“So—”
“I don’t repeat myself,” Cassius warned. “I will make sure there is someone to escort you home by the time you get downstairs. Go.”
I stood, but I never took my eyes off Cassius. Surely, in this moment, when I showed I would not bluff, that I could walk away, he would break. Yet was I not bluffing as well? Was I also not pretending I could play it cool, when in reality the man’s gaze could petrify me with attraction like no other?
I tore myself from his gaze and made my way to the door. I did not look back. I knew that if I did, I would not be leaving that room.
But something told me that even though I did not look back, I would be back with him at some point.
Two hours later, I sat in my hotel room. True to Cassius’ word, a valet driver had come and taken me back to my place. The ending of the night… it wasn’t anticlimactic, but it felt strangely incomplete. Like there was a part of the game that Cassius was surely playing that hadn’t been revealed.
But as I sat on the edge of the bed, barefoot, drained, and trying to metaphorically catch my breath, I couldn’t help but get caught up in everything that had happened. Just because it had ended abruptly didn’t mean the whole night hadn’t been a tense dance of figuring out what was real, what was a setup, and what the end result would be.
And you know what?
I hadn’t done so bad for myself, if I could have said so.
I had maintained my composure in public, smiling for those Cassius introduced me to and looking nice for the cameras. I had not wilted in his face, though he had done his best to bend me to his will. I acted like I belonged, because though I might not have in wealth, in artistic value, I did.
And it wasstillunsettling.
What was Cassius really aiming for anyways?
The way he touched me, the way he brushed up against me… it could have been a wicked, cruel setup for something terrible to come. There was no denying that Cassius could break his enemies in a way that would make the Black Reapers look simple-minded, generous even. There was no denying what I had done to his little brother and that years apart had done nothing to ease Cassius’ pain.
But the thing about being an artist was that it made me empathetic. It made me good at reading people and recognizingboth their masks and what they were hiding beneath those masks. I felt quite sure that Cassius had a mask on, and that beneath that mask was at least a curiosity about me, if not something more. Maybe?—
The door to my room opened.
“Who’s there?” I yelled. I hurried to my purse, scrambling to find some pepper spray. Whoever it was hadn’t bothered to knock. That didn’t exactly suggest room service.
I walked out to the entrance, holding my purse close to me.
It was him.
Standing there, dressed in the same suit, just without the bow tie, his eyes gazing into mine. He stood there as if he belonged there, as if it was nothing to walk into my room unannounced. Briefly, I wondered how he had gotten around the lock, and shuddered at the various implications.
The corner of his lips turned up ever so slightly at my shiver. I bit my lip and forced myself to stand tall.
“Come with me,” he said. “Now.”
He turned around and walked to the right. I hesitated only long enough to make sure that the person who had just appeared before me was in fact Cassius Vale and not an impostor or, God forbid, a figment of my imagination. No, it was not.
I followed him. I had to hurry; I didn’t even have time to put shoes on. I was running barefoot in the hallways of the hotel, trying to catch the billionaire who had walked into my room like it was his own house. If ever there was a scene that was a “you had to be there” moment, it was this. God, what Talia, Delilah, and Bridget would say when they heard this story. Part of my decision was knowing Cassius wouldn’t physically hurt me, nor would he put me in a spot of physical danger. Well, sharp edges of the carpet aside.
We got into a black car waiting for us at the valet. Cassius didn’t say a word as we made our way to theRuby,his hotel,his world. I thought to ask him questions, but a man didn’t say “come with me” if he didn’t intend to reveal everything in due time. That was what I told myself, anyways.
A couple of times that I caught him looking at me, it looked like he was undressing me in his mind. Damn, the way he really gazed at me, I wondered if he might undress me in the literal sense in the back of this car. That was a dangerous concept—not because I feared it, but because I feared being consumed by the thought. If he put his face between my legs…
Think of art. Of Phoenix. Of anything but that!
I somewhat succeeded, but thoughts of Cassius’ prowess interjected themselves every so often. Mercifully, the drive toRubywas short, and when we exited, Cassius continued to move as if oblivious to my lack of shoes. I doubted he was truly oblivious; more likely, he was doing this on purpose, a test to see how well I’d follow. If this wasn’t passing with flying colors, nothing was.
We entered a private hallway and got on an elevator that only had five buttons—P, L, 2, 100, and 101.A private elevator?I almost asked—elevators usually made crowds quiet, but they also made couples talk more—but Cassius kept his gaze ahead, his mouth hardly opening at all. He seemed almost machine-like when he wasn’t looking at me, but when his eyes rested upon mine, there was nothing mechanical about them. Only intensely fiery, passionate, and all-consuming.
The doors opened to “101” and Cassius did something I did not expect.
He held his hand out, as if encouraging me to step forward. The man never let anyone go before him—why was I suddenly different? I had a feeling I knew the answer, but…
