by Sarah Bailey
~~~
Her father, her uncle and their cousin, Troy, were all stood around a desk in Mitchell’s office, staring at something on the computer screen.
“He really is one sick fuck,” Chuck said.
“No less than the bitch deserves for stepping out of line,” Mitchell replied. “Silly cow thought she could escape us.”
The three of them laughed.
“You’re a sick cunt, Mitch,” Troy said.
“He’s the sick cunt,” Mitchell said, pointing at the screen.
It was clear on the screen there were two people naked, but what they were doing was hard to make out.
“Well, at least now you know what we do to girls who step out of line,” Chuck said, looking at Troy.
“The family business. They make us rich men. Our property is most profitable,” Mitchell said, a grin apparent on his face.
They laughed again. Chuck looked back at the screen and scrunched up his face.
“Even I think he’s wrong in the head. Who gets turned on by that?”
“Frazier clearly.”
“Sick fuck,” Troy chimed in.
“Sick fuck indeed.”
~~~
The video ended. Avery stared down at the blank screen with confusion on her face.
“Play the next video.”
I didn’t want to see this again, but she had to understand. Had to see what the men in her world did to people. And she would understand why Frazier Shaw was not a man you messed with.
Avery hit play and her face went white as a sheet. It was a clip of what her father, her uncle and her father’s cousin had been watching. I didn’t want her to see the whole thing because it was so sickening, it made me throw up the first time I’d seen it.
~~~
A naked girl tied up with leather straps and rope. Her body was covered in bruises. She was on her knees, staring up at Frazier.
“So, little girl, I heard you tried to escape us? Did anyone ever tell you that running away never solves anything?”
“No, please, sir, please. I’m sorry. I’m sorry.”
“Sorry isn’t good enough.”
He picked up a ball gag from the table beside him. The table which held various torture implements. Her eyes went wide with fear.
Frazier approached her. She closed her mouth, shaking her head. He grabbed her face, forcing her mouth open again.
“Say ahhh.”
He stuck it in her mouth and tightened the straps around her head. He picked up a drill next, pressing his finger down and making it whirl.
Tears fell down the girls face as Frazier kicked her down onto her back. He knelt beside her and held her leg steady.
“I’m going to make you bleed, little girl. Bleed all over me and then I’m going to fuck you until you bleed some more.”
He lowered the drill to her leg.
~~~
The video cut off. Avery put a hand to her mouth. She didn’t look at me as she shoved the tablet back in my hand before fleeing the cell. I followed her as she ran to the bathroom.
I set the tablet and the glass of water down on the side of the bath. She fell to her knees and threw up in the loo. I pulled her hair away from her face. She didn’t have much in her stomach, so it was mainly water, spit and bile. It’s why I hadn’t let her eat first.
When she was spent, she put her head on the seat and tears fell down her cheeks.
“Why did you make me watch that?” she whispered.
“You know why.”
“I don’t. You made me face my nightmares again and now this. Did they mean what I think they did? Does my family deal in human trafficking?”
“Yes, but it’s more complicated than that.”
“Why was she being… punished?”
“She threatened to go to the police. She even got away from where she was kept.”
“Is she still alive now?”
I wasn’t sure why she was asking these questions, but the truth was more important than keeping her in the dark.
“No, she’s not. She killed herself not long after that happened.”
“When did it happen?”
“Ten years ago.”
She let out a wracking gasp before dissolving into quiet sobs. I moved away, picking up a face cloth from the sink. Wetting it and wringing it out, I brought it back over to her. I squatted down and tugged her away from the toilet. She let me wipe her face and clean her up.
When she looked at me after I was done, her eyes were haunted and full of pain and sorrow.
“Do you want me to hold you?” I asked.
“I hate you.”
“You can hate me, but I’m all you have now.”
“Is this why you hate my family?”
“One of the many reasons.”
She didn’t say anything, just put out her arms to me. I tugged her into mine and held her close, stroking her hair.
“I hate you, Aiden,” she whispered. “So why do I still need you when all you do is hurt me?”
“The truth hurts.”
“Why are you doing this to me?”
“Because you are going to help me destroy them.”
“How can you be so sure of that?”
“You won’t be able to live with the knowledge of what they’ve done and not do something about it. Only when you know the whole truth, you’ll understand.”
She clutched me tighter, wetting my t-shirt with her tears.
“My life is built on a lie. If that’s who they really are then I don’t know them at all.”
The pitiful note in her voice ground into me, making it impossible not to feel something for her. Fuck. I hated how lost and lonely she was. I hated how responsible for her I felt.
“How do I make it stop? The pain. My heart hurts. I’m bleeding for someone I didn’t even know. All of my memories of him feel tarnished.”
Him. Her father. Mitchell.
I wished I could make it go away for her, but she needed to feel. To feel so she could learn to hate them. To hate them like I did. Then she could do what I needed her to. Help me destroy them. Only then would I ever set her free. That’s if I even could.
Avery was mine in the most fundamental way a person could be. She’d surrendered herself to me over and over again. Despite what I’d done and shown to her, I knew she’d still let me in. She’d let me touch her in the ways I shouldn’t. And she’d let me fuck her. Because Avery wanted and needed me.
“You focus on what you have here and now.”
“But all I have is you.”
“I told you I’ll look after you. Give you what you need.”
Even though I hadn’t been doing a very good job of it. I’d have to try harder for her.
“What I need is not to feel. I’m fed up of being cooped up and alone. I don’t want to fight with you anymore. I’m so tired. I just want to give in. I’m sorry. I’m sorry if it’s wrong to want you. I’m sorry for whatever I did to make you angry with me.”
Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. This girl. Avery. She hates me and wants me. And I fucking wanted her too. She was wrong about me hating her. I didn’t hate her. Her family? Yes, but her? Not at all. I couldn’t. Avery hadn’t done anything wrong. She’d just been in the wrong place at the wrong time. And she was paying for that when it hadn’t been her fault.
“I’m not angry with you.”
“Will you forgive me?”
“There’s nothing to forgive.”
“But I broke the rules again.”
“Fuck the rules, Avery. You and I don’t need rules. Not when you’re mine already.”
Her fingers traced a line down my spine. I fought against my instinct to stop her. Or was it that I wanted to lean into her touch? Who fucking knew.
“Yours. At your mercy. Under your control. That’s what you want from me, isn’t it?”
“Yes.”
And so much fucking more. I wanted her m
ine on every level. Her body. Her mind. Her fucking soul.
“You have that already. I won’t run from you. I won’t tell anyone what happened.”
She pulled away and looked up at me, her eyes still watery.
“Our secret, Aiden. What happened is our secret. Yours and mine.”
She placed her hand on my heart. I covered it with my own. The fragile girl in my lap was stronger than she knew. And now I knew she’d fight for me. There was still a long way to go before she knew everything, but Avery would be my secret weapon.
And the rest of the Daniels clan wouldn’t know what hit them until it was too late.
Chapter Eleven
Avery
Aiden held me for the longest time. I felt sick by what I’d seen. I recognised the man in the second video. My father’s best friend, Frazier. I’d always felt there was something off about him and now I knew why. I couldn’t begin to imagine what else that girl had to endure or any of the other girls they kept. I was scared to ask Aiden about the real extent of it all.
I could only be glad he didn’t show me everything. Those short clips had been enough. I never knew. They’d hidden it all from me. I only really had an inkling something wasn’t perfect about my dad when he’d laid down the law about the company to me. I didn’t want it. I had no real interest in the property business. He threatened to cut me off from not only my inheritance but my entire family. So I signed the papers and I agreed to study architecture.
Now, what I didn’t understand was why he was so adamant about me running the business. How could he have expected to keep the other side of it from me forever?
I burrowed myself further into Aiden’s chest. Even though I was angry with him for showing me those things and putting me back in the cell, I still wanted his arms around me. I still wanted to feel his solid chest against mine. And I would keep the truth about what he’d done to my parents from ever seeing the light of day. As fucked up and stupid as that was.
“You haven’t eaten. I’m going to make you something and then you need to rest,” he murmured.
“Are you going to leave me alone?”
“No.”
He helped me off the floor and led me to the kitchen. I watched him cook for me. The way his muscles moved as he shifted around the kitchen with ease. The concentration on his face. His beautiful face and those lonely grey eyes. And his mouth. I wanted to know what his lips felt like against mine.
I’d given up berating myself for craving him. What was the point? My attraction to him was as real as the need to breathe. He already knew I’d say yes if he wanted it. Wanted me. Naked. In his bed. Just the two of us. Alone.
I’d do anything he asked just to have him close. To feel his skin against mine. To know these feelings were mutual and real.
He’d told me he didn’t do vanilla. I never once thought sex with him would be anything but brutal and unforgiving. He wasn’t the type for sweet sentiment or gentleness.
Aiden didn’t do sex. Aiden fucked. Of that I was sure.
My face felt hot the instant I thought about him tying me to his bed. Of being taken without mercy or restraint. Why I was even thinking about all this after what I’d just seen, I had no idea. It hit me then. Why he’d made me watch it in the cell.
“You didn’t want me to associate those videos with anything outside of the cell,” I said.
“No. That’s the only place I’ll show you the truth. This is your home now whether you’ve agreed to it or not.”
My home. Was it really? It didn’t feel like it. This was all Aiden and not me. I didn’t have anything of my own here.
He brought over a plate and a mug of tea. Toast, eggs, beans, bacon, tomatoes and mushrooms. For himself, just another one of his protein shakes. He sat with me whilst I ate. Neither of us spoke.
“Thank you,” I said when I was done.
He shrugged and put my plate and mug in the dishwasher. Taking my hand, he led me back into his bedroom and encouraged me to get into bed. He didn’t leave. He sat up in the bed and let me lay my head in his lap.
“When you wake up, I want you to do something for me,” he said.
“What is it?”
“I’ll tell you later.”
He stroked my hair, the motion soothing and his touch gentle.
“How long have they been doing that?”
“Your family? Longer than anyone cares to remember.”
“You mean it started before the company was even created?”
“Yes. From what I gather, it was started to help them appear more legitimate, but the reality is, your family has traded in people for hundreds of years. However, what is happening now is your grandfather’s legacy.”
“My dad and Uncle Charlie never called him, father. It was always Nick. I never understood it. He was very cold towards them, but not me. I was his beloved granddaughter for some reason. I never did anything they wanted, but that never mattered to him.”
Aiden looked down at me.
“What do you mean you never did what they wanted?”
“They expected me to be like all the other rich kids my age. Wanting expensive clothes, falling out of clubs at three in the morning, stealing their alcohol stash, having wild parties, but none of that seemed fun to me. I preferred quiet nights in with James and Gert watching old movies or drawing.”
His other hand rested in his lap. I reached out and entwined my fingers with his. I thought he might pull away, but he didn’t.
“And how did they take that? Their only daughter being a good kid.”
“Not well. Mum kind of understood, but Dad? Not so much. Expectations in my family are high. I never lived up to the Daniels name. Sure, I’ve been photographed when I tried to be what they wanted, but it’s all so fake. It’s not the real me. The one who wants to be left alone to make art rather than be the heiress to a billion-pound company that I’m realising is not all it seems.”
He didn’t reply immediately. His fingers tangled in my hair, running down my neck.
“Would you like it if I bought you supplies so you can draw more? You’d have to show me what you need.”
I turned my head up towards him. His expression was neutral.
“You’d do that for me?”
“If it’s what you need to be happier here, then yes.”
Did he want me to be happy here? I wasn’t sure I knew what happiness was anymore. I’d be happy if he continued treating me like this rather than resorting to the cold, heartless Aiden who terrified me to my very core. The one who’d thrown me back in the cell earlier.
“Am I allowed to say thank you?”
That brought a smile to his lips. When he genuinely smiled, it made my heart ache.
“You’re allowed.”
“Can I ask you something?”
“It depends on what it is.”
“What does this say?”
I pointed at the tattoo on his arm. The text I couldn’t decipher.
“It’s Latin. Nemo Sine Vitio Est. It means no one is without fault.”
The fact he’d even explained it surprised me. So much so, I didn’t want to press him any further. To ask why that phrase specifically. It was true. Everyone was at fault for something in this world. I just wanted to know what it meant to him.
“All my tattoos are by the same artist,” he continued. “I don’t trust anyone else.”
“They’re very talented.”
“He is. Perhaps one day I’ll allow you to meet him.”
That made my heart stop. Aiden allowing me to meet someone in his life. It seemed surreal, but he’d said it. Did I mean something to him? Today had brought on too many revelations. Ones about my family and ones about him.
I ran my fingers over the words down his inner arm. I wasn’t sure when he’d decided to allow me to touch him, but I never wanted to stop. Aiden felt so real. Such a tangible thing in my life when all else had been torn away.
I ached for him. Craved him. Desired him. The thoughts from earlier blared in my head. The strong, self-assured man who owned me, claiming me as his. Branding himself into my skin. Cementing us together so deep, neither of us would be able to function without the other.
I felt the pulsating need in my stomach and lower. My body simply reacted to his like it was starving for his presence. His touch. It needed his fingers. His mouth. His cock. It didn’t want anyone else.
Correction.
I didn’t want anyone else. I couldn’t use my body’s reaction to him as an excuse or a justification. I had to own what I wanted.
None of the guys I’d been with made me wet with a simple look. Not even when I’d kissed Peter. But Aiden did. When his eyes were molten with lust, I responded. Just like I was responding now to having him close with thoughts of what he would do to me running through my head.
He’d told me to rest, but how could I with all that whirling around my brain?
I couldn’t wait for Aiden to sort his crap out and make up his mind. Taking matters into my own hands was an awful idea, but my need overcame my common sense.
I moved, shifting up the bed and straddled him. Aiden’s eyes went wide.
“Avery, what are you—”
I put my fingers over his lips.
“Don’t say anything.”
I took his hand, pulled it between us and pressed it to me.
“Touch me. I’m not asking you to fuck me. I need to feel something else other than pain and heartbreak. So please touch me.”
I pulled both my hands away from him and put them up to show him I wasn’t going to do anything else. His eyes fell to where I’d pressed his hand against my pussy. Seconds ticked by without either of us moving.
His fingers crept beneath my shorts and brushed over my underwear, right over my already sensitive nub. I shuddered.
“Fuck, how wet are you?” he muttered.
His eyes flicked back to mine, burning with heat. His free hand curled around the back of my neck and he dragged me towards him, pressing my forehead to his. He stroked me. My lips parted. Jolts ran up my spine. I let my hands fall to my sides.
“Is this what you want?” he asked, his voice a little hoarse.
“Yes, please don’t stop.”