Page 114 of Revenge (Corrupt Empire 3)

I wasn’t going to have a drink tonight. I wanted a clear head. Rick poured himself a glass and sat back, twirling the amber liquid in the glass.

“Has to be said, the Scots do make damn fine whisky.”

Avery and I were silent. Our entwined fingers were resting on my thigh as she sat right next to me, our bodies touching. I needed her to get through this evening. Her touch was the only thing grounding me. Stopping me from ripping Rick to pieces for everything he’d done.

Rick placed his glass back on the side table after he sipped at it. His dark eyes appraised me for a long moment.

“Most of what I am going to tell you is going to remain between these four walls. Is that understood?”

“Yes,” I replied.

I’d always known Rick was the one man I’d never destroy or take down. He had too much power and in all honesty, I didn’t really have it in me to kill my own father. Even though I’d killed my wife’s parents, that was before I’d known her. Before I’d come to love her more than life itself. If I could go back and spare her that pain, I would. No matter how much I hated Mitchell and Kathleen, I would spare Avery that because I loved her to fucking death.

“Good. Let me start at the beginning. You won’t want to hear this, but it’s important.”

My hand in Avery’s tightened. I really didn’t want to hear about how he’d raped my mother, but I wasn’t going to stop him. As long as he told me the truth, I could get through this. I could do it because I needed to know everything. To finally understand what had happened to her and why.

“The day I set eyes on Lizzie was the day which changed everything. Before then, I hadn’t cared much what women Nick took. They were just playthings. Lizzie was different. She was special. There was something in her eyes. A darkness perhaps as if she’d lived a life full of pain and suffering. I suppose she had.”

He didn’t take his eyes off me. Avery shifted in her seat next to me. I looked over at her pained expression. This conversation was already making her uncomfortable, but I needed her here. I couldn’t fucking sit here and listen to all this shit without her.

“I realise it was wrong of me to want her. I was almost twice her age, but she was beautiful inside and out. Nick always allowed me first pick of the new girls. I didn’t want to share her with anyone, but, of course, I didn’t have a say in who she was with when I was back home.”

It was fucking wrong. She was a sixteen year old girl and he had no fucking business lusting after her. No fucking business at all.

“I was her first in every sense of the word. Y’all seem to think I’m a complete monster, but whilst I might have… forced her, I never hurt her or beat her into submission. That holds no interest for me, unlike my counterparts.”

My fist clenched at my side. Avery wrapped her free hand around my arm, leaning into me. I could feel her trembling, but I didn’t look at her again. All my focus was on the man who’d give me the fucking truth.

“Just fucking say it for what it is, you raped her,” I muttered.

Rick’s eyes flashed for a moment. He picked up his tumbler and took a long draw from it before placing the glass back down.

“You want me to admit I’m a rapist, fine. She never gave consent. Not once in all the years I knew her. The truth is not going to be easy for you to hear, Aiden. I never wanted to tell you like this, but there we have it.”

Nausea coiled in my stomach. I’d known he’d forced her, but to know that she never once wanted him, that was the worst thing he could’ve told me. Listening to him admit he raped her fucking gutted me. Fucking cunt. I had to lock down all my instincts to lunge at him. Only the fact that Avery was next to me, holding onto me and reminding me I’d agreed to sit here and listen to him kept me from losing my shit. I had to stay in control.

I felt her chin on my shoulder. I glanced over at her. Her doe eyes were wide with unshed tears. My heart was fucking shattering in my chest and I knew hers was too. She hurt for me.

Rick’s voice made me turn back to him.

“As I told you before, when we discovered she was with child, it was the best and worst moment of my life. I’ll repeat this for Avery’s benefit. Annabelle just discovered she was unable to conceive. The very next day, I received the phone call from Nick about Lizzie. She was refusing to give you up. He was furious. The whole thing was a mess and, in all honesty, I wanted her to keep you so I couldn’t find it in me to tell Nick to make her abort you.”

I wasn’t sure how to feel about knowing I was wanted by both of them. My mother called me her angel. The only good thing in her life and now I could see why.

“I wanted to bring Lizzie to the US, but I couldn’t. Not with Annabelle to think of. So, I paid for her instead. Just to make sure Nick wouldn’t cast her out on the streets. I wish now I’d taken her away from him completely, but Nick and I were still close and I trusted him.”

A sick feeling dug its way into my stomach. I wasn’t sure I wanted to hear any more of what Rick had to say. Not if it was going the way I thought it might be. Fuck. What the hell was Avery going to think when she learnt the truth? I looked over at her again. She was in tears now. They fell down her face, making tear tracks in her makeup.

I felt the urge to comfort her, but my limbs stayed locked in place. I was so close to losing my shit and I could not afford to take any of it out on her. The person I was angry with was Rick. Rick and her family.

I think she knew from my expression I was struggling. She let go of my hand and tugged my arm around her instead, resting her face on my chest as she wrapped both her arms around my waist. She held me to her as she cried on my jumper.

“I’m here,” she whispered. “I’ve got you.”

Fuck. I’d said that to her so many times when she was falling apart. Now she was the one holding me up. Keeping me from drowning. I curled my hand around her waist, keeping her pressed against my side as I turned back to Rick.

“Go on,” I said, my voice hoarse.

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