could have been avoided. I feared for what Will’s reaction might be and what Damien’s retaliation might end up being. The blood that would be shed over this didn’t have to happen, but this was now the inevitable.

  It didn’t help that Damien let my question hang in the air as his eyes were once again focused on looking straight ahead as we rode through New York City’s streets.

  27

  Damien

  Anais avoided looking at me on our way back to the penthouse. She'd been much calmer than I expected after I admitted to killing a man after he mistreated her. I would do it again in a heartbeat.

  I could have probably eased into telling her what I had done instead of leaving her shell-shocked. That was my mistake.

  “Talk to me, Anais.”

  “Nothing. I’m fine.”

  I knew it was a lie. “You’re not fine.”

  She turned to me and looked me straight in the eyes and said, “Nothing. There was just a lot of excitement back there.”

  “Do you have any more questions?”

  “Why did you tell the truth about what happened back there? You could have played it off if you wanted to.” Her words were barely a whisper, but she never let her eyes move from mine.

  It was my turn to lean over and grab her hand, lifting it to my lips briefly. “Because I want you to see everything that my life entails. Yes, things can be glamorous, but that is also a part of my life too.”

  “Was that the first time you killed someone?”

  My lips twitched. She'd asked the question without fear. “No.”

  She nodded and the weight I was carrying lightened a fraction. “Should we be concerned about the mafia now?”

  “You won’t have to worry about it.” I looked over her and saw that she was doing the exact opposite. “Did any of that scare you?”

  “I’d be lying if I said no. More so because I wasn’t expecting it, but I’m not going to lose sleep over Jon.”

  “Good. If anyone has an issue with you, they will answer to me.” I paused before I changed the subject. “Speaking of sleep, are you sleepy? Still hungry?”

  “No,” she said before a yawn escaped her lips.

  “Sure about that?”

  That got a small smile to appear on her face. “I guess I am. Didn’t realize I was until just now.”

  “Well, at least tomorrow’s Friday. One more day and then we can sleep-in.”

  “You? Sleep in? That’s a rarity.”

  That was accurate. In the time we had been sleeping in the same bed together, I had still been in bed when she woke up maybe twice. “Let’s grab brunch somewhere in the city this weekend. I think we’ve both had enough of the fancy dinners for a while.”

  I remembered overhearing her tell Ellie that I hadn’t taken her out on a date, and it sounded as if that hadn’t been the first time they’d spoken about it. She must not have expected my words because her eyes lit up with excitement. In the dull light from the streetlights that flickered through the car’s windows I could see a smile was forming and soon it took over her entire face.

  “That sounds like a great idea.”

  “I need to make up for that shitty work dinner that I brought you to. Pick any place that you want to go to, and I’ll make it happen.”

  I watched as the smile on her face grew wider. I was proud of myself for having put it there.

  “Does Thirteen Park Avenue serve brunch? I deserve a do-over there.”

  “I don’t see why not.” I pulled out my phone and emailed Melissa, telling her to check with the restaurant tomorrow and if they did, tell them to pull out all the stops for a Saturday brunch.

  “I’d love to go there if they do.”

  As I placed my phone back in my pocket, Rob pulled up in front of our building. He walked around to let Anais out while I opened my door. We were walking past the front desk when the staffer on duty stopped us.

  “Ms. Monroe?” I knew I had seen her before, but I had never caught her name. Her name tag said Lydia. We both turned to face her, and I wondered why she would call Anais’s name instead of mine.

  “Something was delivered for you a couple of hours ago. Let me go grab it.”

  My guard went up as I watched the woman walk into the back. “Did you order something?”

  “No,” she replied. “I don’t think my parents would have sent me anything here.”

  I grabbed my phone out of my pocket and sent a text to Kingston.

  Me: A
nais received a flower delivery and neither one of us know who it’s from. It might be nothing but wanted to give you a heads-up in case we need to meet.

  Kingston: I’ll come over anyway. I’ve got some more information on the gun/other package Anais received.

  Me: Okay.

  Kingston: I should be there in fifteen.

  When I placed my phone back in my pocket, Lydia appeared again, holding a vase of sunflowers.

  “Oh!” Anais said before stepping forward. “These are pretty. Are you sure you didn’t send me flowers?”

  I didn’t respond because I couldn’t get my mouth to form words. When she took her green eyes off the vase and looked at me, I spoke. “No, I definitely wouldn’t have sent you sunflowers.” I didn’t go any further because I didn’t want the staffer who was looking at us curiously to hear any more. I didn’t want her to hear that these flowers brought back memories I had hoped were buried, and I didn’t know how to feel now that I knew they weren’t. The last time I gave a woman sunflowers, she ended up dead.

  I asked Lydia to hand them over to me and Anais and I made our way upstairs to the apartment. As I placed the flowers on the kitchen counter, I could smell the dinner that Lucy left in the oven for us, but any thoughts of eating it had vanished once I saw these flowers. I grabbed a glass of water for her and a whiskey neat for me. I hadn’t expected to have anything else to drink tonight, but it didn’t matter now. Nothing else did. My mind was buzzing as we waited for Kingston to arrive.

  I watched as she paced back and forth, her mind clearly in a similar state to my own. She walked over to the flowers and started inspecting them. “I don’t see a card with a note or anything.”

  That’s because the flowers didn’t need one. Even if I didn’t know who sent it, I knew what it was related to.

  “This is all so creepy and I’m tired of it.”

  “I know.” I didn’t say much else because I knew just how creepy it was going to get. Those flowers hadn’t been sent to Anais by mistake.

  “We’ll figure this out.” Anais’s determined words helped clear the fog that surrounded my brain since we entered the penthouse. There was no way I could have predicted that tonight would turn out like this.

  A knock on the door stopped me from having to say anything more to Anais. Kingston had arrived. After I moved out of the way to let him in, he went over and examined the flowers. “I’m no expert, but these flowers look fine.”

  “I don't care. I want them examined."

  “I’ll call around to a couple of florists in the area to see if they made a delivery here. Hopefully gives us a lead.”

  “There is one thing I do know. The flowers themselves were a message for me.”

  Anais stopped pacing and stared at me, saying nothing. Kingston’s eyes moved between Anais and me before he too settled on me.

  “What do you mean?” That was the first time Anais had spoken since Kingston had arrived.

  “These were Charlotte’s favorite flowers. There’s no way I would have bought them for you.”

  28

  Anais

  I walked over to Damien and placed a hand on his back. I rubbed that hand up and down his back. “Who would do such a thing?”

  “We need to start digging. I need you to find all of Charlotte’s associates. Family, friends, her first-grade teacher, et cetera. Anyone who might have blamed me for her death.” His words came out firm and authoritative, much different from the man who seemed to be on the verge of collapsing into himself just before Kingston had arrived.

  I didn’t know if my rubbing his back was helping in any way, but I continued doing it.

  “If this is at all related to what happened with James, we need to know. If it is connected, I suspect they didn’t shoot him because of anything he’d done. I think it was a way to get my attention.”

  I swallowed hard. This had to be the longest night of my life. If I had been shocked when Damien told me he murdered Jon and mentioned these flowers being his ex-girlfriend’s favorite, it was nothing compared to what I felt right now, but I knew I didn’t have the luxury of being able to collapse now. I stood firm and tall, trying to support Damien as much as I could.

  “Kingston, you had some more information on the gun.”

  When Kingston began talking about the gun, my ears perked up. He confirmed the gun was stolen, but they were able to get footage of the person they believed stole it.

  When Kingston tossed a photo on the table, I gasped.

  I nodded. “So, it’s official the raspy voiced man isn’t just the messenger. I think we can confidently say he's my father’s shooter at this point.”

  Damien cursed and ran a hand through his hair.

  I frowned. “Too bad my parents didn’t recognize him.”

  “How is he connected to your dead ex-girlfriend?” Kingston asked.

  “That could be anyone’s guess.”

  I tried to stop my mind from reading too much into this, but thoughts of how my association with Damien was more than likely the reason that my father had been shot. Who even knew if the shot that was taken was supposed to be fired at me.

  I shook my head. This was not the time to sit here and blame myself for things beyond my control. What I could do was help Damien and Kingston catch this asshole. “Okay, what can I do to help?”

  “For now, I think the best course of action is to maintain the status quo. Don’t go anywhere without security. I’m going to install more security features on this floor and in the building, but it's going to take a couple of days to get everything up and running.”

  “You own this building too?”

  “Is that shocking?”

  "So, has Edward given you any trouble?" I asked.

  "No, not really, but you know it’s only a matter of time before he starts calling again. He takes a small break while you’re out, but his sixth sense starts tingling when you’re back and the calls start coming if he can’t reach you.”

  I chuckled at what one of my coworkers, Rachel, insisted would be the case at some point soon. "You're probably right. Listen, I'm going to let you go get some work done and get back to it myself."

  "Okay, catch up with you later."

  I had pulled myself together enough to work the day after those sunflowers had ripped my life apart once more. I had a lot to catch up on since my father had been shot, but I was happy to have something that was bringing some normalcy back into my life and I needed the distraction. It would be helpful to go into the office to talk to people like Vicki and Jake, but I knew that it wouldn’t happen for a while yet, given where things currently stood.

  I'd briefly talked to Damien before he'd left for work and he'd told me that between what Kingston knew and what had been told to my father, the police had confirmed that the gun dropped off at my job was indeed the gun that had shot my father, though they weren’t able to lift any fingerprints from it. Kingston and Damien gave the police the images that they had of “raspy voice” and they were also trying to track him down. It seemed as if he might be the key to unlocking this puzzle if we could find him. Or hell, there was a good chance that he would find me instead.

  My stomach growled and it made me think about both lunch and dinner. I grabbed my phone from its resting place on the coffee table and sent him a message.

  Me: I’m in the mood to cook tonight. Is there anything that you would want to eat?

  Before I had the opportunity to put my phone down, I saw he was typing a message back, so I waited. I unmuted the music that I had running in the background that I had turned off during the call with my coworkers.

  Damien: Whatever you make will be good. Why don’t you go and put that toy in your pussy and then we can have some fun when I get home.

  I was annoyed with his response, yet his words turned me into a pile of mush. There was no way I was going to be able to get through the workday with that toy anywhere near my mound.

  Me: I’ll think about it.

  Damien: What
’s there to think about? Do I need to remind you that I control your pleasure? You know what happens when I have to remind you.

  I rolled my eyes and tossed the phone down on the couch beside me. Although I debated putting the vibrator in, there was no way I was going to do it now given the demands he had just made. Eh, I was on the clock now, but I had no issue slipping it in closer to when he would be coming home for dinner. I didn’t respond to his text message and instead took a moment to grab a glass of water and drink some of it before I pulled my computer back on my lap and went back to work. I was just finishing up answering a message to Jake when there was a knock on the door.

  I glanced at the door before finishing my sentence. Whoever was on the other side knocked again.

  With a sigh, I muted the music that was playing in my browser again and placed my computer on the cushion next to me and looked at the clock. It was 11:37 a.m.

  I got up and looked through the peephole and opened the door.

  “Where is Kingston?” I asked when Carter appeared at my door. If he was doing one of Kingston’s daily checks, he was early. It took me a second to realize how rude I sounded, and I said, “Sorry, I didn’t mean it that way. I just wasn’t expecting to see you.”

  “That’s fine, Ms. Monroe. Something else came up that he had to attend to, and he asked me to escort you to Damien’s office.”

  “When did Damien say I needed to go to his office?” Was this why he wanted me to put the toy in? To be primed and ready for him to take me? Why hadn’t he mentioned it when he texted me?

  “I think it might be related to his birthday.”

  Birthday? Damien hadn’t mentioned his birthday was coming up. Part of me wanted to stay here as a way to say screw him for not letting me know it was coming up, but I knew I might regret it if I did. After a quick debate with myself, I decided to go and write it off as my lunch break.