Page 1 of The Broken Queen
Prologue
Unknown: Greetings, Mr. James. I’m delighted to inform you that I recently learned of your interest in creating an alliance.
Scotty: … how did you get this number?
Unknown: What a waste of a question. Let’s discuss the alliance.
Scotty: The alliance is already set. I was told you’d have no reason to get involved.
Unknown: I’d like to ensure the terms are still suited to both our interests.
Scotty: I was under the impression they already were…did something change?
Unknown: I think youknow they have.
Scotty: I need to be clear…. she’s not to be harmed.
Unknown: You’ll marry her off knowing all that you do, and you’re concerned I’ll be the one to harm her?
Scotty: Adesso seems genuine in his feelings.
Unknown: I couldn’t care less about his feelings for her. It’s his loyalty to me that I need solidified. Perhaps we can find a way to encourage that loyalty.
Scotty: I don’t like repeating myself, but she’s not to be harmed.
Unknown: I’d like our new queen whole, so I agree that she’ll remain unharmed. However, you of all people should know how easily it is to break someone without ever laying a finger on them.
I’ll be in touch.
Chapter 1
Kingston
The stillness got to me.
Not only in the air, but the walls, the grounds…the haunting feeling that someone who once took up so much space was now absent.
At first, the quiet seemed to suffocate me. So much so that I had to stay busy and surround myself with people. El Peligro offered a distraction in the form of indulging in taking what should have belonged to us from a certain motorcycle club. My brother helped keep the ghosts at bay, the regrets that lingered in my chest, cutting my soul up into the most insignificant pieces. Together, we were able to push past the memories and the realization that Presley was lying in bed at night with another man.
I didn’t think about if she’d tried on a wedding dress or not.
The anger inside of me was too intense to consider if she was scared at night, or if she too had shed tears over the loss of our friendship and the love we could have had. My father trained me to utilize weapons, especially knives, but he’d never warned me that the one I had to worry about the most was the blade I had within my own heart. The one capable of cutting and murdering hope that waswithin reach. If he’d warned me to be conscious of the possibility of ruining my entire life, I would have fucking sat down and listened.
His silence only added to how quiet my life was now. The stillness that now felt like it was haunting me. Over time, the rage that somehow bonded my brother and me had simmered to hurt, and now just pain. Quiet hurt that breeds resentment.
My arms burned as I swung the sledgehammer into the wall, but at least the burn reminded me I was alive. The loud burst of wood battled the quiet and the dust, as splinters disrupted the air.
“Dad was looking for you.” My brother entered the room quietly, but the fact that he’d spoken to me had my head lifting briskly.
Tossing the sledgehammer down, I turned toward him and hated that I could see the lack of sleep highlighted in his sunken eyes and the bags underneath them. I knew what kept him up at night because it was what ran through my mind as well.Regret, and even further down, the determination to fix everything.
“Where is he?” I asked, trying to adjust to hearing Gio’s voice again. He’d been sulking so much lately, we’d gone nearly a full month since we last spoke. Seeing him now felt like a physical blow, like looking in the mirror but seeing the version of myself I wish I were. He had the same inky black hair as I did, the same warm brown skin, if not a tiny shade lighter, thanks to our mom.
Gio’s blue eyes looked grayer today as they found the floor where the rest of the debris was tossed into a pile. “You got pretty far.”
Glancing around the old farmhouse, I nodded. “Keeps me busy.”
He didn’t respond, and I didn’t remark on how he used to help me out here until he just decided to sink into the cavity in his chest and not talk to anyone, including me.
