Page 90 of Sacrifice (Corrupt Empire 2)

“I never said you’d enjoy what I had to show you.”

“Why show it to me? What does this achieve? I already knew he was obsessed with her.”

The smell of my own sick assaulted my nose. It made it difficult not to hurl all over again. I didn’t recognise the room they’d been in, so it couldn’t have been the penthouse. Was this where the girls were kept? That didn’t make sense since Aiden told me he’d lived with her. I supposed they could’ve taken his mother there. It would be the only logical reason why footage existed.

“You need to understand the world you live in now.”

“A sick as fuck world where men rape and abuse unwilling women. I already fucking knew that thanks. I didn’t need to see my own father abuse someone.”

“He doesn’t know this footage exists.”

If Aiden did, he would fucking lose his shit. I doubted he wanted to see the extent of what my father had done to his mother up close. I hadn’t wanted to see any of it.

“Good. He doesn’t need to see it. He’s already been through enough.”

“He’s going to go through a lot more before this is all over.”

I couldn’t tell if it was a promise or a threat. Why did he feel the need to hide his voice? Why did it matter if I knew his identity? I was desperately curious at this point no matter how much I hated being tied up to this chair and made to talk about and see things I didn’t want to.

“Well, Avery, it seems you’ve made a mess. Perhaps you’ve had enough for now. Our little chat will resume later.”

I’d defy anyone not to vomit after being confronted with a video like that. I’d hated the videos Aiden showed me, but this was far worse.

The door to the room opened and in stepped the bald man who’d ripped me out of Aiden’s car. He squatted down behind me and untied my wrists from the chair. The blood rushed back to my hands, causing my fingers to tingle. He unbound my ankles next before hoisting me up to my feet and dragging me out. The hallway we walked down had a plush carpet and fancy decorative red wallpaper with black swirls which looked a little garish to me.

The bald-headed man, who I assumed was called Kurt, shoved me through a doorway.

“There is a bathroom for you to clean up in over there,” he told me. “Do not try to escape, Miss Daniels. There is nowhere for you to run.”

He shut the door behind him without waiting for me to respond. I looked around. It was an overly ornate bedroom. A four poster bed with red drapes dominated the space. There was an antique oak ottoman at the foot of it with matching bedside tables. Laid out on the bed was a clean set of clothes for me. A long, plain t-shirt and a pair of leggings. I supposed it would have to do considering I’d thrown up over my shirt.

I walked over to the door Kurt had indicated and went through into the bathroom. I stripped off my shirt and washed the sick out of it as best I could. I cleaned the splatters off my trousers and stripped those off too. I rifled through the bathroom cabinet and found some toothpaste. I used my finger to rub it over my teeth and washed out my mouth from the tap to get rid of the taste of sick. Drinking some water helped clear my head a little.

I took my wet clothes back out into the bedroom and draped them over the ottoman to dry. I put on the t-shirt and leggings before sitting on the bed.

I wasn’t sure what to do. It wasn’t like I had a phone with me and Kurt told me not to try and escape. It hadn’t crossed my mind until he said it. How would I even get away anyway? I was pretty sure he’d locked me in here.

My mind raced with possibilities. Who was this guy? Why did he know so much about Aiden and me? How come he knew who’d really killed Aiden’s mother? What the hell was really going on here?

The door opened and Kurt walked in with a tray. He placed it next to me on the bed, turned and left without a word. I looked down at it. A platter of cheeses and meats with bread and a bowl of fruit along with a glass of juice. My stomach growled. I hadn’t realised how hungry I was. It occurred to me this might be poisoned, but I was relatively sure they weren’t going to harm me.

I wolfed down all the food and finished off the juice. Then I sat back against the headboard and waited. The ache in my chest grew. I missed Aiden. He’d be looking for me. There was no doubt about that. I knew he had ways and means of tracking me down. His resourcefulness knew no bounds. I just had to make sure I stayed alive and whole for him through this. That broken girl I’d been weeks ago no longer existed. The one who’d suffered hallucinations and nightmares brought on by seeing her parents die in front of her eyes. She wasn’t the sort of girl I wanted to be any longer.

Aiden might have broken me, but he’d put me back together again. He’d made me whole. Showing me my inner strength and teaching me to be the woman I was always meant to become. Opening my eyes to a whole new world of pleasure and introducing me to the darkness he lived in. Most girls wouldn’t have put up with the shit he’d put me through. Most girls wouldn’t have bothered looking inside at the man behind the walls he’d put up or tried to understand why he was damaged and broken. I wasn’t most girls. I’d gone toe to toe with him and come out the other side.

I didn’t need Aiden to complete me, but I was a better version of myself because he was in my life. I could withstand this current situation. I could get through it. Aiden was waiting for me and he’d make it better. If I could handle dealing with Frazier Shaw and my uncle, I could handle this.

It was that determination that had me standing up when the door opened again after what seemed like hours. I met Kurt’s gaze head-on.

“Come, Miss Daniels.”

I strode out of the bedroom with him and back down the corridor to the concrete room. I sat down in the chair.

“You don’t need to tie me up,” I said. “I won’t do anything.”

He eyed me for a moment, putting his hand to his ear. He nodded and left the room, shutting the door behind him.

“Are you ready to carry on our little talk?” the robotic voice said.

---