Page 28 of Revenge (Corrupt Empire 3)

Chapter Six

Aiden

Present Day

I wasn’t sure why I’d decided to come up to the roof of the building instead of going into the flat. It was a little chilly and windy up here, but I didn’t care. I used to come up here when I needed a minute just to breathe. Tonight had been fucking shit. Having to watch my wife pretend to be engaged to another man drove me fucking crazy. Avery was mine. Mine for fuck’s sake.

I twirled around the ring on my finger, having slipped it back on when I got in the car to leave the venue earlier. The symbol of our love for each other. We had a few of those now. The rings we wore and the ink tattooed on our skin.

I’d die for that girl. I’d really fucking die for her if it came to it. I didn’t trust Frazier nor Tristan. I was fucking worried about this dinner she had to go to next week. The one where she’d finally get the evidence we needed. Our focus had been on them, but John and I had still been looking into who The Collector was. The person who ran the girls for Chuck. The biggest issue was he rarely spoke to the person. They apparently had full control of the whole fucking thing. And things would only get worse now they knew Sophie and Cora had escaped their clutches.

It couldn’t be helped. Those girls needed saving. It would’ve weighed too heavily on me if I’d left them in Robert Bassington’s hands. It reminded me I should probably pay that prick another visit considering he’d blabbed to Chuck. I wouldn’t though because Avery would fucking kill me. She’d tell me I’d be putting us in even more danger than we were already in. And we were in a fuck ton, especially her. It wasn’t just me on my own any longer. I had to think about her too.

We’d only been married a week. It didn’t change much between us. If anything, it’d only strengthened the bond we shared. Cemented our partnership. Bound us together for life.

And I really wanted to have her in my arms.

I walked back into the building, shutting the door behind me and took the stairs two by two until I reached our floor. Unlocking the front door to our flat, I stepped in. It was silent and dark. I wasn’t sure if she’d be back yet having left before her. I loosened my tie and kicked off my shoes before going into the bedroom.

There she was, huddled up in the covers. My beautiful wife. Fuck. I tugged off my clothes and crawled in next to her. She was fast asleep so I didn’t want to wake her up. She had to be exhausted.

I kissed her shoulder and wrapped an arm around her waist, holding her to me. She felt so small and delicate. I’d always seen her as such a tiny, fragile girl even though she possessed an inner strength which knew no bounds. The urge to protect her never went away. The need to keep her safe.

The reality was I couldn’t always do that. She kept walking into dangerous situations in order to secure our future. Each and every time, it killed me. Tearing my insides to pieces. I didn’t want her to go to this dinner. I hated the thought of her being alone with Tristan and Frazier without anyone to protect her. They were capable of anything. Anything and everything. Tristan had tried to rape her the last time they were alone together.

“Where were you?” she mumbled.

She shifted, turning in my arms and staring up at me with half-lidded eyes.

“The roof.”

“Why?”

“Needed a minute is all, princess.”

She snuggled closer to me, pressing her face into my chest and wrapping an arm around me, her fingers trailing down my back.

“You told my uncle Rick took me and that he showed me some sick shit.”

Her voice was low, but devoid of any accusations. It was merely a statement.

“Robert told him about Sophie and Cora and mentioned I’d threatened to kill Rick. I had to say something.”

“He wouldn’t leave it alone. So I told him I was taking Frazier and Tristan down to shut him up.”

I stiffened.

“You did what?”

“You put me in a difficult situation. If I told him I know about the girls, what do you think he would do? Like you, I had to give him something.”

Fuck. We’d really fucked up tonight. Nothing was ever going to run smoothly. You could make all the plans in the world, but when it came to reality, there was always some thinking on your feet when unexpected situations arose.

“What did he say?”

“Just that he hoped I knew what I was doing. Plus he was pretty pissed about Frazier wanting our money. I think that outweighed anything else. He hates the Shaws. I mean full on loathes them.”

Chuck didn’t like many people and he trusted less than a handful. Paranoid little fuck, but we could use that to our advantage.

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