Page 32 of Revenge (Corrupt Empire 3)

Chapter Seven

Avery

Present Day

I poked my head around Ed’s office door. He was sitting at his desk, fiddling with a tablet with a frown on his face.

“You look like you could use a break.”

He looked up, his expression startled.

“Shit, Avery, you scared me.”

I slid into the room, folding my hands behind my back. He’d been acting weird for weeks. Ever since Saskia had overheard him, his behaviour became more erratic. Something was bothering him and I wasn’t sure what.

“Sorry, fancy some lunch?”

He looked down at his watch.

“Sure, ordering in or should we take a working lunch?”

“Already sorted… Saskia has it laid out in the conference room.”

I wanted to put him at ease so his guard would be down and he might let something slip. Later, I’d have to deal with Frazier and Tristan, but for now, I could try work out what the hell was going on with my cousin.

“Did you want to discuss something then?”

I shook my head.

“It’s all work around here and after all the excitement of my birthday last week I just thought we could talk about how you think everything is going.”

He nodded, standing up and coming around his desk. He followed me out of the room and along to the conference room. There were various posh sandwiches, snacks and drinks. Way more than Ed and I could eat by ourselves. When we were seated and tucking in, he turned to me.

“So… getting married to Tristan. I was a little surprised when you announced it.”

“I’m not in love with him if that’s what you’re wondering.”

He inclined his head a little, smiling.

“What is your reasoning then?”

“It’s what Dad wanted. Joining our families together seems right under the circumstances.”

I was lying through my teeth, but who cared at this point? Even though Ed hadn’t given me many reasons to suspect him, I still didn’t trust him. Just like Aiden said, I couldn’t trust anyone in my family. I had to suspect everyone and everything. I didn’t want to turn into one of those girls who was paranoid about everything, but my family had done more than enough to warrant suspicion.

“You’re doing it out of a sense of obligation?”

“I guess so.”

He frowned, fiddling with his glass.

“Not that I have any right to offer you advice on your love life, but don’t you think you should marry someone because you want to be with them?”

“You think I don’t want to be with Tristan?”

He raised an eyebrow.

“Do you?”

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