Page 146 of Betrayal (Corrupt Empire 1)

Chapter Twenty Six

Aiden

Avery stared up at me. Her doe eyes full of tears. Pain. So much fucking pain and heartbreak in her expression. Shit. I hadn’t meant to say any of those things. I hadn’t meant to do anything to hurt her. Not today of all days. This wasn’t a conversation for now. It was a conversation for later, but I’d fucked it up. Just like I fucked up everything else between us.

That fucking painting killed me. It was everything. Every fucking thing. She laid bare our relationship. She was the light. I was the darkness. And she’d submitted to me. Her light was fucking dimming because of me. Fuck. I hated myself. And I hated what I was doing to her.

I’m fucked up. So fucked up.

“I want you to tell me the truth,” she said finally.

“The truth?”

“The truth about what the hell it is you want me to do.”

My heart stopped. Not today. This wasn’t meant to happen today.

“Now? You want to do this now?”

She looked away from me. Her small hands fell on my legs, wrapping around my thighs. She’d never looked so tiny. I didn’t fucking deserve this girl. Not at all.

“No, I don’t want to, but we have to.”

I wasn’t ready. I couldn’t. I reached down, running my fingers through her hair.

“Why do you have to push me?”

“I don’t mean to.”

Her fingers dug into my thighs. She turned her head back to me. A tear slipped down her cheek. I brushed it away.

“Please don’t cry.”

“I don’t want to fight you. I hate it. I hate it so much. Please just tell me. Please, can we get this over with? I’m tired of these secrets.”

I knew as soon as I uttered those words, she’d either tell me to go fuck myself or worse, actually agree to it. Fuck. She wouldn’t let it rest. I knew her well enough now. She’d push me until I gave in. I didn’t want this escalating further. It needed to end. I only had one course of action left and no matter how much it killed me, I had to do it.

I leant down, brushing her hair and tucking it behind her ear. Then I whispered in her ear. The more I spoke, the tighter she held me and I felt her break further. I cupped her face, feeling wetness underneath my fingers. She quietly sobbed as I told her exactly what it was I had planned. Every fucking word tore at my soul. I never wanted to ask this of her. I never wanted her to be this involved. And nothing between us would ever be the same again.

When I was done, I pulled back and rested my forehead against hers.

“No,” she whispered. “No, no, no, no.”

“I’m sorry.”

“How can you ask me to do that? How?”

I shook my head. That wasn’t something I could answer. Too many fucking reasons. Too much she didn’t know or understand.

“Please, please take it back.”

“I can’t,” I whispered, stroking her face.

“Please, Aiden, please. Do you have any idea how that makes me feel? Do I really mean so little to you?”

She meant the fucking world to me. That was the problem. When I’d decided on this plan of action, I didn’t know the girl below me at all. She was supposed to be someone I could manipulate and use. Instead, she’d become the girl I couldn’t fucking live without. The girl I needed. She’d fix me if I let her. She’d soothe me if I allowed her in. And the fucking worst part was I had. She’d began to heal my fucking broken soul. Just by being her.

“I’m sorry.”

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