Page 101 of Revenge (Corrupt Empire 3)

“I wish you and him hadn’t fallen out.”

“That’s hardly my fault. He was the one who started acting like Dad. Turned into his perfect little heir whereas I’m the big disappointment. Not that I even want to be his fucking prodigal son. I’d rather cut my own fucking balls off.”

I winced, resisting the urge to check if mine were still there. Fuck. James really didn’t like his dad. I supposed I could hardly blame him after everything. I fucking hated mine too, but for very different reasons.

“I don’t think Dante is like Zach… not deep down.”

“You don’t fucking know what it’s been like with him. You haven’t seen him in forever.”

She was silent at that. She looked over at me, her eyes radiating with sympathy for James. I squeezed her hand before letting go as I shifted gears. I knew she wanted to press him further, but it probably wasn’t a good idea.

No one spoke for the rest of the drive. I pulled up in a carpark and we all bundled out onto the street. Avery held my hand tightly in hers, glancing at James every couple of minutes. My poor princess was worried sick about him. I couldn’t blame her. He looked downcast and defeated. I felt shit for him too. Having to deal with that kind of crap with your family would make anyone fucking miserable.

Before we reached the café, Avery put her hand on his arm.

“Hey… I know you’re feeling shit, but you can’t let on to Gert, okay?”

He nodded.

“I know, I know. Don’t worry, I know this is important for her.”

Avery gave him a sympathetic look before she turned back to me, her doe eyes wide. I wanted to comfort her and tell her he’d be okay, but I wasn’t so sure of that myself. As James pushed the door open, I leant down to her.

“Don’t worry so much, princess,” I whispered.

“I just don’t want Gert to think it’s because he’s unimpressed by her girlfriend,” she replied, her voice equally as low as mine.

We walked through into the café. I spied her red haired friend immediately because the girl she was with had bright pink hair. I raised an eyebrow at Avery but she gave me a warning look. I wasn’t judging by any stretch of the imagination. If that’s what her type was, who was I to say anything about it?

As we approached them, Gert let go of her girlfriend’s hand and gave James and Avery a hug. She looked up at me with a raised eyebrow. I was not about to hug her friend after all the times she’d asked Avery inappropriate questions about me. And I was not about to forget what she referred to me as.

“Gert.”

She grinned, giving me a lascivious look which had Avery frowning at her.

“Aiden.”

“Gert,” Avery hissed. “Cut it out.”

Her friend’s expression turned innocent all of a sudden.

“What?”

“You fucking well know what.”

I looked over at James who was rolling his eyes, followed by Gert’s girlfriend who seemed a little bewildered by what was happening. Well, this was just fucking wonderful.

“Gertie, introduce us to your lady friend,” James said.

Gert shifted back, taking the pink haired girl’s hand.

“Tilly, this is James, Avery and Aiden.” She pointed at each of us in turn. “This is Tilly.”

“It’s nice to meet you,” Avery said, sticking out her hand.

“You too, Gertrude has told me so much about you,” Tilly replied, shaking Avery’s hand.

Avery raised an eyebrow at her friend. Gert shrugged. James just looked like he wanted to laugh.

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