Page 4 of Sacrifice (Corrupt Empire 2)

Aiden.

I wanted to tell James to stop the car so I could run back to him. To be back in his arms where I felt safe. To let him kiss away my pain. To be with the man I loved so desperately. It took every ounce of self-control I had to keep my mouth shut.

“So… you want to tell me why you dragged me away from my super fun family Christmas?”

I turned to James, shaking myself out of my thoughts of Aiden.

“I’m so sorry.”

“Hey, Ave… you know what they’re like. It’s bullshit. Back to mine?”

“Please.”

“You got it.”

He reached out, took my hand and gave it a squeeze.

“Shit, your fingers are like ice.”

“I forgot to put gloves on.”

“No shit.”

He concentrated on navigating a roundabout before turning back to me. The look in his eyes said ‘spill’.

“We had a fight. A huge fight.”

“About…?”

I tried hard not to think about what he’d said to cause it, but the words rang in my ears.

“I need you to get engaged to Tristan Shaw. I need you to make his family trust you. And I need you to find all the evidence of your family’s dirty dealings. There’s more and I know Frazier has it. He has to. He would never destroy what he could use. I need you to get it for me so we can expose them for who they really are.

“We can’t go to the police. We’ll use public outcry against them. One by one, they’ll fall and all that’ll be left is a shell of a company for you to do what you want with. I need you to do this for me even though I hate the thought of you being near Tristan. Please, Avery. I hate it, but it’s the only way. Please trust me. Please don’t say no.”

The only way? He was crazy. I hated Tristan. I’d known him since I was a kid. He was seriously messed up in the head. I once caught him trying to drown kittens the family cat had in the bath when I was around their house with my parents. When I pulled them out, I found he’d mutilated them already. Horrific.

I stayed away from him as much as possible. And now I knew how psycho Frazier really was, I hoped never to see either of them again.

How could Aiden think I would agree to such an idiotic plan? Tristan was well aware of my dislike and I can’t say he’s a fan of me either. It would never work. Never work in a million fucking years.

When my father told me they wanted us to get married and carry on the family business together, I just about lost it. Under no circumstances was I ever agreeing to it. He’d found another solution. One of my cousins would help me instead from behind the scenes. Only now I was realising it probably had everything to do with the other side of the business. Did everyone know about this except me? I felt sick all over again.

“Ave?”

I looked over at James, startled.

“Sorry… You asked what we fought about. Right. It’s really hard to explain. There’s so much fucked up shit I haven’t told you about.”

I crossed my arms over my chest, feeling as though it might explode at that moment. So conflicted.

Should I tell him or not?

“Between you and him?”

“Not exactly. More stuff about my family. The truth is awful. So fucking awful. I can’t even… I don’t know where to start.”

It all felt too crazy. Too much to talk about. There were things I’d never reveal to anyone, but James was the only person in my life who might understand what I was going through. His own family was pretty fucked up. I could tell him a little of it, just enough so he’d understand what happened between Aiden and me.

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