by Sarah Bailey
And that’s when Aiden’s phone rang, the noise cutting through the air, startling both of us.
Chapter Eight
Aiden
Whoever the fuck was calling me could go fuck themselves. I probably should be thanking them for reminding me I should not be trying to fuck Avery, but I couldn’t find it in me to be remotely grateful. Not when she was so fucking close to giving into me.
“Stay there and don’t say a fucking word,” I growled at her.
I turned and reached for my stupid motherfucking phone. When I saw the caller display, I literally wanted to punch the fucker in the face.
“What?”
It was lucky he was used to me answering the phone to him like that.
“I need you to follow up on a lead for me.”
“Right now? I’m busy, Chuck.”
“Yes, right now.”
Avery stiffened next to me. I hadn’t forgotten about her issues with her uncle. Ones I would make her tell me sooner rather than later.
“Is it a lead or do you just need me to go beat some fucker up?”
“Really, Aiden? Do you have to put it in such terms?”
“Just fucking tell me what you need.”
I was seriously not in the mood for his shit. My dick was so hard, I thought it might fucking explode and I had Avery fucking wet and wanting next to me. I didn’t have to touch her pussy to know she was wet for me. She couldn’t fucking hide it. Her body screamed at me. Begged me. Needed me. Just like mine needed hers.
“The police interviewed my niece’s little friends, including the boy she was seeing.”
The world fucking stopped. I stared at Avery. She was seeing someone. Was it serious? Why the fuck hadn’t she told me? Was this why she told me she couldn’t this morning? Fuck. I was so angry at the thought of anyone touching Avery but me. I was going to rip the little shit’s head off.
Mine. She’s fucking mine.
“He said she was supposed to be having dinner with Mitch and Kath the night they died. They found her phone at the penthouse. They think whoever killed her parents took her.”
“What?”
Fuck. I’d left her phone at her parent’s place. It wasn’t on her. I hadn’t had time to find it because I had to get out of there before the CCTV came back on.
I had to do something about this. They still wouldn’t tie it back to me, but I couldn’t take chances. Not when I hadn’t made sure Avery was on my fucking side. I needed more time with her. I had to stop thinking with my dick and start thinking with my head. That meant not getting into situations like this. Where we wanted each other so fucking much it hurt.
“I know, fucked up, right?”
“I take it your little informant in the force squealed then?”
It was the only way he’d know any of this. The police hadn’t released many details to the public.
“Of course, but he won’t say any more. I need information. If we don’t find her soon, things are going to get complicated.”
“Did you stop to think that maybe she doesn’t want to be found?”
I shot Avery a warning look. Her eyes were wide, but her mouth remained shut.
“Perhaps. Little upstart never wanted to be a part of the company. Mitch pushed her into agreeing. I don’t claim to get along with my niece. She’s too fucking innocent of our world, but she did confide something to me when she was drunk at the annual Christmas do last year. She said, ‘Uncle Charlie, I wanted him to give the company to you because I don’t want it. I don’t want to be a part of this family’s legacy. I hate it. I hate all the expectations. Dad forced me to sign those documents. He said he would cut me off if I didn’t.’ I remember it like it was yesterday. I think that’s the first time she realised her dad wasn’t Mr Nice Guy. Things had been strained between them since, not that anyone else would have guessed. Got to put on a show for the public.”
Chuck didn’t know it, but he’d just given me more leverage on her than I could’ve hoped to get by myself. If she had an inkling there was a darker side to her father, maybe she’d believe me when I told her who he’d really been behind his well-constructed mask.
“He was always good at bullshitting.”
Chuck laughed.
“Mitch was the best at it. Shame really. Too many fucking enemies to count. Don’t suppose I’ll ever find out who took him out. Who the fuck cares anyway? The fuzz will spend a lifetime trying to work it out. Whoever it was knew what they were doing. The important thing is finding Avery even if she doesn’t want to be found.”
There was no love lost between the brothers. And Avery wouldn’t be found until I decided she would. Until I decided she was ready to do what I needed her to. Plans began to form in the back of my mind. How to fix this mess.
“Are you going to tell me what you need from me or not?”
“Well, you can’t go and beat up a pig, but you can go and lean on his boyfriend for me.”
“Now I know you’ve lost your mind. I told you I won’t deal with police or anyone related to them.”
“I didn’t tell you to hurt him.”
Chuck was really fucking pushing his luck here.
“Get someone else to do it.”
“As if I can trust anyone else with this information.”
I almost smiled. He still really had no idea. I didn’t have much of a choice but to go deal with this for him. If I continued to say no, he’d get suspicious. I couldn’t have that.
“Just fucking text me the details. You owe me for this.”
“Don’t worry, you’ll be well compensated.”
He hung up. I almost threw my phone against the wall. Everything about that conversation had thrown me one curveball after another.
I didn’t look at Avery as I got up and stalked over to my cupboards. I didn’t have time for this. All I fucking wanted was to lie next to that damn girl and hold her close. Last night was the first time in fuck knows how long I didn’t dream.
“Aiden?”
“What?” I snapped. I shouldn’t have but my temper was frayed.
“Are you leaving?”
“I have to go do something. You need to go to sleep.”
Pulling out what I needed, I turned to her. She looked so small and scared huddled under the covers. The sight of it broke something deep inside me. I was such a fucking arsehole. I’d made her need me. I was fucking with her head. I had to do it, but it didn’t make me feel any less of a fucked up piece of shit for dragging her into all of this.
“Okay,” she whispered.
“Avery…”
“It’s okay.”
It wasn’t fucking okay. I dumped my stuff on the bed and crawled over her. She stared up at me with those doe eyes which haunted my every waking moment.
“We need to talk about some things, but it can wait until morning. I need you to go to sleep for me,” I said, trying to keep my tone soft.
We needed to talk about a lot of shit, not least of all why she’d kept the fact that she had a boyfriend from me. If she cared so much about him, why the fuck did she let me touch her?
“I can try.”
“Good.”
I brushed her hair from her face. Fuck, she was beautiful. I leant down, pressing my forehead to hers for a moment. I wanted to kiss her. So fucking much. And I never wanted to kiss anyone. She wasn’t just anyone. Avery was mine.
“Is my uncle trying to find me?”
“Yes.”
“You won’t let him, right?”
“No.”
“Is it really fucked up that I hope I never see him again?”
If he’d done what I suspected, then it wasn’t fucked up at all.
“Will you tell me what happened between you?”
I needed to know. It might change things. It might make my need to silence the fucker for good easier.
“Maybe.”
My phone buzzed on the bed.
“I need to go.”
/>
She nodded. It took a considerable effort on my part to tear myself away from her. I dressed quickly. Before I left, I leant down and brushed my lips against her forehead. She stared at me with no small amount of confusion in her eyes.
I strode out of the room, locking the door behind me because if I didn’t go right then, I would’ve got in that bed with her, ripped her clothes off and made sure she knew exactly what it meant to be owned by me. Fuck the consequences. Fuck the future. Fuck everything. In those moments, it’d just be me and her. Every touch would cement my hold on her and every moment would bind us together in this fucked up mess.
And that’s exactly why I couldn’t fuck her. Binding myself to her was out of the question. I couldn’t let her have any power over me. That would mean ruin for both of us. Avery would tear me apart. I was already broken enough as it was. My only solution was not to give in. Not to let us consume each other. And it was going to be the hardest fucking thing I’d ever do.
I tugged on my jacket and grabbed my helmet before I left the flat. Time was of the essence. I needed to get this done fast.
~~~
As soon as I walked in the club, the pounding bass assaulted my senses. Fucking clubs. It was a mess of sweaty bodies grinding together. It wasn’t hard to spot my prey behind the bar. The bright pink hair gave him away instantly. Plus, he was the only male.
I stalked over to the bar and leant against it. His eyes fell on me and he frowned. I was well aware I wasn’t the normal type of clientele you’d get in a place like this.
“You’re definitely not here for a drink,” he said to me.
“No. Anthony, right?”
“I fucking knew it. I take it you’re here about Ethan.”
I was surprised he knew, but perhaps his boyfriend talked about his work more than he should. Considering he’d blabbed to the Daniels, perhaps it wasn’t so surprising after all.
“I’m not here to harm you. I just need more information about the investigation.”
Anthony raised an eyebrow. Sceptical little fuck.
“I told him not to get involved with them, but he didn’t listen to me. The money isn’t worth this shit. Look, if I get you what you need, will they leave him alone?”
“I can’t make those sorts of promises.”
Once you got involved with the Daniels, you rarely got out unscathed or alive.
“But you can get them to back off? Ethan loves his job and I don’t want him losing it over this shit with that missing girl.”
“I’ll make sure they don’t bother you again.”
“What about Ethan?”
I shrugged. Not much I could do for his idiot boyfriend really. That was up to Chuck.
“He made his own bed.”
Anthony looked away, expression sour.
“I know you’re right.”
At least he wasn’t stupid. I pitied him really. Wasn’t his fault his boyfriend fell for the Daniels company line.
“So, you get me what I need, I keep off your case, but I also want something else. This is personal and not to do with them.”
Anthony bit his lip.
“What?”
“I’ll tell you when you get what I need. Got a pen?”
He shuffled away, grabbing some receipt paper and a pen which he handed to me. I wrote down a number for him. It was a burner phone so it wouldn’t trace back to me. I was still working out what I was going to do about the police’s new line of investigation into Avery’s disappearance. Anthony might just prove to be key in making sure they stopped looking for her.
“Send me a text when you have it. We’ll arrange a meet. Don’t forget I need everything. Both investigations or the deal is off and I won’t give a fuck if they leave you in an alley.”
“Fine. The things you do for love.”
The crazy thing? I knew exactly what he was talking about.
“Stay out of trouble.”
I left the club, not sparing Anthony a second glance. I pulled out my phone and dialled Chuck’s number.
“Is it done?”
“The boyfriend will get us what we need if we leave him alone. The pig is fair game, but I suggest you don’t take him out just yet.”
“Noted. Mitch was always better at this shit. Smooth talking bastard. I can barely get them to give me anything. It’s all ‘we’re still investigating’, should get a fucking move on if you ask me.”
“As I said, I doubt she wants to be found.”
“I’m beginning to agree with you. I’m fed up of fielding calls from her friends. I’ve fucking had it with that girl and her antics. If she wasn’t so important, then I’d say fuck it. Anyway, Frazier had some work for you if you’re interested, otherwise, I’ll give it to John.”
One thing I never did was work for Frazier motherfucking Shaw. He was nothing but trouble. I might have sunk low enough to integrate myself into the Daniels clan, but Shaw was a sick cunt. Worse than Mitchell. Much worse than Chuck.
“I don’t know why you bother asking me.”
“You’re the best, but whatever. John always gets it done. I’ll be in touch.”
I got back on my bike which I’d left not too far away and jammed my helmet on. The ride home would give me time to think. Mostly about what I was going to do with Avery and my ridiculous need to own her completely. We needed to talk. There was no question about it. And that talk had to not escalate into an argument or fucking.
She obeyed me in some things, but that girl had a temper on her. So did I. The combination was deadly. There was always the lingering threat of the cell. She didn’t want to go back there. It was my leverage if things got heated.
The reality was I had no fucking idea how to unravel the tangled mess between us. She was meant to be a tool for me to use in my vendetta against her family and all the sick fucks involved with their dirty dealings. Avery had become more than that. So much more to me than I ever wanted her to be.
She no longer reminded me of Mitchell even though she looked like him. Avery was her own person and she wasn’t anything like the rest of her family. And her fucking drawing of me? My heart almost stopped dead in my chest. It was beautiful but haunting. Mostly because I wasn’t sure what the fuck to think of her depicting me as an angel. I was no fucking saint. I was a bastard through and through. And I certainly made no apologies for it.
I don’t know why I took her drawing and pinned it up in my office. That was most definitely the one place she was never allowed. I just needed the reminder. That she thought about me when I wasn’t there. That she saw me as something more than the sick, fucked up man who killed her parents. Avery had seen me. The real me inside when she drew that. The darkness that consumed me. The hatred in my heart and the need to destroy those who had ruined me.
That she’d even thought to look made me wonder how she really felt about me. She’d told me she was mine but was it because I’d broken her and made her reliant on me? Or had it started before then? Had she realised it when she saw me the first time? That I would come to own her. Who fucking knew? It wasn’t like I could ask her outright anyway.
I slowed as I reached my building, driving down into the underground car park and pulling up in my space. I took the lift up to my floor before discarding my jacket and helmet in the hall when I let myself in. I stripped down to a t-shirt and boxers before I went into the bedroom.
Avery was hugging the duvet to her chest, her dark hair spread across the pillow. She didn’t stir when I got in the bed. Shifting closer to her, I moved her hair before wrapping my arm around her waist. She turned in my embrace and curled up against my chest. Her breathing was still steady. Fast asleep.
Fuck. I was done for at this rate. She was so fragile and small. And fuck if I didn’t want to protect her. That was the thing. I couldn’t. I couldn’t protect her from the truth.
The truth about her family.
The truth about their company.
And most
of all…
The truth about me.
Chapter Nine
Avery
Aiden was awake before me. When I opened my eyes, he was staring down at me. Those beautiful grey eyes full of emotions I didn’t understand. My heart thumped against my ribcage. I hadn’t heard him come in last night. I’d fallen asleep not long after he left.
The bed sheets smelt of him. Distinctly Aiden and it helped me forget he wasn’t there.
“Hi,” I said.
“You’re disrupting my routine.”
“What?”
He rolled me over onto my back and pinned me to the bed with his body. I felt like the air had been ripped out of my lungs.
“My routine.”
He curled a lock of my hair around his finger.
“I run first thing, but with you here, all I want to do is stay in bed.”
“Why…?”
It was a stupid question to ask since the answer was clear, but he’d caught me off guard and I’d only just woken up. He let go of my hair. I found my legs pressed open the next moment as he settled between them. I felt him, rock hard and pulsating against me. He didn’t have to say anything. He stayed because he wanted me. And I was done pretending I didn’t want him too.
I knew it was wrong. He’d murdered my parents, kidnapped me and kept me locked up. He wanted to use me in his own personal war against my family. None of it mattered. Not when it was me and him alone together in his bed with barely anything between us.
So I was done hiding.
“Aiden, either you want me or you don’t. This back and forth between us isn’t fair.”
“Life isn’t fair.” His hand crept up and wrapped around my neck. “Tell me why you think it’s okay to keep things from me.”
What?
What did he think I was keeping from him?
He confused me so much. I never knew what to expect. His moods were so interchangeable.
“What do you mean?”
“Did you think I wouldn’t find out about your boyfriend?”
What the fuck? What boyfriend? Wait…
“Who? Peter?”
“Is that his name?”