Page 86 of Betrayal (Corrupt Empire 1)

I grinned. Oh, I’d fucking devour her all right. That’s what she didn’t seem to understand. I wasn’t Mr Nice Guy.

She reached out, taking my right arm.

“Will you tell me what these mean?”

She ran her fingers over the chain on my arm.

“I think you know now what that is to do with.”

She flushed, the tips of her ears going red.

“Wearing your desires on your skin.”

“The skulls and roses… even in death, there is beauty.”

Her eyes met mine. I knew exactly what she was hoping I’d explain. The bird in the cage.

“Not that one, Avery. I don’t talk about… her.”

She frowned, releasing my arm.

“Who?”

“Avery…”

“Okay. I get it. I’m overstepping.”

She put her hands up and backed away. I reached out, grabbing her arm and pulling her back towards me. How was she supposed to know who I wouldn’t talk about if I didn’t tell her?

“My mother. I won’t talk about her, okay?”

She nodded, her gaze falling to the floor.

“I’m sorry.”

I didn’t talk about her because every memory haunted me. Every moment she’d been in my life. So fucking fleeting.

“You didn’t know.”

“I’m still sorry anyway. Is… No. I shouldn’t ask you anything else. I’ll just go.”

“What?”

“Nothing.”

I held her in place when she tried to move away.

“Does she have anything to do with why you hate my family? I know this is more than just what they’ve done to others. It’s personal for you.”

I froze. Fuck. She was far too perceptive for her own good.

“I’ve been trying to work out how you’d have known my family for so long and what they might have done to you. I’m not going to ask you what they did to her, but it is about her, isn’t it?”

She finally met my eyes. There was immeasurable sorrow in those hazel depths.

“Just give me that, Aiden, please. I won’t ask any more questions about it. Not ever.”

“Why?”

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