by Sarah Bailey
“I like it when women fight back, but you’re causing me too much fucking trouble,” he hissed.
I spat in his face, struggling against him. He smiled, wiping my spit away with his sleeve.
“You’ll pay for that.”
He pulled away and backhanded me across the cheek. I cried out, putting my hand up to my face. I glared at him. My cheek really hurt, especially after Frazier had smacked me around the jaw earlier. I was sure I’d be black and blue before this was over. Better than being raped. Anything was better than that. I didn’t want those memories. I only wanted to remember the way Aiden touched me. I only wanted him between my legs.
Tristan stared at me, his mud brown eyes narrowed. I didn’t move for a long moment and neither did he. Perhaps he thought if he hit me, I’d stop fighting him. He was fucking stupid.
I launched myself at him, knocking him off balance. We both crashed to the floor. I scrambled away from him before he had a chance to recover. I ran for the door, pulling it open and making a dash for it down the corridor.
I only got a few feet before Tristan tackled me to the floor. I screamed, pain lancing across my chest, arms and legs at the impact with the floor and Tristan’s added weight.
“You really are fucking determined to piss me off.”
“Fuck you,” I wheezed.
“I’ve told you so many times, Avery. The only one who’s getting fucked around here is you. I’m going to rip your cunt in half then I’m going to fuck your little rosebud. If you’re good, I might ease up on you a little, otherwise, I’m going to stick my dick in you without lubrication. You better fucking wise up before I destroy all your holes completely.”
I froze underneath him. Tears pricked at my eyes. I didn’t want to imagine it. How much he’d make it hurt. He’d ruin me forever if he did any of those things. How could I ever come back from that?
My heart hammered in my chest at a million miles an hour. I felt sick to my stomach. What if Aiden didn’t get to me in time? I couldn’t stand the thought of it.
“Don’t,” I whispered. “Please don’t.”
“There now, have you decided to give in?”
I would never give in to him, but perhaps if I could convince him to let his guard down just a little, I could get myself out of this mess. I still had the knife. I could feel it pressed against my skin in its sheath. I had to be strong enough and brave enough to use it. To protect myself against the man who was going to rape me.
“Don’t hurt me.”
He stroked my hair back from my face, leaning in and rubbing his cheek across mine.
“Shh,” he cooed. “I won’t hurt you if you stop fighting me.”
I didn’t believe that for a second.
“You promise?”
“I’m going to punish you for trying to escape, but after that, I’ll make it feel good. I’ll fuck you better than Aiden ever could.”
I was pretty sure no one would ever compare to Aiden and how he made me feel, but I wasn’t about to voice that to Tristan.
“Punish me how?”
“You’ll see. Now, if I let you up, are you going to be a good girl?”
I nodded, my face brushing against his. I felt the stubble on his cheek grazing my skin. Little did he know I was bluffing.
Either he was stupid or he wanted me so much, he didn’t care if I fought him again because he moved off me. I flipped myself over onto my back, staring up at him as he stood. He put a hand out to me. It was now or never. I had to get out of here.
I put my hand in his, letting him pull me up. As soon as I was on my feet, I wrenched my hand out of his grasp and pushed him away from me, dashing back down the corridor. I could hear his footsteps after me, but I kept moving.
I’d just about reached the stairs when he slammed me into the bannister, winding me.
“I should’ve known you’d never give in,” he growled.
He wrestled my arms behind my back and dragged me back to the bedroom, throwing me down on the bed. I held my stomach, trying to get my breath back. He went to the door and slammed it shut.
When his back was turned, I pulled the knife from its sheath, knowing it might well be my only chance to access it. I flattened it against my palm, hiding it from view. I had no choice. It was me or him now.
He turned on me, his mud brown eyes blazing with fury and lust. It made my skin crawl. Advancing on me, he shoved me down onto the bed and started pulling up the skirt of my dress. I struggled, trying to stop him, but he held both my arms down and sat on my legs.
“Don’t even think about it you little cunt. You’ve just pissed me off. So now I’m going to make it hurt. You and I could’ve been good together, Avery. I could’ve given you exactly what you needed.”
“Never. You’re sick.”
He smiled, his teeth glinting in the low light.
“You’re just a little whore to him. He could never truly want you.”
“You don’t know anything.”
“Don’t I? Enlighten me then? Why would a man like him want anything to do with a little bitch like you? He just fucked you because he wanted to get back at your father. You’re the idiot who thought it was more than that.”
I shook my head. The knife dug into my skin where he was pressing my arms down on the bed. It reminded me I still had a way out. I could still hurt him and stop him coming after me.
“The joke is on you, Tristan. You’re just too fucking stupid to see it.”
His eyes narrowed.
“What are you talking about?”
“I know what your father wants. My money. Well, he’s not fucking getting it and neither are you. You know why?”
He looked at me, eyes widening as he took my words in.
“Because I’m not Avery fucking Daniels any longer, you stupid fucking prick. You know who does have control of my trust fund?”
He reared back a little, letting go of my arms.
“Oh, that’s right. You thought he was just using me as a good lay.”
“You’re lying.”
“Am I? Are you sure about that? Too fucking bad for you, isn’t it? That I’m Avery Lockhart now.”
We stared at each other for several seconds. Tristan’s face morphed into something monstrous. His mud brown eyes darkened and he snarled.
“You fucking bitch.”
He backhanded me across the face. My head snapped back. He tugged my dress up, fumbling with his own trousers as he tried to rip my underwear off my body at the same time. I was frozen for all of ten seconds.
I palmed the knife and lashed out, screaming at him. I brought the knife up and it plunged into his neck. I felt the blade pierce his flesh. I pulled my hand back and the blood poured out of the wound, dripping down onto my face.
He stared down at me, shock flittering across his features before he put his hand to his throat, trying to stem the bleeding. It was too much, it flowed faster, covering me in it. I couldn’t believe I’d just done that.
I stared at him as the blood got in my hair and face and on my dress. He couldn’t stop it. I was pretty sure I’d just nicked his carotid artery. He was going to bleed out all over me.
I pushed him off me. He fell back against the covers, the blood still flowing and seeping into the bedding. I scrambled back, falling off the bed and crawling backwards with the knife still clutched in my hand.
I got to my feet, staring at the bed in shock. Tristan gurgled and shook before he went still. Very, very still. And I knew in that moment, he was dead.
I’d killed him.
It had been self-defence, but I’d killed him.
I couldn’t believe it. None of it made any sense. I’d actually killed another human being. Guilt flooded me, coursing through my veins.
“Oh god,” I whispered.
I could feel his blood all over me. My stomach roiled. I heard footsteps outside the door and then it opened. On the threshold stood my husband, his eyes g
oing wide as he looked over the scene.
I dropped the knife, tears falling down my cheeks as I fell to my knees and wailed.
“Avery?”
“I killed him,” I sobbed. “I didn’t mean to, but he’s dead.”
He strode towards me but I put a hand up, stopping him in his tracks.
“Don’t, I’m covered in blood, his blood. You’ll make it worse. Oh my god, there’s blood everywhere.”
He looked over at the bed where Tristan lay unmoving.
“Princess… it’s okay. I’m here. Did he hurt you?”
“Yes and no. He didn’t… I didn’t let him… Oh god, Aiden. I killed him.”
His silver eyes burnt with compassion and it broke me further. Aiden knew what it was like to take someone else’s life but I didn’t. I had no idea how much it would destroy me inside. I trembled, feeling everything crashing down on me at once.
“I need you to stand up for me, princess. Can you do that?”
His voice was so calm. I didn’t know how he could be so calm about this situation. I’d killed another person. I’d stabbed Tristan in the neck and he’d bled all over me.
I nodded slowly. I could get up off the floor. Staying here in this room would only make it worse for me. I rose, picking the knife up with me. He put his hand out. I walked towards him and dropped it into his outstretched palm.
“I know you’re in shock right now, Avery, but I’m going to need you to take a shower. You need to wash away all the blood, okay? I’m going to sort this out.”
I stared up at my husband. I trusted him. Aiden would make this right. He was the only one who could. His expression softened. He reached up, cupping my face and stroking my cheek.
“It’s okay, princess. I promise.”
I let him lead me away into the en-suite and help me out of my blood-soaked clothes. He turned the shower on and made me get in. I watched him wash his hands in the sink as well as the knife, which he left on the counter. He gave me one sharp nod, pointing at the toiletries before slipping out of the room.
I looked at the shampoo, conditioner and shower gel. These were all Tristan’s. It made me sick to think I had to use a dead man’s products. A man I’d killed. I dissolved into tears again, putting my face in my hands as the water rushed over me. I could see it turn red as it flowed down me through my fingers. The sight of it was awful. Knowing what I’d done cut me to the core.
I had to pull myself together. Aiden told me to wash away all the blood so I would. I released my face, reaching for the shampoo and begun the laborious process of washing my hair and my body.
When the water finally ran clear, I knew it was gone. All the blood. Somehow this made me feel a little better. I turned the shower off and stepped out, grabbing a clean towel from the rack and wrapping myself in it. I picked up a smaller towel and dried my dripping locks as much as I could.
I stepped back out into the bedroom, finding Aiden had stripped the bedsheets and unceremoniously dumped Tristan back on the bed, carefully angling him so that it was clear he’d been attempting to have sex with whoever had killed him. That girl happened to be me, but I didn’t want to think about it any longer. I wanted to curl up in a ball and cry my eyes out. That wasn’t an option.
He looked up from where he was cleaning the floor and nodded at a pile of clothes he’d left by the door. I picked them up and dressed on automatic. I knew they were Tristan’s clothes, but I didn’t care at that moment. A pair of boxers, followed by shorts, a t-shirt and a jumper which I had to roll the sleeves up on. I slipped on the pair of flip flops, which looked ridiculously big on my feet.
When he was done, he stripped off the gloves he was wearing. He went into the bathroom and came out with my clothes and the knife. He stuffed my clothes and the towels into a black bag before, taking me out of the room.
“Take these downstairs and leave them by the door, please. I know this is hard, princess, but I need you to stay strong for me.”
I stared up at him, tears welling in my eyes.
“Okay,” I whispered.
His expression softened. He dropped the bags he was holding on the floor and cupped my face.
“Listen to me, Avery. I love you. We got out of this alive. I’m not going to let you go down for this either. No one is going to know we were here.”
I’d known that’s why he was cleaning up the scene, but somehow it made me feel worse. I should be punished for killing Tristan. I took his life. I had no right to do that.
But look at what he tried to do to you? He was going to rape you. You had no choice. You know that.
“Where’s Frazier?”
“He’s dead.”
I didn’t know whether that made me feel any better or not.
“What happened?”
“We’ll talk about it later. I need you to go to Frazier’s computer and make sure all the data transferred to the memory stick. Then you need to get rid of everything related to the company.”
He’d read my text messages then.
“What about the staff?”
“I think Frazier made them leave before he brought you to see me.”
I shivered. All the planning we’d done to make this evening a success had gone up in flames. Frazier already knew about us and had made his own plans. And now the Shaws were dead. This wasn’t clean at all. It had been messy. So very messy.
“Okay. The data. You need me to check the data.”
“Yes. Stay in his office until I get you, okay?”
I nodded. He leant down and placed a chaste kiss on my lips before he walked back into Tristan’s bedroom. I knew there were still things he needed to clean up before we could walk away from this.
Picking up the two bin bags, I carried them downstairs, careful not to trip over with the oversized flip flops. I left the bags at the front door and walked along the corridor to Frazier’s office. I flipped the light on and sat at his desk. The data had finished transferring.
I clicked on the folder and started looking at the files. There was so much here. So many incriminating documents. He’d covered up fraud, drunk driving and even a hit and run. There was more, but I wasn’t sure I could look at all of it.
And there was stuff on Daniels Holdings. Things that made me ill. Some of it was the same evidence Aiden had shown me about the bribes, but there were other things. Like how they’d circumnavigated a case against the company regarding shoddy building work. There was blood on their hands. A kid had died because of their negligence.
I felt sick. So fucking sick. How could they do this shit?
I sat back in his chair, drumming my fingers on the armrest. I wanted him to pay for this. Frazier was dead, but I wanted to burn his legacy to the ground. I opened one of his drawers, finding several blank memory sticks inside.
I set about selecting several of the cases that didn’t involve Daniels Holdings and put them on one of the blank memory sticks. Next, I typed up a message on the computer and printed it out. I folded the message up and put it in an envelope along with the memory stick.
The last thing I did was erase all the evidence Frazier had on my company. The police might check his computer and anything incriminating Daniels Holdings would ruin our plans to destroy my family.
Aiden walked into the office. He looked a little haunted.
“Is it all there?” he asked.
I nodded, holding the envelope out to him.
“What’s this?”
“I want you to put it on Frazier’s body.”
He frowned, taking it from me.
“Why?”
“So that when the police find him, they’ll know what a dirty solicitor he was. I want him exposed. After what he’s done, he deserves it.”
He stared at me for a long moment before he peered inside the envelope at the memory stick.
“What did you put on this?”
“Nothing that ties back to the company. Just enough to incrimin
ate him. I know we can’t expose my uncle and my family yet.”
He nodded.
“Okay. I trust you.”
“Can we go yet?”
“Give me five more minutes, okay? I need to make sure there’s nothing on Frazier which can tie back to me. I’ve done my best with Tristan.”
I walked out of the office with him, turning out the light on my way. The memory stick with everything we needed was in my pocket. I walked back towards the hallway, leaving Aiden to deal with what he needed to.
I grabbed my coat out of the cupboard in the hallway, knowing I couldn’t very well leave it there. I waited patiently by the front door until Aiden came back. He picked up all the bags there and we walked out. John was waiting outside for us.
“I need to get rid of this shit,” Aiden said to him.
“You sure you got everything in there?”
“I did the best I fucking could under the circumstances.”
John looked down at me.
“Are you okay?”
I shook my head. I was never going to be okay after what I just did. Never. I wasn’t sure what Aiden had told John, but it didn’t matter. What happened in that house would stay between the three of us. I knew that. Aiden had covered up what we’d done.
Aiden put the bags in the boot and helped me into the back of the car. John drove us for a while, but I didn’t look at where we were going. We pulled up at an abandoned warehouse. They went inside with the bags and came out twenty minutes later.
I wasn’t sure what they’d done and I found I didn’t want to know. This night had been hell from start to finish. All I wanted to do was forget about it.
Aiden pulled me into his lap and held me whilst John drove us back to Aiden’s flat. He stroked my hair, soothing my aching soul.
“It’s okay, princess,” he murmured. “I know this is a lot to handle. I know you feel awful about what you did, but what matters is you’re safe.”
“He didn’t rape me,” I whispered. “I didn’t let him. I put up a fight.”
He clutched me tighter.