Promises

  Promises

  Benson Siblings

  Book Two

  A Corrupt Empire Novel

  Sarah Bailey

  Promises Copyright © 2019 by Sarah Bailey

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means including information storage and retrieval systems, without permission in writing from the publisher. The only exception is by a reviewer, who may quote short excerpts in a review.

  This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

  Please note the spelling throughout is British English.

  Cover Art by V Designs

  Published by Twisted Tree Publications

  www.twistedtreepublications.com

  info@twistedtreepublications.com

  Titles by Sarah Bailey

  Dark Romance

  Corrupt Empire

  Betrayal

  Sacrifice

  Revenge

  Benson Siblings

  Provoked

  Promises

  Paranormal Romance

  After Dark

  Demon’s Destiny

  Vampire’s Kiss

  Witching Night

  Cursed Heart

  Death’s Angel

  Lucifer’s Cage

  Blood Magic

  Contents

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chapter Seventeen

  Chapter Eighteen

  Chapter Nineteen

  Chapter Twenty

  Chapter Twenty One

  Chapter Twenty Two

  Chapter Twenty Three

  Chapter Twenty Four

  Chapter Twenty Five

  Chapter Twenty Six

  Chapter Twenty Seven

  Chapter Twenty Eight

  Acknowledgements

  About The Author

  To the amazing Elle Linder

  Thank you for all the laughs

  For the support and friendship

  And for knowing exactly what I mean by unruly book kids

  Chapter One

  James

  I often think it’s funny how life never seems to go your way even when you do everything in your power to forge your own path. Life has never given me anything I wanted. Perhaps for a fleeting moment, but it all gets ripped away sooner or later. That’s just how I feel. I guess it’s different for other people. Those who already have all their happiness in the palm of their hands.

  I shouldn’t be thinking about these things today. I was meant to be paying attention to the ceremony. Liora looked beautiful. Then again, she always does. And she loves my brother. Dante isn’t an easy person to love. Not after everything that happened to him. To all of us really. He had the worst of it. Despite the years of us hating each other, it’s all in the past now. We’ve laid it to rest.

  I never expected Dante to get married, but here we are. He didn’t ask me to be his best man, but I couldn’t begrudge him that since Brent was his closest friend. They looked so happy, holding each other’s hands whilst they recited their vows.

  I looked around the assembled guests. There weren’t many of us. Liora and Dante wanted this part to just be friends and family. Avery and Aiden were next to me with Afie in her buggy beside him. I never thought I’d see a soft side to Aiden even if Avery always assured me he had one. The way he doted on that little baby girl was fucking astounding. His gaze kept falling on her, making sure she was okay even though she was fast asleep.

  Afie already looked a lot like Avery, but she has Aiden’s grey eyes. And me? I was her godparent along with Gertie. Not that I was complaining, but I’m not so great with kids so if anything ever happened to them, Gertie would be the better fit.

  I felt Avery lean her head on my shoulder and put a hand on my arm. The contact made my skin prickle.

  “Don’t they look perfect?” she whispered.

  “Yeah,” I whispered back.

  I glanced at Aiden because even though we were good with each other, sometimes I wondered if he still hated how close we were. They’d been together for three years, so I guessed he had time to get used to it. Maybe I should’ve invited Cassie to this as a buffer between us. We weren’t really an official thing, but I think she wanted more. I was such a dick. I should’ve just ended it with her because, at that point, I was just stringing her along.

  You’d think three years would be long enough for me to get over this shit, but it’s never been easy. Nothing is when it comes to Avery. The problem is… my heart has belonged to her since we were kids. Perhaps it was stupid of me to have a fantasy of us ending up together. Like some kind of fairy tale. Fairy tales don’t exist. The day she told me she was getting married to Aiden, my life as I knew it was over. She’d only known him six months and whilst I had nothing against him, it broke my heart. I mean literally, ripped it into tiny pieces and it’s been shattered ever since.

  Internally shaking myself for my stupid wandering thoughts, I turned my attention back to the service. My brother looked like he’d just died and gone to heaven. Don’t get me wrong, I was happy for Dante. He deserved this. Liora had made him into a better man. They had this weird dynamic. She was always deferring to him. I knew her as someone strong and fearless. She’d gone to see our father in prison and told him to plead guilty. I’d been surprised when Dante told me about it and even more shocked that our dad had actually gone ahead with it. Who knew if it was because of Liora, but the four of us, Dante, Jen, Fi and me, were grateful the whole thing never went to trial. Rehashing our childhoods was never going to be fun. It was enough we’d all had to make lengthy statements in the first place.

  “I now pronounce you husband and wife, you may kiss your bride,” the registrar said which brought me back into the room just in time to see them embrace each other.

  I was such a fucking shitty sibling. Not even paying attention to the one day that was supposed to be all about Dante and Liora. Here I was thinking about my own sorry lot in the world.

  Depressing much?

  Whilst they were signing the registry book, my eyes were drawn back to Afie. It was stupid of me to feel jealousy, but I did. That was her baby with Aiden. I’d always imagined it would be us as parents. And now it was them. Her and Aiden with their girl who was the cutest baby I’d ever been around. Although, honestly, I wasn’t around them much except when Aiden’s best friend, Ben, was visiting with his two little ones, Josh and Sadie.

  Avery told me Aiden had become adamant about having kids after spending so much time with Ben’s children. Afie wasn’t even a month old. She was still so tiny. Gertie and I waited in the hospital when Avery gave birth. We were the first to meet her. It gave me a weird feeling in my chest given how much like her mother she was.

  I’m so fucking pathetic.

  Aiden was stroking Afie’s little face and murmuring to her, “Daddy’s little princess.”

  He’d always called Avery ‘princess’. I still had a dig at her about it on a regular basis even though actually it just fucking killed me how much she adored it. Adored him. I shouldn’t feel this way, but every time I heard it,
it only made me think it should’ve been me.

  All of this should’ve been mine.

  Avery was supposed to be mine.

  I’m a dick. I really am.

  I was happy she found someone who loves her as much as Aiden does. Avery needed someone who makes her world go around. Aiden did that for her. You could see it when they looked at each other. How deeply their feelings ran. It was like they were made for one another. Which is why it was so unfair of me to feel this way about her. To have these feelings of resentment and longing.

  Maybe it was because Dante was getting his happy ending today and it brought up all sorts of crazy hidden feelings for me. Everyone I knew was happy and moving on with their lives. Hell, even Gertie was still shacked up with Tilly. I never thought it would last between them, but they were still going strong after two and a half years together.

  And then there was me. Forever single. Forever alone. It was my own fault. No one lived up to her. The girl next to me who deserved everything. Deserved to be as happy as she was. And she really was so fucking happy. Being a mother had softened her in so many ways. She’d always had such a soft heart, but Avery with Afie was a beautiful thing to witness.

  I hated this. I hated myself sometimes because of the way I felt about her. How I pretended to be okay with it all when I wasn’t. I wished these feelings would go away. Wished they’d just die so I didn’t have to live with all this regret. All of this pain. All these lies I kept telling over and over again.

  ***

  I didn’t want to be paired up with a girl on the first day of school. Girls were stupid. My sisters were the worst. They were always trying to dress me up like one of them. I was the baby so they thought it was funny. Wasn’t funny to me at all. Dante did nothing to stop them either and Mum thought it was cute.

  I sat with my arms crossed, staring at the floor until I saw two feet come into my view. She had blue shoes on. That’s the first thing I noticed. They had little silver buckles. My eyes travelled upwards. Her blue dress came down to her knees. Her outfit was the exact same colour as my eyes. Mum always told me I was her blue-eyed baby boy.

  I finally raised my head to meet her eyes. Brown ones stared back at me. I was struck by this girl in front of me. She had straight dark hair which flowed loosely down her back.

  “Hi,” she said.

  “Hey.”

  “Miss Malcolm says we’re supposed to sit together.”

  “Yeah.”

  She stuck her hand out to me.

  “Avery.”

  I hesitated for a long moment before sliding my hand into hers.

  “James.”

  She gave me one hard shake before retracting her hand and sitting next to me, smoothing down her blue dress.

  “Is it true your daddy designs clothes?”

  I looked over at her.

  “Yeah. Who told you?”

  She waved at a group of girls in the corner of the room who were giggling to each other.

  “They were saying it. My daddy builds things. I don’t like those girls.”

  I wondered why. I wondered a lot of things about Avery. She’d been in my life all of two minutes and already I couldn’t stop looking at her. She was pretty, but it wasn’t just that. I was drawn to her.

  “How old are you?” I asked when I realised she was waiting for me to speak.

  “Five. You?”

  “Same.”

  She gave me a smile. The most radiant smile I’d ever seen.

  “Friends?”

  I’d never been friends with a girl. My only friend in the world was my brother anyway. He looked out for me. He’d told me yesterday if anyone gave me trouble, I was to go straight to him and he’d make sure it didn’t happen again. Dante was good like that.

  Avery was looking at me, her brown eyes dancing and her smile wide. How could I say no? How would I ever say no to the pretty girl who would come to know me inside out?

  “Friends.”

  ***

  I should’ve brought Cassie. A lot of our employees had been invited to the reception, but not her. I didn’t want her to get the wrong idea about what we were. And she would’ve if I’d invited her to my brother’s wedding. Her boss. Technically I was her boss too as well as Jen and Fi. None of them had said anything about me seeing an employee, mostly because it wasn’t serious. It should’ve been serious by now.

  Again, I was a dick to her. I needed to stop this. End this thing with her. Whatever this thing even was. Sex? Dating? Who fucking knew. It should’ve been over by now. But if I’d ended it, then I’d have gone back to being completely miserable and pining over my best friend.

  Let’s face it, I was still pining over her anyway.

  Pathetic. So fucking pathetic. That’s what you are.

  Instead, here I was, dancing with her like there was nothing wrong. I mean I even gave her away at her own wedding for fuck’s sake. I shouldn’t still be in love with her after all this time.

  “You’re quiet today.”

  “Got a lot on my mind,” I replied.

  “James…”

  “I’m fine, Ave. I promise.”

  She squeezed my shoulder, giving me a smile.

  “They look so happy. I swear I’ve never seen Dante smile as much as he does when he’s with her.”

  I spun us around so I could see what she was looking at. Dante and Liora were sitting at their table, a plate of cake between them whilst they fed each other. Kind of a bit sickening, but it was their wedding day so I wasn’t going to begrudge them.

  “You know, there’s one room in his house he keeps locked at all times. It makes me wonder what’s behind the door.”

  Avery raised an eyebrow at me.

  “What are you suggesting?”

  “Nothing untoward… I tried to ask Brent, but he told me to mind my own business. He blatantly knows.”

  A slow smile appeared on her face.

  “She does seem to always look to him for approval. Wait, you don’t think…” She lowered her voice. “You don’t think it’s like some kind of red room of pain, do you?”

  “Oh, that’s exactly what I think.”

  She giggled, looking over at the happy couple again.

  “Kinky little shit.”

  It wouldn’t surprise me if it was really a playroom of sorts. Dante always had this dark air about him, even when we were kids. No one messed with him. And no one messed with me or the twins either. At least not whilst he was at school. When he left, it was a different story. I was old enough to take care of myself then.

  “You can’t talk.”

  She hit my shoulder.

  “Hey, Aiden doesn’t know you know, so shut up.”

  Before she’d gotten pregnant with Afie, we’d gone out to a bar one night with Gertie and Tilly. Avery got ridiculously drunk and confessed something to me whilst the girls where busy sucking face. Avery and I might have been sleeping together at one point, but she never gave me any indication she was interested in being tied up and restrained. I don’t think she ever considered it until she met Aiden. I totally saw it once she told me. The whole control thing with him.

  “You didn’t tell him? I thought you two didn’t keep secrets.”

  “We don’t, but I’m not sure he’d appreciate me telling you, of all people, about our sex life.”

  I supposed she had a point. Surely Aiden knew Avery and I told each other everything. I doubted he’d care that much. He was far too secure and confident in himself. Plus, he pretty much worshipped the ground Avery walked on, so he wouldn’t stay mad at her for anything she did.

  “You should tell him… Perhaps he’d punish you for it. You’d like that.”

  “Oh my god, James, please. You’re as bad as Gert. No, wait, you’re worse because she doesn’t even know.”

  I grinned. If Gert knew, Avery would never hear the end of it. Pretty sure that’s why she hadn’t revealed her dirty little secre
t to our other best friend.

  “I can babysit if you want… I’m sure the two of you haven’t had much time to yourselves.”

  She hit me again.

  “Seriously, stop.” She looked away for a moment. “We haven’t since she was born. I love Afie, but I miss my time with just Aiden.”

  As uncomfortable as it was for me to talk about this with Avery, I’d never stop her confiding in me. I was still determined to be her best friend despite how I felt.

  “Then take Tina up on her offer to babysit, Ave. It’s not a crime to want to be with your husband even if you have a new baby.”

  “You sure I’m not being a bad mother?”

  I shook my head. She worried too much.

  “No, I think he’d appreciate it too.”

  Aiden currently had Afie on his chest, patting her back whilst speaking to Brent, who was keeping an eye on Jen and Fi. Even though him and Jen hated each other, he’d always watched out for the twins, probably because Dante told him to. My sisters were at the bar, knocking back cocktails. There was a lone bartender. A girl with dark hair, but I couldn’t really make out the rest of her features.

  “You’re right, he would. I’ll talk to him about it.”

  I nodded as the song came to an end. We weren’t the only ones on the dancefloor, thankfully. Avery insisted I dance at least a couple of songs with her. We walked over to where Aiden and Afie were. Avery put a hand on his back, giving him a smile.

  “Is she okay? Do you think she needs a feed?”

  “She’s fine, don’t fuss,” Aiden said, rolling his eyes. “I was going to get James here to hold her since you owe me a dance too.”

  This was news to me. I hadn’t signed up to holding the baby. Avery looked at me expectantly. How the hell could I say no? Especially after what she’d just admitted to me. Stifling a sigh, I stepped forward and took Afie, getting her settled in my arms.

  “Ten minutes max,” Avery said, giving me a smile before she stroked the little tuft of hair on her daughter’s head

  Aiden dragged her away, telling her she needed to learn how to let go for one minute. They were still half bickering with each other when the next song started up. I sat down at the table next to Brent, not trusting myself with the baby. I didn’t want to drop her.