An arctic chill sliced into my bones. “Cassius won’t let me go.”
“Well then, you’ll have to find a way. Or his death will be your fault. His blood on your hands.” He stepped back and headed down the hallway, leaving a blast of terror in his wake.
“Wait,” I called after him. “Can you promise Cassius will be safe?”
He pivoted to look back at me. “I’ve kept him alive all these years, haven’t I?”
I wasn’t so sure that was true—more likely it was despite this man that Cassius had remained alive.
“I’ll wait ten minutes.” His voice was a hushed whisper. “Cassius trusts you not to leave. He told me himself. We’ll get a head start because of it. I’ll take you home. Be strong, okay?”
Trembling, I gave a nod. But even as I agreed to go with him, I doubted I could go through with it—through with leaving this place, leaving the one man I’d fallen so in love with.
Yet if saving his life meant I had to leave him, I’d have to find the strength to do it.
Leaning on the wall, trying to stay upright and not crumble, I inhaled through my panic as I tried to think this through. I could just leave. Not tell Cassius. Only he would come for me with no explanation.
He’d die trying to save me.
I had to find another way to break it off. And I knew, knew with all my heart there was only one way through this, and that was to crash into hell and make a life for myself there.
My heart shattered into pieces as though it was already done.
Anya
What if I was making the worst mistake of my life?
How would I know?
I was never going to survive this.
Pressing my palm to my chest, I replayed Ridley’s rant about how Cassius’s life was threatened, his words haunting my every step toward him. Finding him in the kitchen, his face lit up when he saw me as he happily shoved one of my cookies into his mouth.
He looked relaxed and seemingly more beautiful than the last time I’d set eyes on him.
Contentment.
Knowing I would be the one to shatter it sent a strike of pain into my beating heart—threatening to stop if I went through with this.
Maybe we could take our chance. Maybe we could leave here and go abroad.
Archie won’t survive it.
By the time we tried to rescue my brother, it might be too late for him. Ridley was right about one thing; Archie would never abandon me. I might be the only person who could save him.
If my father had sent an olive branch for me to grasp, and I refused it, and Cassius was killed, I’d never forgive myself. I’d have to live with that forever.
He was just so beautiful in his boyish mischief, taking another cookie, coming around the kitchen island to hug me. “Coffee?” He smiled.
His body warm and comforting against mine as he pulled me in close.
“Sure, thanks,” I said, even as I knew I wouldn’t drink it.
Ridley told me he would wait for ten minutes. I was certain I had eaten through half that time already.
“How was your day?” I asked.
Cassius waved it off. “Business. Boring shit. Yours?”
The force of his intrigue hit as he turned his steely focus on me. “You okay?”
“I’m worried about Archie.”
He set an empty mug down and came toward me. “Let me deal with it. That’s what I do.”
“What if . . . what if something happens to him? I’d never forgive myself.”
He licked his lips free of a crumb from the corner of his mouth. “I’m handling it.”
“And you’re not going to tell me how?”
“Let me worry about all this.” He shrugged. “Protecting you is my priority. And anyone you care about.” He came at me and lifted me right off the floor and set me easily on the edge of the countertop. We were the same height. His fingers tangled through my locks. “I have news. Ridley checked on your brother. Archie’s fine.”
I flinched. He noticed.
Perhaps one of them was lying, and it scared me that I didn’t know if it was Cassius.
He brought me in for a hug and I fell against his firm chest.
I breathed in his essence, his soft cologne soothing, comforting, an aroma I couldn’t live without. But I was going to have to learn how to. My chest constricted so tight I had to inhale sharply just to draw enough oxygen.
“It’s going to be all right. I promise,” he soothed.
I wanted to believe it.
I needed his assurances. Needed him to guess what was wrong and tell me that I was doing the wrong thing.
All earthly elements for human survival were seemingly drawn out of the room. Oxygen, argon, nitrogen and even gravity itself were gone.
“How would you like to go to New York? We can fly out tonight.”