Page 105 of Betrayal (Corrupt Empire 1)

I wasn’t sure how Aiden could be so calm about this, but I had to trust him. Trust he knew what to say. What to do. He slipped from the room and I walked over to the door, closing it over. I flattened myself against the wall next to it. I wanted to hear what they said.

Minutes ticked by until I heard him open the front door.

“Uh, it’s nice to meet you, Mr Lo—”

“Just call me Aiden.”

“Well, thank you for taking the time to see me, Aiden.”

James was being his usual polite self to people he didn’t know. Get him around his friends and he swore like a sailor.

“Just come through.”

I heard the two of them walk down the hall, past the bedroom door. I barely dared to breathe.

“I’m not sure how this works, but I can give you my phone,” James said.

“Okay, look before we get into that, there are some things you need to understand.”

“Um, okay.”

I wondered where Aiden was going with this too.

“Firstly, what I’m going tell you stays within these four walls. You don’t tell Chuck and you most definitely do not tell the police.”

“Whoa, what—”

“I know where she is.”

There was a long moment of silence.

“What do you mean you know where she is?”

“Avery. I know where she is and where she’s been this whole time.”

“How? That makes no sense. Why wouldn’t you tell the police or Charlie? You do work for him, right?”

I heard them shuffling around for a moment.

“I do. It’s complicated. She asked me not to. Asked me to make she stayed out of the public eye until this blew over. Perhaps it would be better if she explained it to you herself.”

That’s what he was telling James? Fuck. How was I going to turn this into something believable? James would see right through me. He always knew when I lied. This was an idiotic idea.

I guessed it was time to reveal myself.

“What do you mean? Wait… you’re not telling me she’s here, are you?”

I pulled open the door and stepped out into the hall. Seeing him made me falter. James looked like he hadn’t been sleeping well. His blue shirt rumpled, his hair sticking up in places. He hadn’t noticed me yet, but Aiden had. He put a hand out to me. James looked at him funny before his eyes followed Aiden’s hand. As I walked towards them, James spied me. The blood drained from his face.

“A… Avery?”

Ignoring Aiden’s outstretched hand, I ran to James and barrelled into his chest, almost knocking him off his feet.

“I’m so sorry,” I said, trying to fight back tears.

“No, I’m sorry. Shit, I missed you.”

“Me too.”

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