Page 10 of Revenge (Corrupt Empire 3)

Chuck turned back to me, his eyes widening.

“How the fuck do you know that?”

“Did you ask her what happened?”

He frowned.

“No, I didn’t think it was important.”

And that just proved to me how little he actually cared about Avery. He needed her to be the face of the company. That’s all he cared about. Keeping face so no one would discover what kind of sick shit they did behind closed doors.

“She told John. You know Rick showed her some pretty disturbing things. Perhaps you should ask her about it.”

Chuck’s frown deepened.

“How does she know who he is?”

“She doesn’t. She said he kept referring to her as ‘darlin’.”

I hated that fucking word almost as much as I hated the man himself. Even more so now I knew he’d called my fucking woman by it. She wasn’t his darling. She was fucking mine. My wife. The need to have her by my side burnt through me. She’d had to take her ring off. It was sitting on the bedside table at home. Our home. No one would know she was really mine.

“Well fuck. If he’s involved, the shit really has hit the fan.”

He rubbed his head.

“This is a fucking disaster. Avery’s gallivanting off to marry the Shaw cunt, Rick Morgan is in our fucking business all over again and I have two girls missing. What the fuck more can go wrong today?”

Watching Chuck’s armour crack in front of my eyes gave me a smug sense of satisfaction. Now, all I had to do was use it to our advantage. I’d planted the seeds of doubt whilst proving he could still trust me. Except his biggest mistake was ever trusting me in the first place.

We were going to burn them down one by one.

And they’d never see it coming.

l

Five Weeks Prior

“I can’t believe we’re getting married in four weeks. I mean, I get why it has to be so soon, but still, you’re expecting me to get everything sorted so fast,” Avery said as she reached up into a cupboard above the sink.

The whole thing required careful planning, especially given the fact we had to give 28 days’ notice along with it being fucking displayed in the registry office the entire time. It was just fucking lucky we’d not only got an appointment but a wedding date because they’d had a cancellation. Given London was such a big place, there was every chance they’d never find out. I didn’t think Chuck or Frazier would go so far as to check registry offices on the off chance Avery had given notice she was getting married. They had absolutely no reason to.

“You’re not exactly inviting the whole world to it.”

We were literally having six guests, seven if you included Josh. The fewer people who knew, the better. She was adamant we couldn’t just get married with some random people as witnesses. She wanted the people we cared about most there and I agreed with her. Ben would have my head if he wasn’t the best man. And the reason it had to be so soon was because her birthday event was in five weeks. We wanted it sorted before then.

“You really think Frazier is going to buy it when I tell him I’m okay with marrying Tristan?”

That was the other reason. Having a fake engagement to Tristan had driven us apart before, but now, she’d made up her mind. The only way we’d take the Shaws down was by getting closer to them. And this time she’d be safe in the knowledge they could never force her to marry him when she’d got what we needed.

In a few short weeks, she’d be mine completely. It’s not as if she wasn’t already bound to my heart permanently but binding us together legally was the last step. I wanted the world to know I was hers and she was mine.

“It’s what he wants. I doubt he’ll care if you’re really on board or not.”

She popped two wine glasses down on the counter.

“I suppose so. He’s coming in tomorrow, so I guess we’ll see then.”

I finished uncorking the bottle, coming around and standing behind her. I pressed into her as I poured the wine out, kissing the top of her head. Placing the bottle down, I curled a hand around her waist, turning her around gently. She stared up at me with those doe eyes I loved so much.

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