Page 44 of Betrayal (Corrupt Empire 1)

“Say that again.”

I shook my head. His expression terrified me. Cold. Deadly. Heartless. He grabbed my face roughly.

“Say it again, Avery.”

“No.”

“Is that what you want? Do you want me to fuck you? Should you really want that from the man who shot your parents?”

That question cut me to the core. No. I shouldn’t want him to fuck me, but I did. He couldn’t say a damn thing either because he wanted to fuck me too.

“Answer me.”

I shook my head.

“Is that no, you don’t want me to fuck you or no, you don’t want to answer me?”

“Aiden, please,” I whimpered.

“Fucking answer me, Avery.”

“Stop it.”

“Are you too fucking scared to admit it? Admit how fucked up you wanting me is.”

I couldn’t fight back tears. I hated him. I hated him so much, but I needed him. I’d lost everything to him. This was a battle and I had no hope of winning against the man who stole my life. There was no doubt Aiden would continue to take from me until I was nothing but his puppet. Or maybe he just wanted me to be his fuck toy now. Either way, I knew I’d give in.

The funny thing about it?

I didn’t care.

My life wasn’t my own any longer. What was the point in fighting it? I was tired. The last three weeks had taken a toll on me emotionally.

“So what if I do? It’s just as fucked up as you wanting me too.”

He looked down at my mouth.

“You’re too fucking innocent, you know that? You couldn’t handle what I want. I don’t do vanilla. I don’t do sweet.”

He backed me up until I was against the wall. He pinned me there with only his gaze and his hands either side of me, caging me in. Leaning down, his breath danced across my ear.

“If I fucked you, Avery, you wouldn’t know what hit you. I’d tear down all your walls, all your fucking defences and I’d wreck you.”

He pulled back and stared at me. The way he said it made my chest constrict and my body flood with heat. Even though I knew he would make good on that promise, it didn’t stop me wanting him all the same. The insane, fucked up part of me wanted him to wreck me entirely so I wouldn’t have to feel any more. So I wouldn’t have to be so conflicted by my emotions and loyalties. At that moment, all I wanted to be was Aiden’s. Consequences be damned.

“I want you to wreck me,” I whispered. “I want you.”

The tension between us overflowed. Neither of us could move. My words hung in the air. The thin line between what I should do and what I wanted to do was about a hundred miles behind me. I jumped head first into a fucking pit of insanity and I didn’t care.

The look in Aiden’s eyes shifted. And I knew immediately he wasn’t going to fuck me right then. He grabbed my arm and tugged me from the room. When I saw where we were going, I completely lost it. I tried to pull my arm from his grasp and kicked out at him.

“No, no, no, Aiden, please. Don’t. I don’t want to go back in there. Please.”

He didn’t respond. Opening the door, he threw me inside and before I had a chance to scramble back to my feet, it slammed shut. The locks turned, the sound echoing around my skull. Even in the dark, I knew where that fucking door was. I threw myself at it, hitting it with my fists.

“Aiden, let me out. Don’t do this. Please. Let me out. Aiden. Please. Aiden.”

He’d put me in the cell again. The one place he knew I hated.

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