Total pages in book: 88
Estimated words: 84763 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 424(@200wpm)___ 339(@250wpm)___ 283(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 84763 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 424(@200wpm)___ 339(@250wpm)___ 283(@300wpm)
“Cassian—”
“Tell me what fucking game!” he demands, making me jump.
“It’s not a game!” I cry out, tears blurring my vision as my heart races. When I try to scoot away, he slams a fist into the wall. I jump, afraid. Truly afraid.
“Fucking. Tell. Me. Am I the villain?”
“No! Get away from me!” I shove at him, but he doesn’t budge.
“And him? What role is he playing?”
“Christ, leave her alone,” Jet says. “It wasn’t her fault.” He comes toward us.
“Oh?” Cassian shifts his gaze to Jet, then back to me, fury in his eyes, fury and something else. Betrayal. “So you cast Jet as the hero then? Is that it?”
“I didn’t cast anyone! I’m not playing any game!”
“Because let me tell you something about my stepbrother, Moth.” He grips my arm and tugs me to himself. “He’s no hero.” He hisses through clenched teeth.
“Let her go,” Jet says, stepping toward us. “I brought her the phone. She didn’t know anything about it. And if it’s any consolation, she doesn’t trust either of us.”
Cassian doesn’t look at Jet and I see the betrayal in his eyes. I see how tired he is. How weighed down.
“Well, you may have given her the phone, but she accepted it, and she kept it hidden from me, isn’t that right, Allegra?”
“You’d have taken it from me!”
“Damn right I would. A cell phone can be tracked.”
“Tracked? Jesus. I didn’t do anything. I’m not running away. Nothing. I’m here, aren’t I? You can read my fucking texts. Oh wait, I forgot, you already did, asshole.”
He snorts, shifts his grip to my wrists, holding them at my back in one of his hands. I stop wriggling. I won’t get free. Not until he decides to let me go.
“Tell me something,” he says, finally turning to Jet. “What did you intend with your betrayal, brother? Always wanting what’s mine, aren’t you?”
Jet’s eyes narrow and I know what Cassian is saying is true, at least in part. He takes a deep breath in, exhales, picks up his glass and finishes his drink. “Fuck you, Cassian.” He slams the empty glass down so hard I’m surprised it doesn’t crack the tabletop. “I’ll leave you to it.”
“No. Stay,” Cassian says, his tone lower, but no less dangerous. Some men are like that. Most dangerous when they appear calm.
Jet and Cassian stare off for a minute.
“I said sit, brother, so I can give you what you want,” Cassian says, and I feel him gathering the skirt of my dress in one hand. I look down as the material slides up along my calf, my thigh.
“What are you doing?” I ask, half-turning.
He shifts his gaze to me, eyes searching mine. Imploring. For a long moment, the only sound in the room is my hectic breathing, the pounding of my heart. I watch Cassian all the while, watch his strange eyes, because they do betray him. They do show his heart. And what I see makes mine crack a little.
“Allegra,” he says so quietly, it’s no more than a whisper. “You deceived me.”
I shake my head because his words are no longer angry. Anger is easy. Anger I can meet. This? This is something else. Something that hurts.
I open my mouth to tell him I didn’t mean to. I wouldn’t.
But I did. I know I did. I knew it the instant I accepted the phone and then again, each chance I had to tell Cassian, and I didn’t tell him.
“You betrayed me. You are my enemy.”
A tear slides down my cheek.
He watches that tear and for a moment, I think it’ll be okay. I think I can explain. Make him understand because I never meant to deceive him. What Jet said, it’s true. I’ve fallen for him. I’ve fallen in love with Cassian Trevino.
“Cassian—”
“But that’s on me. My own fault for believing anything else would be possible,” he says in that same tone, except that now, the look in his eyes is different. Now, that softness is gone. That vulnerability. All that’s left in its place is an icy resolve that makes me physically shiver.
He turns back to Jet who is still standing there, watching us. For a moment, I’d forgotten he was there at all.
“Sit,” he tells Jet.
Jet looks from him to me then back. He sits and narrows his eyes on Cassian.
Cassian nudges me forward, toward Jet.
“What are you doing?” I demand, turning, wriggling to get free. “What the hell are you doing?”
He pushes me forward and I’m not expecting it. I’m caught off guard and would fall if it wasn’t for Jet catching me as my hands close over his thighs. I meet his forest eyes, my face inches from his. He slides his hands to my wrists, holds on.
“You liked it when he looked at you before, didn’t you?” Cassian asks as he raises the skirt of my dress higher.