Page 3 of Sacrifice (Corrupt Empire 2)

“James, it’s Avery.”

“Ave! Having a good Christmas with lover boy? Wait, why are you calling me off a different number?”

The mention of lover boy almost broke me. I could feel my chest constrict, the pain burning through me.

Aiden.

I took a deep breath, shoving those feelings back down.

“Um, I borrowed a stranger’s phone. Listen, I know you’re with your family, but can you come get me, please? I really hate to ask.”

“What’s wrong?”

“I’ll tell you when you’re here. Please, don’t ask me now. I can’t start crying in front of these people.”

“Okay… I’ll be as quick as I can. To be honest, I’ll be fucking glad to get away. Dad is Dad. Dante is brooding. Jen and Fi keep wanting to play fucking charades. And don’t get me started on the rest.”

Jennifer and Fiona were James’ twin sisters who were three years older than him.

“See you in a bit.”

He hung up and I handed the phone back to the nice man.

“Thank you so much. I really appreciate this.”

He smiled at me.

“Never hurts to help out a young girl on Christmas.”

The woman huffed. I’d be glad to get away from her and her death stares.

“Okay, okay. Sorry, I promised her our little Christmas walk wouldn’t be long.”

I smiled at them and stepped away. He tipped an imaginary hat at me and they ambled off. Thankfully neither of them recognised me. I’d be well and truly screwed otherwise.

I stood outside Aiden’s building, feeling awkward and cold. Daylight had faded and it was a cloudless sky. I wish I could’ve waited inside but there was no way I was ringing his doorbell. Doing that would tempt me into going back upstairs and letting him hold me. Letting him kiss me. Letting him fuck me so I could forget again. Shit. My back ached from him pounding me into the floor. The sex had been so raw. So brutal. All our feelings poured out and laid bare.

Stop thinking about it.

I fingered the necklace again. My heart burnt. I wanted him so much even though he’d hurt me. I craved Aiden with every breath I took. I wanted his smile. His touch. The way he smelt of cedarwood and pine. I missed him already. The only constant I had for the past few months.

Stop. You have to stop.

I couldn’t. Aiden took up a permanent place in my mind. My heart. My soul. The screwed up, tattooed, avenging angel who’d completely ripped my life apart. He’d broken me and tried to put the pieces back together. Except those pieces were all muddled up. I no longer really knew who I was, but I did know I’d fallen for Aiden. Fallen so hard, I could no longer breathe air into my lungs properly because I wasn’t right there with him. Now I had to find some semblance of who I was so I could move on. But moving on from Aiden would be impossible.

A fresh set of tears fell down my face.

Great. Now I’m crying in the street.

How long I stood there, I don’t know. My fingers froze no matter how I tried to keep them warm. I shivered and kept moving back and forth. A few people gave me strange looks, but I stopped caring. I felt so lost and alone, nothing seemed to matter anymore.

James turned up in his black Mini Cooper. I dashed across the pavement, jumped inside and immediately whacked up the heating without saying hello.

“Cold?” he asked.

“Just a tad.”

He set off. I glanced up at Aiden’s floor. I could still see the Christmas tree lights twinkling in the window. It made my heart lurch and my chest ache. I fingered the necklace again.

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