Page 110 of Revenge (Corrupt Empire 3)

Aiden turned to me.

“Get John in here.”

I nodded. I walked away out of the room. I’d sent him off for lunch half an hour ago. I found him in the conference room.

“John… I need you to come back to the office,” I said, poking my head around the door.

“Sure thing,” he replied, standing up abruptly.

He chucked away his wrappers in the bin before following me back into my office. When he spied Aiden and Ed, he looked at me.

“What’s going on?”

“This shit right here is The Collector,” Aiden said, pointing at Ed.

“You’re kidding.”

“No, I’m not. We know where the girls are now. I want you to watch him in case he tries to bolt. I need to speak to Rick.”

John nodded. He walked over to my desk and eyed Ed with some distaste.

I went over to Aiden, putting my hand on his arm.

“Why Rick?”

“Because this shit is going to end tonight. I’m done. You’re done. It’s time for us to live our lives without all of these fuckers ruining it. We have everything now, princess. All the evidence. I told you no more bloodshed and I meant it. These pricks are going to prison.”

I moved closer to him, lowering my voice.

“But what if they work out what we’ve done. Won’t they tell the police?”

He shook his head.

“No proof to back it up even if they did.”

He was right. The only people who could implicate us were ourselves. I would never turn him in and he’d never tell them what I did. He’d covered it up for me. I trusted Aiden with my life. I don’t know why I’d been getting so insecure and worked up about shit between the two of us. Maybe I was just on edge because we were so close to finding out the truth.

The only thing we didn’t know was who killed his mother. That was why he had to speak to Rick. And we had to find out why Rick kept saying I was important. What did he want? He must’ve had his reasons for wanting Aiden to get rid of my father. To destroy all of this shit. Was it because of Aiden’s mother? He said he regretted that he wasn’t there to save her. Was this his version of revenge?

The only way we’d know is if we spoke to him. Aiden needed this. Needed to have closure. I knew it was the only way he’d move on from his mother’s death. The only way he’d let go of all the pain and heartache he’d carried for almost twenty two years. Longer than I’d even been alive. My beautiful tattooed angel. He needed to find peace. Desperately. He’d found some of it with me, but he’d never be free until he knew the truth.

“Call Rick,” I said, resting my head against his chest with my hand on his heart.

He wrapped an arm around me as he pulled out his phone. I felt his heart thundering underneath my fingertips. Tension radiated off him in waves. He didn’t want to speak to Rick, but this was the only way.

“Come, princess, let’s not do this here,” he said.

I pulled away from him. He took my hand, nodding at John as he pulled me from the office. We walked into the photocopier room nearby. He shut the door behind us.

“Are you okay?” I asked.

He paced the room, running a hand through his hair.

“No. That fucking prick had a knife to your throat, do you think I’d be okay after that? Fuck, princess, if I lost you…”

My heart broke for him. I knew he hated having to see me like that. To know my life was in someone else’s hands. I put my hand on his arm when he came near, stopping him in his tracks.

“Aiden, I’m right here. Look at me.”

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