Page 42 of Betrayal (Corrupt Empire 1)

Chapter Nine

Avery

Aiden was awake before me. When I opened my eyes, he was staring down at me. Those beautiful grey eyes full of emotions I didn’t understand. My heart thumped against my ribcage. I hadn’t heard him come in last night. I’d fallen asleep not long after he left.

The bed sheets smelt of him. Distinctly Aiden and it helped me forget he wasn’t there.

“Hi,” I said.

“You’re disrupting my routine.”

“What?”

He rolled me over onto my back and pinned me to the bed with his body. I felt like the air had been ripped out of my lungs.

“My routine.”

He curled a lock of my hair around his finger.

“I run first thing, but with you here, all I want to do is stay in bed.”

“Why…?”

It was a stupid question to ask since the answer was clear, but he’d caught me off guard and I’d only just woken up. He let go of my hair. I found my legs pressed open the next moment as he settled between them. I felt him, rock hard and pulsating against me. He didn’t have to say anything. He stayed because he wanted me. And I was done pretending I didn’t want him too.

I knew it was wrong. He’d murdered my parents, kidnapped me and kept me locked up. He wanted to use me in his own personal war against my family. None of it mattered. Not when it was me and him alone together in his bed with barely anything between us.

So I was done hiding.

“Aiden, either you want me or you don’t. This back and forth between us isn’t fair.”

“Life isn’t fair.” His hand crept up and wrapped around my neck. “Tell me why you think it’s okay to keep things from me.”

What?

What did he think I was keeping from him?

He confused me so much. I never knew what to expect. His moods were so interchangeable.

“What do you mean?”

“Did you think I wouldn’t find out about your boyfriend?”

What the fuck? What boyfriend? Wait…

“Who? Peter?”

“Is that his name?”

“He’s not my boyfriend. We never had that conversation.”

His eyes brimmed with barely concealed anger. Why the hell did the thought of me having a boyfriend rile him up so much?

“Has he fucked you?”

“What? No. What the hell, Aiden? Where is this coming from? I don’t know who told you about him nor why you think I’d keep it from you if I did have a boyfriend. I’m not stupid.”

Who the fuck had told him about my private life? I’d been so careful not to let onto the media that I was seeing Peter. He didn’t deserve that kind of attention. I would never go public with anyone unless it was serious. I might feel bad about this shit with Aiden when I hadn’t had a chance to talk to Peter, but I wasn’t doing anything wrong either, relatively speaking at least.

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