I kept telling myself Cassandra was only around for two weeks. She’d leave again and this time I wouldn’t expect a goodbye. Yet, it didn’t matter how many times I told myself. When she left the second time I’d be as heartbroken as the first. None of it mattered. Even knowing that she’d break my heart, I couldn’t turn away from her. If I got to spend another few days in her presence, it’d be worth all the heartache in the world.
Hearing her voice didn’t make up for the bad blood between us, but it made the moments pass easier.
“While we wait, why don’t you fill me in on the best Hollywood drama that happened this year?” I prompted, wanting to share something new with her. Fresh memories rather than our old ones, which were tainted with our past actions.
Her mouth opened slightly and her eyes widened as she contemplated her answer. I learned one thing while dating Cassandra, and that was to never give her free rein to tell you about drama in Hollywood. You’d never prepare enough for how many words exited her mouth in such a brief span of time concerning the Hollywood’s elite.
“On second thought,” I said right as her mouth closed and she’d been ready to answer. “Tell me the single best thing that’s happened so far this year.”
Her shoulders fall as she considered for a second longer. I guess there’d been lots of Hollywood drama in the last six months. “Okay, I won’t mention the royal families. I remember how you feel about them.”
I nodded. We didn’t fight a war in 1776, so I had to care what the queen of England did or whether her stocking fell to her ankle during a pompous British holiday. No offense to the Brits, but I wanted to keep my celebrity gossip to my side of the pond.
“Are you sure?” she asked, using her hand for emphasis. “Because it’s superb gossip.”
The first group of people made their way off the plane when I nodded. “Definitely don’t care.”
Cass laughed and shook her head. “I kept hoping one day you’d change your mind.” I hated to tell her, but that’d never happen. “Okay, if I have to keep it here and not of royal blood, then Lily Waters had serious drama. Like whoa.”
I nodded along as she spoke at three hundred miles a minute. It was like Cassandra wanted to get as much Hollywood drama into her update as possible before I cut her off.
“I see. That’s very interesting.” As if I knew who the actress she’d chosen to update me on.
She finished, and my head continued bobbing. “You don’t care at all. Do you?” she asked, lightly slapping me on the shoulder.
There went my smile again. No matter how hard I tried to maintain the tough-guy persona I’d perfected while working with Ridge, I couldn’t keep it up around her. I wanted the barrier more now than ever to protect my heart, but it’s like Cass broke my defenses without even trying.
“Hey, I never cared, but I fake it well.”
She pursed her lips together, but not in anger. “What’s the big drama in Pelican Bay?”
Unfortunately, we had lots of drama, and I was well-equipped with the knowledge of the most recent happenings. Not only did I hear from Katy but from the men at work. The line slowly trickled out of the plane and we now had room for us. We both stood and made our way to the aisle. Cassandra reached for the backpack she used as a carry-on, but I slipped it over my shoulder. No way would I make her carry her own luggage.
I walked behind her off plane, giving the flight attendants a quick head nod as we made it to the gate.
“Not much. Mafia wars, we took down a big drug runner last year, a few kidnappings. Cyrus’s brother survived a run in with the Grand Master.” That about summed it up.
One thing I had learned while working for Ridge the last three years was when you had a quiet period in Pelican Bay, you took a vacation because it wouldn’t last long.
“The Grand Master? The guy on the news who is the head of the mob or something in Chicago?” she asked, trying to rack her brain for the information. If she devoted as much time to mobster knowledge as she did celebrity gossip, she’d be able to give me his rundown.
The crowd grew around us as we walked closer to the exit of the airport, and I grabbed on to Cassandra’s hands, not letting go. “Yup.”
“Wow, what he’s doing in Pelican Bay?” she asked as I weaved us through the crowd.
I held open the door and let her walk out first, never dropping her hand. “He actually wasn’t in Pelican Bay. Just one of his men gone rogue, so he says. It’s a long story.”
Cassandra let me lead her over to the section where people waited for taxis. “I imagine when it involves a mobster from Chicago, the story is always long.”
I didn’t let her go of her hand until I opened the taxi door of the first one to stop at the curb next to us. Sweat dripped down my back. Summers in Pelican Bay always came with a breeze off the ocean to cool you and keep it a nice tepid temperature. The July heat in Florida was stifling like Mother Nature was trying to suffocate us with her bare hands.
I slid into the cab behind Cassandra and closed the door while giving the cabbie the information to our hotel and letting the air conditioning lower my body temperature.
The cab’s empty dash reminded me of a story involving the royal family Cass might enjoy.
“Earlier this year I rode in a ride share, and the driver had a bobble head of the queen attached to her dash.” I never asked the driver why in the hell she wanted the queen’s head bobbing along as she drove. Not knowing might haunt me one day.
Cass laughed. “You’re kidding?”
