Page 70 of Revenge (Corrupt Empire 3)

Avery let go of my hand and curled into my side instead. I wrapped an arm around her, but my gaze stayed on Rick.

“You not going to properly introduce us?”

“I told you in no uncertain terms to stay the fuck away from me and Avery.”

Avery clutched me tighter. I could feel her vibrating with fear. Last time she’d been near Rick, he’d had her tied up and forced her to watch disgusting videos of his sick twisted friends. Not even I wanted to show her any more of those.

“Your little darlin’ is shaking like a leaf. It’s okay, doll, I don’t bite.”

“Aiden,” she whispered. “Please make him leave.”

The terror in her voice made my heart fracture in two. Fuck. I wrapped my other arm around her, pulling her against my chest.

“It’s okay, princess, I’ve got you,” I told her, my voice low.

This was too much for her. She’d started hallucinating again, then dealing with her uncle going off the deep end, and now Rick. He needed to get out of my sight before I did something I couldn’t take back.

“I will call security if you don’t leave right now.”

Rick raised an eyebrow. I looked at him closely. I hated the sight of him. Especially since I could now see myself in him. His light brown hair, jawline and the way he carried himself. The difference between us? He was a weedy little shit compared to me. Standing there in his expensive suit, tie clip and brogues, he looked like a Class A fucking twat. Trying to pass himself off as the British elite when he was just a jumped up fuck.

“No need. I’ll say what I need then I’ll be on my way. I expect you and your little darlin’ to have dinner with me tonight at the Ritz. Be there at eight.”

He gave me a self-satisfied smirk before he turned, pulled open the door and strolled out.

Was he out of his fucking mind? Dinner with him? No fucking way. I was not about to subject Avery to that shit nor did I want to spend the evening with that sick as fuck cunt.

“Is he gone?” she asked.

“Yes, princess.”

She pulled away from my chest slightly, staring up at me. Her bottom lip trembled.

“Everything’s gone to shit.”

She wasn’t wrong about that. Everything had blown up. We could fix it though. Chuck just needed to calm down. And Rick could get fucked.

“Are you okay?”

“No, I’m not. I can’t deal with any of this. You told my uncle and he doesn’t believe us. Rick wants us to have dinner with him and I know you don’t want to go but we both know we have to.”

She looked away, her arms tightening around me.

“I’m kind of mad at you for coming here,” she whispered. “I know you’re worried about me, but it wasn’t necessary and now we’re in even more trouble.”

I took a breath, trying to tamp down on the rage I felt at that moment. It wasn’t directed at her, but she couldn’t possibly understand what it was like when I got that phone call from her. I almost lost my shit hearing how distressed she was. It’d taken a lot of fucking self-control to stay calm enough to help her.

I wasn’t going to apologise for it either. It was fucking time. All these secrets had only led us to more problems. Yes, we might have got rid of the Shaws, but it’d created more issues than it’d solved. It’d been to the detriment of Avery’s mental health. Every day I could see how wracked with guilt she was over Tristan’s death. How much it destroyed the good inside her. How she couldn’t think of herself in the same way any longer.

I backed her towards the desk, picked her up and put her down on it before sitting in her desk chair and pulling it up between her legs. I rested my hands on her thighs. She stared down at me, those doe eyes intense and appraising me with no small amount of trepidation.

“You come first, no matter what. Everything else is insignificant if you’re suffering. I’ll deal with Chuck. This has to end, Avery. You know it does.”

I was careful about what I said given where we were.

“We can keep hiding away in the shadows or we can take the bull by its fucking horns and do something about it. All I want is for you to be happy, for us to have a normal life. We can’t do that when all these secrets threaten to tear everything apart. All I’m doing is being here for you because I know how much you’re suffering, princess. That’s why I came. You need me. Don’t you know I’d do anything for you? I’d risk everything just to make sure you’re okay.”

She put one of her hands on top of mine, giving it a squeeze.

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