She was much more valuable than a Krane could ever wish to be.
A Marchetti.
The last heir in the hierarchy.
That was until Parris.
They didn’t know he existed. He was mere hours away, living his life, but he owns the throne and no one knows. No one but me, Cassidy, and Elijah.
Parris was smart. He contacted me when he went digging in Cassidy’s life. I convinced him to work for Elijah, and Parris still doesn’t know his guy is alive.
“When they find out, she’s going to be a liability,” he mentions as my mind travels over the wealth of information in my head. I’m grateful for the eidetic memory, it comes in handy.
“She’s already a liability. Parris can fix it,” I suggest.
Cassidy glares and rejects it immediately. “No, that’s not happening.”
“It’s too late for the savior and martyr role, Cass. He’s involved. Deeply.”
He comes at me, his hand around my throat. Without preamble, he slams me against the wall. “What have you done?”
“Nothing he didn’t ask for.”
Probably thinking that’s a sexual euphemism, he squeezes my windpipe. “He’s not yours to touch. He’s not theirs to have. He’s mine.” I want to laugh at the vehemence in his tone. It’s been eight months and he’s still head over heels for the guy. Parris must be something special.
“He’s involved,” I choke around the words. Cassidy’s palm loosens and I have a coughing fit in response. “He infiltrated the Estate.”
“No!” he bellows, the vein in his forehead popping with stress. “No, he can’t be.”
“He reached out, he got the job, and right now with Colt missing, they’re probably going to kill him or send him to search for her. Whichever is most valuable for them, is what will happen.”
“You were supposed—”
“To protect Colt,” I interrupt, correcting his mindset. “You said nothing of Parris and explicitly told me to stay away and I listened.”
“Fuck!” he yells. “Call him.”
I shake my head.
“Right fucking now,” he growls.
I, again, shake my head.
“Bridger, right fucking now.”
“You wanted to protect him. Throwing this curve ball at him will put him in danger, Colt too. It’ll tear apart all we’ve worked for,” I plead with his logical side, knowing I can only do so much before he breaks and goes behind my back.
Sadness creeps into his features as he shakes. Backing away from me, he undoes his hair, running his fingers through it.
“This is so fucked. What does my dad say?”
“He thinks we’re on the right track.”
“Then we should listen,” he concedes, but I can tell it physically hurts him to do so.
“When can we tell Colt?” I implore, knowing it’s the least on his to-do list. We’d agreed she wouldn’t know he’s alive until it’s all over, that we couldn’t risk it. But now, she’s here. She’s safe, and the Vestige probably has theories on who they think did it.
It could have been any of the factions, any family, any person with a grudge. For all they know, she’s dead.
“I’m not ready,” he admits. “She’s going to be so angry.” His voice breaks at that and I wish I could ease that for him. But we both know Colt gets passionate about things and this would definitely be one of those moments.
I’m sure every hope of her being with me will end when she finds out I’ve kept this secret. Hell, I’m the only one who knew about it at all.
“She’s going to be happy you’re alive, Cass. Don’t stress about the fact that we hid this.”
“She fucking cut herself and got high because of me! Me, Ridge.” He grips his head, the pain apparent in his features. “She tried ripping out her fucking heart,” he gasps as the memories overwhelm him.
None of us were prepared to see Colt with a knife embedded in her skin, mirroring the corpse she wished she could be. I peer at Cass as he holds himself, struggling to contain his emotions. He’s paler than normal and I’m sure the worry about Colt is causing his nausea. It doesn’t help that we’ve been so able to hide him, for almost a year at this point. We’ve kept him here, in the middle of nowhere, in a cabin behind a huge mansion, nestled on a lake full of sorrows.
Mortemor doesn’t seem like a bad man, he’s empathetic toward his daughter, but knowing he’s who my family replaced, I know his soul is as tarnished as those who do the worst of all things in this world.
Being raised as a murderer, someone who cleans the bodies and disposes of them… it changed me. Not for the better, but for the detaching part of me. I’d long separated emotions from living to save my mind from the utter shitshow my life has become.
Gripping Cassidy’s shoulders, I pull him toward me. He flinches at the contact. Out of all of us, he was the softest. Not because he was weak, but because he allowed love to drive him to be the best possible version of himself. He always allowed himself to empathize with those who hurt so he’d be able to understand their pain on a deeper level.
The difference between him and I is the fact that he hardened because he was forced to stay away from Colt. I hardened from destroying the lives of others, needing to not feel the damage I’d inflicted.
Just like the rest of the Emeralds, you don’t get to choose your path, only the way you react to the inevitable.
He slowly unfolds, wrapping his arms around me. I don’t feel the contentment he does as he sighs. The way he practically crumbles and melts in my embrace like the weight he’s held finally brings him to his knees. His body sags as it weighs him down. The pain of losing yourself isn’t an easy journey, one I’ve experienced myself, but I know he feels it more.
Somehow, as a twelve-year-old kid, I shut that part of my brain and heart. The only times it came out was when Colt was involved.
Cassidy’s body shakes as he cries. I suck in a breath, feeling the acrid sadness in the air wisp inside me like a tornado. It’s drowning almost, swallowing me while suffocating me all at once. It’s not an emotion I understand or ever want to experience again, but holding him while he suffers through it is what I’m willing to offer.
He lets out his demons, and I tend to them with my own.
I’ll bear his weight.
I’ll soothe his sorrow.
I’ll save him.
“She’s going to forgive you,” I whisper against the crown of his head. “Me, possibly not.” I chuckle at that, knowing Colt is seconds away from stabbing me along with Stella.