Page 8 of Betrayal (Corrupt Empire 1)

“Do they have any idea who did it?”

They wouldn’t. I’d covered my tracks well. No CCTV footage existed. Nothing. I knew how to take that shit out. The only issue I’d had was getting a passed out Avery back to mine without anyone seeing her. It was fucking lucky I’d brought the car instead of my bike.

“As if the police would tell me anything. I don’t even know how they died yet. The housekeeper found them. Fucking bitch went to the police. She should’ve called me first.”

I stifled a laugh. I knew the housekeeper would freak out. I pitied the woman finding her employers dead by a single gunshot to the head. That gun was long fucking gone now. I wasn’t stupid.

My careful planning was working, except for the girl in my cell. The girl with doe eyes who made my cock so fucking hard when she’d challenged me, it hurt.

“Can’t get the staff.”

“No, too fucking right. I’ll need you when I find out more.”

“No problem.”

Chuck hung up. I’d help him, but not in the way he thought. Help him to his fucking grave along with the rest of those involved in their sick operation. Chuck was a motherfucking scumbag. Living in the shadow of his brother his whole life. Now, I’d see just how fucking much he could take before he snapped.

And I was going to enjoy every moment of it.

l

I opened the door to her cage. Avery lay on the floor, staring up at the ceiling. I flipped on the light. She blinked as the room lit up. Her long, dark hair fanned out around her head like a halo. The sight of it made me feel things. Things I shouldn’t fucking feel for the girl I chained up.

I’d left her for an hour, hoping it’d be long enough for her to calm down. She didn’t move when I approached her. Up close, I could see her face was tear-streaked and red. She’d been crying again.

“Sit up.”

Surprisingly, she complied. Her eyes were bloodshot. She stared at me with almost unnerving intensity.

“Do you need anything?” I asked.

A blush crept up her neck. She looked away.

“Water… and the bathroom, please” she whispered, her voice a little hoarse.

It hardly surprised me given how long she’d raged for after I left her alone.

“I will take you on one condition.”

“What’s that?”

“I’m not leaving you alone. Either you have me there or I give you a bucket. The choice is yours.”

Her eyes widened, her face growing redder. A dimple appeared in her cheek. Fuck.

“I don’t like either of those options.”

“You don’t have to like them.”

After a long moment of silence, she looked at me.

“A bucket is too degrading.”

I slipped the key to her ankle manacle out of my pocket.

“You’re going to behave if I take this off you, Daniels.”

“Yes.”

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