Page 4 of Revenge (Corrupt Empire 3)

“Come here.”

“No.”

I shook my head, taking a further step back.

“Avery, come here.”

“No. Not like this, Aiden. No.”

He got to his feet, his grey eyes turning dark. I tried to back away further, but he caught my arm and dragged me closer. He held me in place, staring down at me intently.

“Let go of me,” I whispered.

I wanted to be away from him at that moment. There were too many thoughts rushing around in my head. How could Aiden think this is how I wanted our relationship to move forward? It felt so fucking wrong. All I wanted was for us to be free. Free from all our burdens so we could be together openly.

“No, we’re going to talk about this and I’m not letting you run away. Not like last time.”

My stomach dropped out from under me. Last time we’d talked about engagements and marriage, I’d left him. But that hadn’t been about us getting married.

“That’s not fair.”

“When has there ever been anything fair about us? There’s no fucking fair in our relationship. There’s just you and me.”

I couldn’t exactly deny that. Our relationship had been messy from the start, but we’d worked it out somehow.

“Aiden—”

“Do you think I’m just saying this to make sure Frazier doesn’t get hold of your trust fund?”

I nodded. What was the point in denying it?

“I wasn’t going to give this to you until your birthday.”

He let go of my arms and dug something out of his pocket, turning my palm up and placing it in my hand. I was rendered incapable of all speech. I couldn’t even move. After a long moment of silence between us, he reached over and opened the little box for me. Tears welled in my eyes at the sight of what was nestled inside.

“When did you get this?” I whispered.

“The day after Josh was born.”

“And you’ve been carrying it around in your pocket this whole time?”

He nodded before he rubbed the back of his neck.

“I’ve never pretended to be anything else other than what I am. Before I met you, I never wanted any of this. I’d have gone the rest of my life alone and closed off from the world. Then I met a girl with a fiery temper and doe eyes I can never resist. You’re the light of my life.”

Nestled inside the box was a pair of silver angel wing earrings. He took the box from me. Brushing my hair back, he secured the earrings in my ears, smiling when he stepped back.

“I want to marry you because I love you, princess. So fucking what if we have to speed up the process to keep you safe. You must know I’d do anything for you by now.”

He slipped the empty box back in his pocket before taking my hand. I didn’t know what to say. What to think. Even if we did go through with this, we’d still have a world of trouble to deal with.

I needed a minute. Looking down at my hand in his, I took a breath. All my feelings were conflicted. I wanted to be Aiden’s wife. Take his name as my own. I’d known that for weeks. It started before Rick took me. Despite everything, my heart was irrevocably his.

Could we really do this?

Wasn’t it completely insane?

When had anything between Aiden and I been sane?

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