Page 2 of Sacrifice (Corrupt Empire 2)

Chapter One

Avery

I slid down his front door, unable to go any further. My heart broke a thousand times over. I’d walked out on him. I’d walked out on the man I loved without a backwards glance and it killed me. I felt dead inside.

Aiden.

He’d successfully ripped out my soul and stamped all over it. I had no idea what I was doing or where I was going. I just knew I couldn’t stay there with him. Not after what he said.

Stupid girl. Stupid, stupid girl.

Idiotic enough to believe he ever had my best interests at heart. He only had one goal. Destroy my family. And apparently, take down Frazier Shaw and his business in the process. Aiden wanted to dismantle it all. Use everything at his disposal. Including me.

Me.

The girl he professed to care about.

He had a fucking shitty way of showing it. How could he think I would ever say yes? He was fucking crazy.

But he’s the fucking crazy guy you’re in love with.

How had we come to this?

My day was well and truly ruined. The one day he promised me would be about me and him. Nothing else.

We’d both fucked it up royally.

I fingered the A on the necklace he’d given me. No matter what, I wouldn’t take it off. It reminded me that despite what he’d done, Aiden felt something for me. Even if he hadn’t wanted to. I knew it was stupid, but I couldn’t let it go.

I had to get up. Had to move. I wasn’t going back to Aiden, but I needed somewhere to go that wasn’t my own flat. The police were still looking for me. I wasn’t ready to face any of that yet.

I felt my pockets. Shit. I hadn’t bought the burner phone with me. How the hell was I going to get anywhere? I had nothing. Literally nothing but the clothes on my back. And it was Christmas Day.

Who would I even contact anyway?

James.

The only person who knew where I was. And shit, did I need my best friend right at that moment. I hauled myself to my feet. Somehow, I’d find a way to get in contact with him.

I trudged over to the lift and rode down to the ground floor. Every step I took away from Aiden made me feel worse. I really thought I’d suffered enough pain, but my heart had other ideas. Loving him was physically painful. The sensation burnt in my chest, almost crippling me. I had to keep putting one foot in front of the other or I’d collapse and sob all over again.

When I got out on the street, there were a few people milling about. I really didn’t want anyone to recognise me, but I had to call James somehow. I approached an older couple.

“Sorry, excuse me… I don’t normally do this, but I’m in a serious bind.”

The woman looked at me with distaste, but the man stopped and spoke to me.

“All alone on Christmas?”

“I guess. I just left my phone in a taxi and I really need to get in touch with my family. Could you by any chance let me borrow a phone at all, please?”

A blatant lie, but it was the first thing that came to mind. The woman continued to stare at me with annoyance. Not quite sure what her problem was considering I wasn’t trying to hit on her partner or anything.

“Oh, sure.” He pulled a phone out from his coat pocket. “Here. Sorry to hear you lost your phone.”

I nodded at him in thanks and took it. Quickly dialling James number, I smiled at them as best I could. I took a step back so they wouldn’t overhear my conversation. He picked up after the fifth ring.

“Hello?”

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