Page 41 of Betrayal (Corrupt Empire 1)

I shrugged. Not much I could do for his idiot boyfriend really. That was up to Chuck.

“He made his own bed.”

Anthony looked away, expression sour.

“I know you’re right.”

At least he wasn’t stupid. I pitied him really. Wasn’t his fault his boyfriend fell for the Daniels company line.

“So, you get me what I need, I keep off your case, but I also want something else. This is personal and not to do with them.”

Anthony bit his lip.

“What?”

“I’ll tell you when you get what I need. Got a pen?”

He shuffled away, grabbing some receipt paper and a pen which he handed to me. I wrote down a number for him. It was a burner phone so it wouldn’t trace back to me. I was still working out what I was going to do about the police’s new line of investigation into Avery’s disappearance. Anthony might just prove to be key in making sure they stopped looking for her.

“Send me a text when you have it. We’ll arrange a meet. Don’t forget I need everything. Both investigations or the deal is off and I won’t give a fuck if they leave you in an alley.”

“Fine. The things you do for love.”

The crazy thing? I knew exactly what he was talking about.

“Stay out of trouble.”

I left the club, not sparing Anthony a second glance. I pulled out my phone and dialled Chuck’s number.

“Is it done?”

“The boyfriend will get us what we need if we leave him alone. The pig is fair game, but I suggest you don’t take him out just yet.”

“Noted. Mitch was always better at this shit. Smooth talking bastard. I can barely get them to give me anything. It’s all ‘we’re still investigating’, should get a fucking move on if you ask me.”

“As I said, I doubt she wants to be found.”

“I’m beginning to agree with you. I’m fed up of fielding calls from her friends. I’ve fucking had it with that girl and her antics. If she wasn’t so important, then I’d say fuck it. Anyway, Frazier had some work for you if you’re interested, otherwise, I’ll give it to John.”

One thing I never did was work for Frazier motherfucking Shaw. He was nothing but trouble. I might have sunk low enough to integrate myself into the Daniels clan, but Shaw was a sick cunt. Worse than Mitchell. Much worse than Chuck.

“I don’t know why you bother asking me.”

“You’re the best, but whatever. John always gets it done. I’ll be in touch.”

I got back on my bike which I’d left not too far away and jammed my helmet on. The ride home would give me time to think. Mostly about what I was going to do with Avery and my ridiculous need to own her completely. We needed to talk. There was no question about it. And that talk had to not escalate into an argument or fucking.

She obeyed me in some things, but that girl had a temper on her. So did I. The combination was deadly. There was always the lingering threat of the cell. She didn’t want to go back there. It was my leverage if things got heated.

The reality was I had no fucking idea how to unravel the tangled mess between us. She was meant to be a tool for me to use in my vendetta against her family and all the sick fucks involved with their dirty dealings. Avery had become more than that. So much more to me than I ever wanted her to be.

She no longer reminded me of Mitchell even though she looked like him. Avery was her own person and she wasn’t anything like the rest of her family. And her fucking drawing of me? My heart almost stopped dead in my chest. It was beautiful but haunting. Mostly because I wasn’t sure what the fuck to think of her depicting me as an angel. I was no fucking saint. I was a bastard through and through. And I certainly made no apologies for it.

I don’t know why I took her drawing and pinned it up in my office. That was most definitely the one place she was never allowed. I just needed the reminder. That she thought about me when I wasn’t there. That she saw me as something more than the sick, fucked up man who killed her parents. Avery had seen me. The real me inside when she drew that. The darkness that consumed me. The hatred in my heart and the need to destroy those who had ruined me.

That she’d even thought to look made me wonder how she really felt about me. She’d told me she was mine but was it because I’d broken her and made her reliant on me? Or had it started before then? Had she realised it when she saw me the first time? That I would come to own her. Who fucking knew? It wasn’t like I could ask her outright anyway.

I slowed as I reached my building, driving down into the underground car park and pulling up in my space. I took the lift up to my floor before discarding my jacket and helmet in the hall when I let myself in. I stripped down to a t-shirt and boxers before I went into the bedroom.

Avery was hugging the duvet to her chest, her dark hair spread across the pillow. She didn’t stir when I got in the bed. Shifting closer to her, I moved her hair before wrapping my arm around her waist. She turned in my embrace and curled up against my chest. Her breathing was still steady. Fast asleep.

Fuck. I was done for at this rate. She was so fragile and small. And fuck if I didn’t want to protect her. That was the thing. I couldn’t. I couldn’t protect her from the truth.

The truth about her family.

The truth about their company.

And most of all…

The truth about me.

---