Broken Lies (The Sullivan Mafia #3)

Chapter 1

Chapter One

RILEY

Groaning, I slam my laptop closed.

Finals week is kicking my ass, and I’m beyond exhausted. Thankfully, I only have one exam left, and it cannot come soon enough. Then I’ll officially be done with my junior year of college.

My dream of becoming a corporate badass who wears power suits and Louboutin heels is so close I can almost taste it.

I rub my eyes. “I think I’ve drunk so much coffee that I’m officially immune to caffeine.”

They sting from staring at a screen for most of the day, but I’m nowhere close to finishing reading through my Economic Trends notes.

Lucy’s lying on her spot on the couch, belly down, ankles crossed behind her, chewing on a pen as she flicks through her textbook. “Want me to brew a fresh pot anyway?”

We chose to boycott the main library today and study at her apartment instead. There’s something about being surrounded by stressed students that makes me so much less productive. Plus, the coffee is ridiculously overpriced, considering it’s basically dirty water.

I glance around at my open textbooks. “No, I think I’m going to head home. I’ve hit my limit for the day.”

She sighs as she closes her textbook. “Me too. I was planning on going to a party tonight if you want to come?”

“I’m not really in the mood.”

Lucy groans. “You’re never in the mood.” She rolls onto her back and uses her textbook as a pillow. “Please don’t make me go alone.”

“The last thing I need is a hangover when I need to study.”

“We don’t have to drink.”

My eyes widen. “Since when do you go to a party sober?”

“I would for you.”

“That’s a lie.”

“Okay, fine, it’s a lie. But the only time I see you is when we’re studying.”

I chuckle as I close my books. “It’s finals, what do you expect? Besides, I’m in the mood for a movie night or maybe a bath and a new book.”

Lucy pushes herself up to sit cross-legged on the green velvet couch that she and I dragged off the street at the start of our sophomore year. “I didn’t realize my best friend was a ninety-year-old woman.”

“Well, I am the poster child for responsible adulthood.” Getting to my feet, I stretch out my back.

Lucy shakes her head, her thick brown curls falling about her shoulders. “Come on, Riley, you’re missing out on life.”

“I'll live.” I start packing up my things.

In truth, I would much rather stay at Lucy’s apartment than head back to my family’s estate.

Ever since my father was killed a few weeks ago, my brother has become ridiculously overprotective and has threatened to send a team of armed security to escort me to and from campus each day.

I swear college graduation cannot come soon enough because the moment I throw that cap in the air, I’ll be free from the shackles attached to the Walsh family.

Lucy’s voice pierces through the fog in my mind. “Are you doing okay?”

“Huh?”

My eyes lift from the paper I was staring at, even if all my focus was elsewhere, and I blink. “I’m fine.”

She narrows her eyes at me, but I ignore her as I shove the last of my things in my bag.

“Riley, it’s okay to talk about it if you want.”

“There’s nothing to talk about.” I flick my ponytail over my shoulder.

“Your dad died, Riley.”

“I know, but it wasn’t like he was a huge presence in my life anyway.

” Even when he was around, my father was distant and cold.

If anything, I feel more relief than grief that he’s gone, but I don’t admit that out loud.

What sort of person is happy that her father was murdered?

“Besides, my uncle has moved right in, trying to fill that father-shaped hole in my life. Of course, it’s a bit too late for someone to parent me now.

I’m twenty-three years old, for Christ's sake.”

Lucy grins. “Well, this time next year, we can finally get an apartment together, and you can start enjoying your life. We’ll be in our girl boss era.”

I try to force a smile, but sometimes I can’t help but worry that my dream of being an independent city girl who works at a Fortune 500 company and lives in a skyrise apartment is only that. A dream.

Like many of my other dreams.

In my family line of business, I don’t get to dream of happily ever afters, picket fences, and a loving husband. Those are mere childhood fantasies, or lives meant for the average Jane.

Unless I can leave my family home, the possibility of falling in love and having my own family is not in the cards for me.

And as much as I dream of being able to live my life, be the master of my own destiny and all that, the truth is I know my shackles, as pretty as they might be, are iron-tight.

My brother, Oscar, is determined to keep me on a tight leash, and I have a horrible feeling that a college diploma isn’t going to change that.

“Are you sure you don’t want to come out? It might help you take your mind off things.”

“I’m sure, but you should go and have fun.”

“Oh, I will.” Lucy grins.

“I expect to hear all the details tomorrow.”

The black iron gates groan open as I approach them. The armed guards standing on either side look my way, but I don’t acknowledge them.

Instead, I press my foot on the gas and kick up a cloud of dust behind me as I head up the drive toward the house.

I might have grown up in this house, but it never once felt like a home.

The pristine hedges and polished marble steps are nothing but status symbols, a way to show the world that the Walsh family is not to be messed with. The top of the food chain.

If it wasn’t so depressing, I would find the entire effort laughable.

All this opulence, this display of greatness, of grandeur, and something as small as a bullet took down the man who considered himself untouchable—my father.

I guess money and power can’t buy everything, after all.

After getting out of the car, I sling my bag over my shoulder and head up the marble steps.

Before unlocking the front door, I take a deep breath.

As soon as I push this door open, Oscar is more than likely to appear and demand to know where I’ve been, even though I told him several times that I was heading into the city to study at Lucy’s place.

After mentally preparing for what awaits me as soon as I enter, I open the door.

The familiar scent of expensive polish and cigars hits me, and I try not to gag.

I frown, looking around.

Oscar is nowhere in sight.

The house feels too quiet…

I better head upstairs before my brother decides to make an appearance.

As I take a step, voices drift my way from the downstairs study.

Pausing near the hallway just off the foyer, I press my back against the wall, my heart already beating a little faster as I strain to listen.

“…doesn’t suspect anything?”

Uncle Rion.

Honestly, my uncle scares me a hell of a lot more than my father ever did. There’s something about him I don’t trust. I mean, there must have been a reason for my father to keep him away all these years, right?

“She’s smart, but no. Riley’s too focused on school, so she’s not paying attention.”

My stomach drops.

Paying attention to what?

“She doesn’t need to know until it’s done. He’s prepared to sign off on the alliance this week. He’s got the manpower we need, and with him behind us, the Sullivans will fall.” A pause. “And he’s already agreed to waive the territory we promised him if she’s still a virgin.”

“She is.” Oscar’s voice is quieter now. “I’m almost sure.”

Why does it even matter if I’m a virgin or not? Unless…

Oh, God! I think I’m going to be sick.

“She’s twenty-three, and O’Keefe’s over fifty,” Oscar mutters. “She’s going to lose her mind.”

“She has no choice but to do what she’s told.”

O’Keefe?

Oh, no, no, no. It can’t be.

My hands curl into fists at my sides as my vision blurs.

I might have only met Sean O’Keefe once, but that was all it took for me to hate him.

The man is slimy, and the thought of him anywhere near me is enough to make my stomach churn.

Making sure to keep my footsteps as quiet as possible, I back away, heading up the stairs to my room before I throw up all over the freshly polished floors.

My legs are shaking so badly that they almost give out as I reach the upper landing, but I need to get to my room. It’s the one place in this entire house that I feel safe.

The second I close the door behind me, my legs finally buckle, and I sink to the floor.

My brother and my uncle are plotting to sell me like I’m a piece of property.

I’m still sitting on the floor, blinking back tears, when a soft, hesitant knock sounds at the door.

“Riley?”

Oscar.

There’s no point in ignoring my brother because he’ll just call one of his men up here to break down my door.

I take a moment to steady myself before climbing to my feet and unlocking the door.

When I open it, the guilt in his eyes makes it clear he knows I was listening.

“What the hell were the two of you discussing behind my back?” My voice shakes as I fight my anger.

Oscar steps inside my room and closes the door behind him.

“Riley, please—”

“You’re trading me like I’m some commodity.”

“It’s not like that—”

I fold my arms over my chest. “No? Then explain it to me.”

“Riley—”

“Because from where I’m standing, it sounds like you and Rion are selling me off to a man old enough to be my father to keep some territory that you likely stole in the first place!”

Oscar runs a hand down his face. “I didn’t want it to be this way.”

“Really? Could’ve fooled me.”

“We’re running out of options, Riley. The Sullivans are gaining power, and after what happened with Dad, we’re exposed. If we don’t make a move soon, we’ll lose everything.”

“So, your solution is to auction me off like livestock?”

Oscar flinches, but I refuse to feel bad.

“Look, I know he’s older. But Sean is powerful and well connected. Once we’re aligned with him, no one will touch us. And he agreed to help without taking any of our territory, just…” He lowers his eyes.

“Just me. I’m your currency.”

Oscar doesn’t deny it, which feels like a punch to the gut.

I reach out to grip the bed post to stop myself from collapsing as I try to breathe.

“I won’t do it.” I shake my head as my eyes start to sting. “You can’t sacrifice my life like this.”

Oscar takes a step toward me. “You think I want this? I hate this just as much as you do, Riles.”

“Then stop it! Tell Rion the deal is off, tell him—” My voice cracks, and I choke on a sob.

“It’s not that simple. Rion has already spoken to Sean.”

“So what? Since when does Rion get to decide what happens to me?”

“Since Dad died.”

And there it is.

The weight of his words settles between us.

Since our father was murdered by the Sullivans, Rion has stepped in not as a guardian or protector, as he tries to portray himself, but as a puppeteer, and Oscar, for all his good intentions, is just another string in his hand.

“Mom wouldn’t make me do this. She would have found another way out.”

Oscar’s expression hardens.

“Well, Mom’s not here, and neither is—”

“Don’t. Please, don’t…”

My chest is so tight I can barely take a breath.

Even after all these years without my mom and sister, I can barely even stand to mention them. The pain has never faded. If anything, time has only made their loss hurt even more.

“It’s only the two of us left, Riles. We have to stick together.”

I shake my head. My hands are shaking, and my vision is blurry from my unshed tears.

“No. It’s you and Rion, and then there’s me, your property. I’m so sick of always being expected to just fall in line because I’m a girl.”

“You’re expected to fall in line because it’s what’s best for the family,” Oscar spits, but I don’t flinch.

I’ve made up my mind. “I’m not doing it. No matter what you or Rion say.”

“Riley—”

“If you try to force this, I swear to God, Oscar, you’ll lose me.”

“We’re trying to survive, Riley.”

“No, you’re trying to win. And you’re willing to go as low as sacrificing your own sister to do it.”

Oscar says nothing, but his silence is deafening.

I throw open the door to my bedroom and step aside.

“Get out.”

“Riley—”

“Get. Out.”

Oscar hesitates as if he’s about to say something, but as his gaze scans my face, he thinks better of it. He stalks past me, and I slam the door behind him.

I’ve spent years keeping my head down, working hard and staying out of this world of crime and politics and blood. I thought if I kept myself clean, I could eventually be free. But it’s clear now that I was wrong, and if I don’t take matters into my own hands, my freedom will be gone for good.

Rion isn’t going to let me go easily, but he’s about to find out I’m not as easy to manipulate as he thinks.