Cass always felt at home surrounded by darkness. She sat in her living room, her tux jacket draped over the chair's back, her shirt collar unbuttoned and her sleeves rolled up. Her arms draped over the chair arms, and a half glass of whiskey dangled from her right hand. The fire blazed in front of her as she stared at the dancing flames. All her life she'd had to fight. She'd been trained from the age of six, to fight, to defend. She'd been honed by some of the best and her skills were that of a highly trained assassin. She scoffed and took a sip of the warm liquid. Maybe if she'd become an assassin her life would be simpler. She would never know the true meaning of feeling at peace. She shook her head this time she downed the rest of the whiskey and reached over to fill the glass again. She was lying to herself about that. For a brief moment, all too brief moments, she'd felt peace. Olivia. The woman was asleep in her bedroom, in her bed. The one place she could feel completely at
"Cassandra." Olivia couldn't find anything else to say. She closed the door quietly behind her and leaned back against it. Cass watched her. There was no expression in her eyes. And for once Olivia couldn't read her. "Let me." She stepped forward when Cass reached for her pants. "You should go." "So you keep saying," Olivia said and ignored the hands that pushed hers away. "Stop it." She looked up at Cass and then just dropped her head carefully on Cass's shoulder. "Please, just stop it." She felt Cass sigh. "I'm going to run you a bath, then I'm going to go get the first aid kit." "What? No threats of a hospital?" "I'm not a complete idiot." Olivia snapped. "I didn't mean it like that." Olivia waved her words away and after taking her pants off carefully she opened the tap and let the water fill the bath. She took Cass's hand and helped her into the bath. "Just stay down as long as you can, it will soothe the sore muscles. I'll tend to the cuts and bruises as best I can w
Emma and Vance were already at the breakfast table when Cass made her way down. She was dressed in her usual suit and ready for work. She planned on being gone before Olivia left, she didn't think she could hold to her resolve to send her away if she had to look into those beautiful eyes. "Where's Pedro? He should be here already," Cass asked as she sat down and pulled the lid of her plate to reveal eggs, bacon, and toast. For a second she thought maybe he might have been more injured than he'd led on. "They're gone, Cass." "Gone?" She repeated and looked up confused. "Olivia and Pedro. They left last night after she took care of you, she woke me to say goodbye and said you told her she was free to go." Emma narrowed her eyes. "Pedro waited for her downstairs so I assumed she was telling the truth." "Yes, I did. I just thought they'd leave this morning." "What happened last night?" Vance asked. Cass told him the same story she told Olivia and then added. "She wasn't safe here.
Emma was waiting in the doorway when Cass got home. "Did you find her?" Emma's voice was filled with fear and anger. She looked around Cass searching for Olivia. "No." Cass walked past Emma and poured herself a glass of whiskey. She gulped the liquid down hoping it would warm her frozen body. "Where is she, Cass?" "I don't know." "You don't know?" Emma asked. "You don't know?" Her voice rose and she stalked toward Cass. Vance grabbed her arm and held her back. "You go back out there, and you find her!" Micheal stepped forward when Emma pulled free of Vance and took a couple of steps toward Cass. Cass held up her hand to him and he relaxed. "You chased her out of the safety of our home, and into the fucking lions' den! You go out and find her, or I will!" "You leave this house and I will have you locked up so fast your head will spin!" Cass said dangerously quietly. "I will find her. I came home to grab a shower and food, then I am going right back out there." "Food? You can thin
Cass jumped out of the car before Pedro could pull to a full stop. She heard him calling her and ignored him. He could catch up or wait in the car, she needed to get to Olivia. Cass was running up the drive none of her usual senses alert as her sole focus was on getting to Olivia. Pedro was running behind her his gun out and his eyes scanning the yard. Cass knew he would cover her back. She reached for the back door just as Pedro grabbed her arm. "Just wait a damn second." He snarled. His usual calm manner is gone. "It could be a trap. And if you would take a second to think, you will realize that." He bent and checked the handle, then ran his flashlight up and down the door frame. "It looks clean." "Fine, step aside," Cass ordered. "Pedro don't make me kick your ass. I need to get in there!" "Okay." Pedro nodded and reached for the door himself, blocking her with his body. If she wanted to be stupid and reckless he'd at least make sure he took the brunt of a blast. He braced and p
Cass wore a hole outside her bedroom door as she waited, she'd been kicked out when she'd told the doctor for the hundredth time to be careful. Now Emma was with Olivia, taking care of her. She was aware that Emma blamed her, and also very aware that she was to blame. She hoped Pedro was doing his job and doing it well, she needed to find the bastards, she needed to take the revenge demanded now. Nothing else mattered to her. If she lost everything making them pay, then so be it. She'd put Olivia in the position to be taken, but her father was the one who'd ordered the hit on his own flesh and blood. She'd leave him for last. "The Chief is here," Vance said from the stairs. "He's pissed to have been dragged out this late." "I don't care about that." Cass snapped. She took one last look at her bedroom door and turned away. The last person Olivia would want to see was her. "Tell Em to stay with her. I'll sleep in one of the spare rooms." "I think she might need you." "I'm the last m
Three years. She thought and shook her head as she stared out over the water, the waves lapping at the shore, the boats, sailboats, bobbing on the water, they always calmed her soul. She’d always believed that if fate had dealt her a different hand, she’d have been a sailor. Her hands clenched behind her back as she listened to David and Vance relay the latest fiasco to her. They were talking fast and over each other, clearly afraid of her reaction. Both were aware of her temper and her need to control everything around her. And her wrath when things don’t go exactly as she wanted them to. And from what she can tell from their mumbled and jumbled words, things were definitely not going as she wanted them to. Three years. She thought again. She’d been the head of this damned, cursed family for three years. And for three years, things have run smoothly. So why, in the last six months, had she had more problems than peace?Something was brewing, she had some idea what, but her sources ha
Olivia wiped the counter of the hotel reception area she manned. She looked up when two men walked in. Her smile was automatic, a practiced thing, something she made herself do, to seem more inviting, more friendly. Working as the reception lady, she couldn’t be her grumpy self.“Can I help you?”“We need to speak to the guy that does the garden. Please.” The please was added as an afterthought.The man’s tone had her taking an involuntary step back. “I think he’s at the back.”“Thank you.” The men made to move toward the door and she jumped forward.“Wait, why?”“We just need to talk to him.”“He’s working now, can this wait?” Olivia felt a twinge of unease as the tall man fixed his eyes on hers.“Ma’am, stay out of this.” He led the other man out and she found herself following. Brody was working on the pool when he looked up and spotted the two men and Olivia. For a second he seemed to freeze, then he threw down the pool net and ran.Olivia watched Brody run, the fear she’d seen on