Page 133 of Betrayal (Corrupt Empire 1)

“Just tell me, Avery.”

His fingers threaded in my hair, massaging my scalp. I looked down at his chest. I didn’t want to talk about my uncle. Especially not that incident. The one that made me hate him for life.

“Why? What difference does it make?”

“It makes a fucking difference to me.”

I guessed my time avoiding this conversation was up. The only person who knew this story was James other than the people who’d been there.

I traced the lines of one his tattoos.

“When I was twelve, he came into my room one day. I think he might have been drinking. Started asking me all sorts of weird questions. Like had I ever kissed a boy and what I knew about things adults got up to. For the record, my first kiss didn’t happen until I was sixteen.”

Aiden’s fingers tightened in my hair.

“He told me I was very pretty and that one day I’d grow up to be just like my mum. Which was stupid because I don’t really look like her.”

I felt funny telling Aiden this story. I knew he didn’t like my uncle even though he worked for him. This was only going to make it worse. Charlie had done the one thing I never expected him to and I would never forget it.

“He sat next to me on my bed, wrapped one arm around me and put his hand on my thigh. I didn’t think anything of it until he nuzzled my neck. He told me I was old enough to understand now. It’s not like I didn’t know what went on between adults, it’s just I never thought my uncle wanted that from me. When he tried to touch me between my legs, I shoved him away from me.”

I’d known then what my uncle was trying to do. And it sickened me.

“Except he was a lot stronger than me. He pushed me down on the bed and pinned me there. Before he could push my dress up, I did the only thing I could. I kicked him in the balls. He got off me pretty quickly. I ran straight to my dad. From that day on, he was never allowed to be alone with me. I don’t know what my dad did or said. It never got spoken about again. All I know is my uncle likes little girls because he stopped looking at me that way after I went through puberty.”

Aiden didn’t say anything at all for several long minutes. When I looked at his free hand, his fist was clenched. Tension and anger radiated off him, seeping into me.

“I’m going to kill that sick motherfucker. I’m going to do it slow so he’s in agony the entire time.”

I’d never heard Aiden speak with such venom, hatred and conviction. And the weird part? I wasn’t even upset about him wanting to kill my uncle. A part of me was glad he was going to take away Charlie’s life. The fact is, he’d tried to act out his sick obsession with kids with me and that was unforgivable.

Aiden sat up abruptly. My hand fell into his lap.

“You were just a fucking kid. Sick motherfucking cunt. I knew he had issues, but you’re his niece. Fuck. How could he fucking try that shit with you? He is a fucking dead man.”

I retracted my hand from his lap and placed it on his arm. It wasn’t so much I was surprised by his reaction. Aiden was a little overprotective when it came to me. It was the way his expression darkened and his eyes hardened to steel when he said he was going to kill Charlie. I knew that expression. It was the same one he’d worn when he’d killed my parents. Cold, calculating Aiden terrified me to my very core. I wanted the Aiden who looked at me like he was drowning in me when we fucked back.

“Hey, Aiden, I know you’re mad, but you’re scaring me.”

He looked down at me, his eyes softening immediately. He lay back down and pulled me into his arms.

“I’m never going to let anyone touch you or hurt you again. You understand? No matter what I ask you to do, I won’t let them hurt you. I’ll keep you safe. You’ll only be safe with me.”

“I know.”

I just wished Aiden had kept me safe from himself.

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