Page 21 of Betrayal (Corrupt Empire 1)

Chapter Five

Avery

I felt like the days were merging into one another. My sense of time was all messed up. I had no idea how long it had been since he’d taken me. Time alone in the cell did things to me. Somehow, I began to look forward to when he’d open the door. Even though we didn’t talk much, having another human around me was comforting.

My hand had healed up with his care. The evidence I’d split my knuckles was all but gone. I wondered how he knew basic first aid. Asking him anything about himself was impossible. He’d likely jump down my throat.

Aiden had got me the few things I’d asked him for. Girl shit as he put it. Simple things like deodorant, a hairdryer, my favourite shampoo and conditioner. I didn’t want to push my luck.

I was glad I didn’t have to ask him to get me tampons. I no longer got periods with the birth control I was on. It would’ve been a seriously embarrassing conversation. Things were already weird after that day he’d let me cry on his chest. I tried not to read too much into it. Especially not what happened afterwards.

I shook myself. I had to forget about how incredible his fingers felt when he’d massaged my shoulders. How much I wanted his fingers in other places. Places I really shouldn’t ever want the man who’d killed my parents to touch me.

I hit my head against the wall behind me several times. Not particularly hard, but just enough to dislodge the thought from my head. I really needed to get a grip. This cell was seriously getting to me. The lack of human contact felt so isolating.

I wondered if Gert had gone on our holiday without me. I couldn’t imagine how her and James felt, knowing I was missing. And then there was Peter. The guy I’d just sort of started seeing. It wasn’t serious. We hadn’t slept together yet, but he was nice. In comparison to the man who had me now, Peter was a puppy dog.

He was in one of my classes so I’d known him for almost two years, but he’d only just worked up the courage to ask me out. I would’ve said yes if he’d asked me in our first year. He was cute in a geeky sort of way, but I liked that he was a proper gentleman. Unlike a certain individual who made my blood pound for many reasons. Fuck my traitorous body for feeling that way about him. I needed to get that man out of my brain, but I couldn’t. He was always there because I was always waiting for him to come see me.

Crazy. Fucking crazy. I was totally losing it.

I just had to try to focus my mind on other things. I remembered what James had said when I told him about my first date with Peter.

“About time you went out with someone who wasn’t a complete cunt.”

James didn’t mince words and liked to swear, a lot. My heart ached. I missed him. His ridiculous crooked grin. His blue eyes sparking with amusement whenever Gert said something funny. The boy was a legend and never failed to cheer me up. I could really do with that now. Anything would be better than being on my own. Anything except Aiden. And he was all I had.

I whacked my head against the wall again, but this time it was a little too hard. I winced, rubbing the back of it.

“What is wrong with me?” I said aloud. “Why does everything always come back around to him? I’m so stupid.”

Idiot. Talking to yourself now.

I closed my eyes, imagining Peter’s face instead. His messy dark hair, green eyes blinking behind his glasses and the way he smiled when he looked at me. The first time he’d kissed me, it had been terribly awkward. We’d both been nervous. Stupid really. It wasn’t like either of us were virgins. I think it was more down to the fact that we already knew each other pretty well as friends.

Who knew what he thought with me being gone? I was supposed to meet him the day after my dinner with my parents. I guessed everyone knew they were dead by now. It wasn’t like my family and the company could keep that hidden long. And there was no way Aiden would’ve left anything linking him to the crime scene. I might not know much about the man, but I knew for sure he’d know how to get away with murder.

Fucking Aiden again. The amount of space he took up in my head was intolerable. I was curious about him. About what reasoning he had for killing my parents. Why he really needed me alive. Why he wanted me to learn to rely on him. Obey him. And not least of all, what the hell the tattoos on his arms meant. He’d only allowed me to see them that one time, but the images had burnt into my brain. I’d be able to draw them if he gave me a pen and paper.

Down his left arm, he had several skulls and roses along with some text which I hadn’t been able to make out. It was his right arm that fascinated me. On his bicep was a bird in a cage and wrapping around his forearm, a chain. There were other things, but those two stood out to me. I wanted to know what the caged bird meant. To be honest, I wanted to know what all of it meant. Some part of me wanted to understand him.

And as if he knew I was thinking about him, the door to my cell swung open. I blinked. First, he dumped a bucket in the corner of the room and left. When he returned, he had a plastic bag with him. He set it down next to me along with a large bottle of water. He’d fed me breakfast not long ago so I wasn’t expecting him.

“I have to go out and I don’t know when I’ll be back. There should be enough to keep you going,” he said.

He’d been out during the day before. I mean I knew he had to have gone out, but this was the first time he’d actually come and informed me.

“Oh.”

“If I could trust you, I’d let you out into the flat, but I don’t yet.”

“You think I’d try to leave?”

He cocked an eyebrow.

“Wouldn’t you?”

I shrugged.

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