Page 4 of Betrayal (Corrupt Empire 1)

His expression told me he felt no remorse for killing my parents. They’d known who he was.

Why?

I had too many questions. And I didn’t think I was going to get many answers out of this man.

“What are you going to do with me?”

He stared at me for the longest moment without answering. My skin prickled. I was struck again by just how beautiful he was.

Get a grip!

You don’t crush on the guy who just murdered your parents. Normal people don’t go around with guns. He wasn’t a good guy. Nothing about him was soft or welcoming. Nothing at all. My brain was playing tricks on me. I was just in shock. That had to be it.

He reached out, grabbing me by my neck and pulling me up to my feet with him.

“Who are you?” I whispered when he didn’t let go.

“Your worst nightmare.”

A sharp pain erupted from the back of my head and radiated outwards. The last thing I remember before passing out was those steel grey eyes and his expression. Regret.

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My head hurt. It was the first thing I registered when I came to. I shivered, a chill seeping into my veins. I opened my eyes. Darkness encompassed me.

Where was I?

What happened to me?

The knowledge my parents were dead came flooding back, causing my heart to shatter into a million tiny pieces. I put a hand to my chest, just to reassure myself it was still intact. Thinking about my parents wasn’t going to get me anywhere. I didn’t have time to grieve. I needed to know where I was.

I sat up, wincing, and felt the back of my head. A bump had formed.

Well, that’s just fan-fucking-tastic.

There was no light at all around me. My eyes had nothing to adjust to. Only darkness. I shifted, freezing when I heard the distinct sound of clinking across the floor. I felt down my legs until I found a metal cuff around my ankle connected to a chain.

It hit me all at once. The avenging angel had hit me over the head and taken me. Now, I was chained up in a room with no windows, no lights and nothing but the cold floor to sit on. The man I’d thought beautiful was exactly what he said. My worst nightmare. Did he know I wasn’t a fan of the dark?

The chain dragged across the floor as I struggled to my feet. Putting my hands out, I tried to get a sense of the layout of wherever he’d put me. My hands met a wall.

Left or right?

I went right, feeling my way across. I hit a corner. I moved with it until my fingers met metal. It was a doorway. The only way in and out. I banged on it as hard as I could.

“Let me out!”

Even knowing it was useless, I tried anyway. I hit the door over and over again until my fist hurt and my hand began to feel sticky. I slid down the door, feeling my knuckles. I’d split them.

Tears pricked at my eyes. I didn’t have it in me to dash them away when they started to fall. I put my unhurt hand to my mouth as a sob escaped my lips.

It was useless. The entire thing. I’d known the moment I saw him, he was bad news. He killed my parents without a second thought. Who does that? He must’ve had some reason. What had he said? My dad had taken something that didn’t belong to him, but what?

The unanswerable questions again, brain? Not helpful.

Tears fell harder. I couldn’t hold back any longer. Ripping my hand away, I screamed.

“Let me the fuck out of here!”

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