“This has to stop. Now.”
He gave a shrug that maybe I was right.
I studied his reaction. “You saw what happened?”
He strolled away from me and knelt before the fridge. Maybe he was thinking of the answer he’d give. Or maybe that was his way of ignoring the question. Opening the door, he pulled out two bottles of Perrier water and then offered one to me.
“No, thank you.” I turned my back on him. “Can you help me out of this?”
He stood behind me and unzipped the gown and helped me climb out of it. There was no sense of vulnerability at all even though I’d stripped down to my underwear in front of him. Though I’d done worse before we’d left the house, having stood naked before him. It made me wonder if he found me attractive at all. He’d kissed me at Café Du Monde, surely that meant something. Meant our connection went deeper.
Maybe we’d even find our way to a place of trust.
I threw the dress onto a high-backed chair. He lifted one of the robes off the bed and helped me slide my arms into it. I sat there, pulling off my shoes, grateful to be able to take time to think clearly.
“What do you know about my dad?” I said.
Cassius gave a long sigh. “He’s not the man you think he is.”
“Clearly.”
“I’m sorry you had to see that.”
“Is Archie in danger?”
He began to walk away.
“I mean from them. My parents.”
“Honestly, I don’t know.”
“I have to go to him. Tonight.”
“No.”
“We have to at least talk about it.”
“It’s too dangerous.” He stood there, his expression conflicted, and then walked away, disappearing inside the bathroom.
My heart was breaking all over again. The thought that I was no longer in that house and Archie was there, vulnerable and alone, was terrifying. I had to get back to him. Somehow, I had to persuade Cassius to let me go rescue him. Maybe we could do it together.
The sound of the shower echoed. Sitting here alone, I wrapped my arms around myself for consolation, trying to deal with these feelings of abandonment, these awful truths.
Feeling powerless.
Maybe Cassius was rethinking everything. Maybe this was his way of letting me go without having to say it. Because it would be easy to walk out that door. The risk of keeping me prisoner was clearly dangerous.
I wondered if he regretted it. Regretted it all, the kidnapping, keeping me in his home, and tonight, especially when the walls of his consequences came crashing around him.
I could get dressed and leave. Try to get home. But I kept replaying my mom withdrawing her hand from me.
My father’s car pulling up next to Cassius’s. That terrifying sound of gunfire.
She wasn’t my mom. Not really. She’d never seemed inclined to step into that role or build that kind of relationship. We’d never spent precious mother-daughter time together. There hadn’t been bedtime stories. No shopping trips out to bond or time to truly get to know each other. We were strangers. I may have lived beneath the same roof, but I’d always been kept at arm’s length. Now, as I mulled over what came next, I had to ask the hard question. What was the best decision for Archie’s sake? Each choice carried undue risks and so many different outcomes.
I’d been wrong about everything. My life was now seen through a veil of deceit. My parents were not the people I believed them to be. There would come a time when I would have to accept that.
And where did Cassius stand amongst all of this? What was he not telling me?
The answer lay with him.
Unable to wait, I headed in his direction and turned the handle to the bathroom door.
My breath left me . . .
Cassius stood naked beneath the shower as a torrent of water cascaded off his tall and toned body, his dazzling physique kissed by tattoos upon wet, bare flesh, making him appear as a breathtaking work of art.
A thrum came low in my belly, lower still as arousal stirred between my thighs, a yearning to step inside the glass walls and press my body to his, feel his heat against me. Nuzzle into him. Breathe him in.
Eyes closed, his face turned into the stream of water, giving me more time to admire his impressive length curling downward. The shock of seeing it took my breath away. Having never seen a naked man up close before.
My cheeks flushed wildly as I backed away, hands reaching behind me for the door handle.
He opened his eyes.
I froze, pinned by his intense gaze.
Pressing a hand against the glass of the shower, he said, “Everything okay?”
“I have to ask you something.”
His eyes twinkled with knowing. “Can it wait?’
“Yes. No.”
“Let me grab a towel.”
“Were you ever going to let me go?”
He froze, self-searching in his expression, a flinch of agony.
“I need to know.” I needed to know what his intentions were for me.
“Go back to the bedroom. Wait for me.”
“Tell me.” Tell me now before I die a thousand deaths knowing that no one can be trusted. Not my father, not my mom, and most of all, not him.
“There’s a Bollinger on ice. Open it.”
Teeth clenched, I snapped, “I don’t need it.”
“I know.”
My lips quivered at him, dragging out what should clearly be a no. That his plan for me might even be fatal.
He didn’t say it.
Didn’t deny it.
I ran from the room and headed toward the door. The exit was clearly marked, the one that would lead to the hallway. I’d take my chances out there, even in this bathrobe, where the world was cruel and uncertainty reigned, but at least I’d have a chance of surviving.
Cassius’s hand came crashing down on the door, and he slammed it shut before I could fully open it.
He grabbed my shoulders and spun me around to face him. “We can’t do this now.” His naked body spotted with droplets of water, muscled forearms flexing as he pressed his hands on each side of my head to cage me in. “It’s not safe out there. You have to trust me.”
“Trust you?” I spat the words.
I knew it was a mistake to do this while hiding. When the enemy was out searching for us. His enemy. But what about the enemy within? The man who was just as much a hazard for me. Even as he stood before me dripping wet and totally naked, his primal stance of overpowering me was doing something to my head and causing ripples of sensations. It felt like our hearts were beating at the same time and in the same rhythm. That what passed between us intensified our bond.
These thoughts and feelings raging against what I knew to be right, to be true. That no matter how much I wanted to dress this up into something sacred, the harsh truth remained; I was his prisoner. Even as some part of me yearned for more of this captivity with him.
Maybe it was wiser to try to get home.
Surely my father would greet me with open arms. He’d never hurt me. Doubt settled in. Every breath taken as fragile as the last.
“My dad loves me,” I said bitterly. “He doesn’t kidnap young women like you do.”
Cassius peered down at me, conflicted. “You were collateral.”
Tears stung my eyes.
“Anya—”
“And now? What’s your plan now? What do you plan to do to me?”