Corrupt Empire Series: A Dark Romance Boxset

by Sarah Bailey

  “What’s wrong?”

  “I’m tired. Today was really weird. The shit with Frazier and then Ed was asking me about my love life. I don’t know what to think any longer.”

  John told me Frazier had turned up. I watched the footage from her office. He really was a fucking thorn in our sides. I realised I had originally wanted Avery to get engaged to Tristan, but that had been one of the most idiotic ideas I’d ever had. Especially given how I felt about her. I couldn’t stomach the thought of that psycho near her again. I’d only just about held back from snapping his neck on Friday.

  Nothing about this weekend had done either of us any good. I was still worked up about Rick taking her. It still killed me how helpless I’d felt. How out of control I’d been of the situation. I hated feeling this way. Hated how it brought back memories of a time I’d been so consumed by violent rage because they’d taken my mother’s life. I couldn’t allow myself to fall back into that black hole again. Not when I had to be the man Avery needed me to be.

  “Ed asked you about your love life?”

  “I denied being involved with anyone, but he was like what about James and after I said no, he thought I had a thing for Dante. Why would I entertain the idea of dating my best friend’s older brother? We practically grew up together. Do I seem like the type of girl who’s spent her whole life with some secret crush? Like what the hell? I don’t even know. I was too embarrassed to tell John about it. And now talking about it to you…”

  She buried her face back in my chest, but not before I saw her cheeks going red. I held back a smile. Fuck. Sometimes she was so fucking cute, it killed me. Even though she was talking about other guys, it didn’t matter. I knew she was mine. The shit with James was over. We’d put it behind us.

  “No, you don’t seem like that type of girl at all.”

  Her cousin asking about who she was with should be an innocuous question. Except when it came to her family, nothing was innocent. There was always a hidden agenda. We just had to work out what Ed’s was.

  “I don’t know whether to thank you for saying that or want the ground to swallow me up.”

  “Princess…”

  “I just had a really weird day, okay? I’m so fucking done.”

  I held her, rocking her from side to side until she looked up at me.

  “Aiden, we need to do something about Frazier.”

  I nodded, pulling away and taking her hand. She slipped her shoes off and we went into the kitchen. I made her sit down at the table whilst I dished up enchiladas. I thought she might want her favourite after dealing with Mr Shaw earlier.

  “This smells amazing,” she sighed, digging in.

  I smiled. Avery always appreciated the simple pleasures I gave her like a homecooked meal and running her a bath after a long day. A part of me felt guilty for taking the easy way out yesterday. Not that this made up for it. I was just trying to make her happy. She was on the front line dealing with her family and Frazier every day.

  “I feel like there’s something I’m missing,” she said after a few minutes. “Something important about why Frazier wants me to marry Tristan. They can’t take the company from me. The paperwork is signed. It’s mine by rights.”

  “Maybe it has nothing to do with the company.”

  “Then what could it be?”

  There were only a few things men like Frazier desired more than anything. Money and power. It was a question of which one he wanted more. Did he think he could use Avery as a puppet or did he want her fortune?

  “What does he have to gain from it? In your opinion.”

  Her brow furrowed as she stuffed a forkful of food in her mouth.

  “He could want to manipulate me, but why would he tell me Tristan needs a girl who will stand up to him if he wanted that? I don’t know, maybe he wants the money. It’s wrapped up in a trust until I’m twenty-five.”

  She shook her head, putting her fork down.

  “Neither of those options make sense.”

  And yet one of them had to be right. I knew her money was wrapped up in a trust. It wasn’t like I wanted it and neither did she.

  “Have you seen the paperwork?”

  “For what? My trust fund… No. My dad took care of all that.”

  “Maybe you should look at it.”

  She picked up her fork again.

  “Yeah… maybe. I feel weird about going to the penthouse though. The police released it back to my uncle when they concluded their investigations, but it’s legally mine.”

  I didn’t blame her. I didn’t want to go back there either. Not to the place we’d first met. Where I’d killed her parents and started us on this fucked up path we seemed to be on together. One that was fast approaching a messy conclusion if we didn’t deal with Frazier.

  “Is that the only place he’d have kept it?”

  “Yes, in his office. I guess I don’t have much choice.”

  I reached over the table and took her free hand, rubbing my thumb down the back of it.

  “Do you want me to come with you?”

  She shook her head, giving me a sad smile.

  “No, that’s too dangerous considering everything. I’ll be okay.”

  I hoped she would. Avery was stronger than she realised. She’d been through so much and she was still standing. Still proving to me day in day out how she took everything in her stride and kept giving no matter what. The most selfless girl I’d ever met.

  “There’s something else… Uncle Charlie is throwing me a congratulations on owning the company slash birthday party.”

  “He’s what?”

  This was the first I’d heard of it.

  “Yeah, I know… John sent me the memo. Charlie hasn’t officially told me yet, but he keeps dropping hints like it’s some kind of stupid surprise thing. I didn’t ask him to do it. I may have cornered Clara and found out all the details.”

  It would create more publicity for the company and perhaps put a positive spin on everything when all they’d had was bad press recently. There were still rumours circulating about Avery being involved in her parents’ deaths. She was tired of hearing about it. She’d told me just last week before all the shit with Tristan and Rick had gone down. She’d barely been back in the world for a few weeks and it was already wearing her down.

  “He’s no doubt doing it to show the world the company is moving in a positive direction after everything.”

  “I hadn’t thought of it like that. You’re probably right. Still, I feel like I’ll be up on display like some show pony, trotted out to say ‘look how progressive we are, a woman is at the helm’ — it makes me sick to think of it like that. Especially after dealing with Frazier the chauvinistic pig earlier. He obviously thinks I’m incapable of running the company because I’m female. I’m not saying I’m qualified, but it has nothing to do with my gender.”

  I tried not to smile. She could be so fucking cute when she was ranting. The little furrow between her eyebrows and the way she looked like a little kitten getting frustrated by the big bad world.

  “I seriously don’t know what his problem is. He was all like oh you’d be the perfect woman for my son. Like what is that? We hate each other. You know what, I’m done with talking about this. It’s just pissing me off. I’ve been linked to three different men today and I’m done.”

  I felt bad for smiling, but I couldn’t help it.

  “You know who you are perfect for?”

  She looked up at me, her eyes narrowing.

  “Who?”

  “Me.”

  She sat there for a moment, biting her lip. Was she trying to hide a smile? She got up and walked around the table before she slipped into my lap and wrapped her arms around my neck. We hadn’t finished eating but having her close to me was a welcome distraction.

  “Are you trying to be smart?”

  I caught the back of her neck and pulled her closer, trailing kisses along her jaw.
She shivered.

  “No.” I reached her ear, nibbling the lobe slightly. “I love you. No one else makes me happy. Only you.”

  “Aiden…”

  “I want to worship every inch of you. I love everything about you. You’re so fucking beautiful, smart, strong… you’re my everything, princess.”

  Even if I couldn’t talk about what she’d said last night, I could still tell her how much she meant to me. I could still reassure her I was in this with her. Even with our future up in the air, I was hers for as long as she wanted me.

  “Frazier can go fuck himself along with anyone else who’s bothering you,” I continued. “Just remember you come home to me every night. I take care of you. I give you what you need. And what you need right now is to forget about everything else but you and me.”

  I gripped both her hips, tugging her into me until her chest was right up against mine.

  “I’ll take it away for you. Do you want that?”

  “Yes,” she whispered, her hand curling into the hair at the back of my neck. “Please.”

  “How would you like it? Do you want to sit on my cock or do you want me to bend you over the table?”

  “I want you to fuck me hard.”

  I smiled. The table then.

  “Finish your dinner first. I want to take my time with you.”

  I let her go. She had a shy smile on her face when she got off me. I could never get enough of her and she knew it. It wasn’t just about the sex even though we had a lot of it. It never had been. She was right when she said we were soulmates last night. As fucking cheesy and cliché as it sounded.

  She was mine

  And I was hers.

  ~~~

  “Do you know what you want for your birthday?” I asked as we lay in bed together later.

  “I thought you’d never ask.”

  I looked down at her. She was smiling at me.

  “Did you think I’d forgotten?”

  I hadn’t. I knew she was turning twenty-one. It was something I’d put in my phone calendar. I’d been trying to work out what to get her but hadn’t come up with any solid ideas.

  “No…”

  I ruffled her hair. She batted my hand away, scowling. I knew she hated it when I did that.

  “You did. I’m not completely useless at this relationship business, princess. Now, other than this birthday party you don’t want to attend, is there anything else you want to do?”

  She looked at her hands, tracing lines along my tattoos.

  “Well, it would be nice if we went away together, but that’s not going to happen with everything else that’s going on. So no… but I do know what I want.”

  I wish I could take her away from all of this, but it was our responsibility to finish what we’d started. To end the fucking shit her family had been involved in for so long. Perhaps it would finally put to rest all my demons. All my memories. I couldn’t think of those now. Couldn’t allow myself to get wrapped up in that violence again.

  “And that is?”

  “You know how we talked about tattoos? I want to get them for my birthday.”

  “The birds and the wings?”

  She nodded, her fingers still brushing across my chest.

  “And something else. Out of all of yours, these ones here, they’re my favourites and… I want one of my own. On my arm.”

  I blinked. She wanted an Aztec god tattooed on her. She’d studied mine when she thought I was sleeping. I’d felt her fingers on my chest, tracing the outlines over and over again. What I hadn’t realised is how much she wanted it done to her.

  “Are you sure?”

  “Yes. I’ve researched them and I identify most with Xochiquetzal, the goddess of fertility, beauty and female sexual power.”

  I held back a smile. She was certainly beautiful and well, sex with her was fucking amazing. She had that way about her. If she wanted another tattoo, who was I to stand in her way? The fact she wanted something to match mine made my heart fucking soar.

  “I’m sure Ben will be more than happy to do them for you.”

  She stopped stroking my chest and looked up at me.

  “Do you think it will look good on me?”

  “Princess… you’ll look even sexier with tattoos. You know I think you’re perfect the way you are, but if you want to get more ink for your birthday, then we’ll get you more ink.”

  She kissed my chest.

  “In fact, I’ll text Ben now.”

  I leant over and grabbed my phone off the bedside table.

  ME: How’s Skye & bump? I need a favour.

  BEN: They’re good. For you? Anything within reason ;)

  ME: Avery’s birthday is soon & she wants a new tattoo… or two.

  BEN: I’m in. Text me the details & I’ll start designing.

  ME: I owe you.

  “He’s happy to do it. Here, you can tell him what you want.”

  I handed her the phone. She smiled at me and rolled over onto her back, spending the next few minutes typing out a long message to him. She gave me the phone when she was done.

  “I hope he’ll have time to do it before the birth, but if not, then we’ll just have to wait. Is that okay for you?” I asked.

  “Yes, I’m just happy it’s happening. It feels right. This is the one thing I can control unlike everything else in my life. It’s all such a fucking mess.”

  I rolled onto my side and stroked her bare stomach with my fingers.

  “I know. I wish things could be different.”

  “If they were, we might not have met each other. I don’t know about you, but I can’t imagine my life without you.”

  I leant down and kissed her, savouring the way she tasted. Fuck. She made me so fucking happy. How could I not want this girl? I needed her. We still had so much to discover about each other, but the things I did know made me love her all the more.

  We’d been arguing less recently. There hadn’t been a blow-up between us since she told me about James and her. I’d been trying not to let my control slip again. She didn’t need it on top of everything else. Another reason why I didn’t want to talk about the marriage thing. I didn’t want to end up in yet another fight with her over it.

  It was too soon, wasn’t it?

  We’d known each other such a short time and yet we’d been through so much together. It felt like longer. With Avery, it felt like forever.

  “I love you, princess,” I whispered against her lips, shifting over her fully.

  I tucked my fingers into her underwear and pulled them off, discarding them over the side of the bed so she was naked beneath me. I might have fucked her over the table earlier after we’d finished dinner and dumped everything in the dishwasher, but I couldn’t get enough of her. The way her skin felt against mine. The noises she made when I hit just the right spot. The way she cried out my name over and over again when she came.

  Most of all, I couldn’t get enough of the way she loved me. How open she was. How she gave herself over to me again and again. I looked up at the painting she’d given me for Christmas. I wanted more of her paintings on the walls. I wanted to make a home and a life with this girl so fucking bad. I loved her so much.

  I spread her legs, running my fingers down her inner thighs. She arched up against me, moaning into my mouth. Her hands wrapped around my back, nails digging into my skin. I cupped her breast, rolling her nipple between my thumb and forefinger. Her fucking perfect set of tits.

  “Aiden, please,” she whimpered into my mouth. “Please, please.”

  “Patience.”

  “Please fuck me. I want your cock in me.”

  Fuck. The need in her voice did things to me.

  “If I fuck you right now, you need to do something for me.”

  “Anything.”

  I tugged off my boxers, kicking them away as I settled between her legs, rubbing my cock up and down her pussy. She whimpered, arching int
o me.

  “I want you to paint more. I want to fill our bare walls with your art.”

  Before she could respond, I thrust into her. She cried out, nails digging further into my skin.

  “Our walls?” she asked when she caught her breath, her doe eyes wide.

  “Yes, this is our home, princess. I’m going to convert the cell and my office back into the second bedroom, but if you want to find somewhere that’s ours, we can do that too.”

  She shook her head.

  “No. This is our home. I’ll paint for you. You know I’ll do anything for you.”

  “I know.”

  I set a steady pace, feeling her heat surround me. This was fucking heaven. Having Avery with me. Knowing she wanted to spend the rest of her life with me. Wanted to make a home with me. It really was everything and more.

  Maybe…

  Just maybe…

  I wanted to marry Avery too.

  Chapter Nineteen

  Avery

  Sat in a coffee shop next to James with John seated a few tables down watching the door, I stared off into the distance. It’d been exactly a week since my conversation with Rick Morgan. I’d spent time reading up about him at work. I felt awful for doing it and not telling Aiden, but I had to know who he was. I had to understand. Rick’s hair was the exact same shade as Aiden’s and his features far too similar. Perhaps it was because I knew Aiden so intimately, but it was clear as day to me. That was the man who gave life to the one I loved so much.

  “You’re very quiet,” James said. “What gives?”

  Too bloody much. It wasn’t like I could tell him about Rick. No one else knew except me, Aiden and John. It seemed my father’s old driver and bodyguard had become an ally of sorts. He fed information to Aiden about Chuck and kept an eye on me during the day.

  It was Sunday. Aiden had things to do so he’d asked John to come with me. James and I hadn’t really talked much since I’d turned up at his flat the night before Rick had taken me. He knew about my kidnapping, I just hadn’t told him we knew exactly who’d done it.

  “Stuff.”

  “Ave…”

  I sighed, shifting slightly so I could look at him head-on. His blue eyes twinkled in the late afternoon sun. I might not be able to talk about Rick, but there was something else bothering me. Something else I could probably only voice to James. Gert was due to join us soon so it had to be now.