We’re interrupted by the server arriving with our meal. Fortunately, I ordered a salad because I never had any intention of staying long.
“So, Cassie, is that short for anything?”
“No.” I pick up my cutlery.
“I knew a Cassandra once,” he muses, cutting his steak. “She was a really special woman.”
“Oh,” I give him a cursory look then focus on getting food on the fork, instead of stabbing him with it. The undertone is making bile burn my throat.
“She moved away suddenly though. Some overseas job offer. It’s a shame really, we were getting on really well. Her friends called her Cass, but I much preferred Cassandra, it rolls off the tongue better.”
What do I say to this shit? Does he think he’s charming me?
“Well, my parents chose Cassie.”
“What do your parents do?” He pops the steak in his mouth and chews slowly.
Is it possible someone eating can make you want to throw up? “My mother is an accountant. My father is in security.”
That’s the party line. Though I’d love to tell him my dad beats and tortures assholes like him regularly. It’s club business that, as their lawyer, I would never share outside of the MC. He asks if I have any other family and I lie about being an only child. I’ve gone to great lengths to hide my family.
The way he’s looking at me, I start to think he knows more. Harry knows where I come from and who I work for. Fucking prick, if that shit heel has told this guy my backstory, I’m going to lose my shit.
“What about you?” I ask. “Where are your family?”
His smirk is so fake it’s clear he knows. He chooses not to follow the line of questioning. “I was an only child and an orphan.”
“That’s terrible, sorry to hear that.”
“I made something of myself despite that upbringing. It made me stronger, made me the man I am today.”
Enough of the getting to know you bullshit. I’m not sharing anything else about my personal life with this freak.
“We should talk about next steps, that is what we are here for, after all.”
“Today has been so draining, listening to all those lies being told about me. I’d rather not discuss the case anymore.”
“It’s important to be prepared though, don’t you agree. If you want the best defense, then we should make sure you’re fully up to speed with the process.”
His eyes bore into me as I take a few more bites, needing to finish this food.
“You’re very passionate about your work, aren’t you Cassie?”
“It’s my livelihood. A role I enjoy, so yes I do strive to be the best I can be.”
“And that means you never switch off? Never have fun?”
“I didn’t say that.”
“So what do you do for fun, Cassie?”
Definitely not this. His voice is making my skin crawl. Does he really need to keep saying my name? It’s classic egotistical, controlling behavior. The more he stares at me, the more I believe Cara, and all the other women the lawyer was talking about earlier.
Him getting away with this and doing it to someone else is what really makes me snap.
“I’m too busy for fun.”
“Well you know that saying.”
