"Cass. What the fuck is this?" He gently turns my head so he can check my injury. Fuck what do I say? He somehow seems to already know, but I don’t think he is aware of who the guy was. Maybe the doorman said that I was attacked in the parking lot. Yea, that must be it.
"My friend met me in the parking lot when I left your apartment. And I ended up hitting my head on the car." Technically, it's not a lie.
"Who was this friend?" I’ve never seen his eyes this dark. If Theo were here, Lucian would have already tried to kill him.
"Just the guy I’ve been sort of seeing. It’s all good, though. I took some headache pills and should be fine for tonight." I go to try to stand up, but he puts a hand on my thigh. Holding me in place.
"Did he make you hit your head on the car? And you aren't fine. That's a huge knot, and it was bleeding. "
Ok, how do I spin this without it obviously coming off as the "I fell down the stairs" lie?
"No, we were kissing and messing around, and usually I put up some resistance when he adds force, but I was tired, and my body was a ragdoll. I just hit the car harder than expected. He didn’t mean it, though." Lies, all lies. I feel bad for lying to him. Another thing we don’t do is lie to each other, but that seems to be happening a lot lately.
“This doesn’t seem like it was an accident, though, it seems like abuse. Are you sure you don’t want to press charges? If he does anything else, I will press charges. Understood?" I stifle my laugh. Theo is one of the wealthiest men in New York. Charges will never stick to him. I’m fairly sure he has so many judges in his back pocket that he can get away with murder.
"Yes, Sir," I giggle. Trying to break the tension, I do my goofy salute, which seems to help because even Jayme is smiling now.
"Oh, I thought you said Jayme wasn't coming tonight?" I ask, calling Lucian out on his shit from earlier.
"He couldn't leave me at home. And it’s illegal to leave me in a parked car." Jayme laughs.
“Yeah, because you are definitely a dog,” Lucian says to him, rolling his eyes.
"Well, that's good. You can learn D&D tonight, then," I say, amused. I look at Lucian and see that his jaw is clenched. His eyes are still filled with rage.
"I’m worried you have a concussion, Cassandra." Lucian chastises me. How dare he use my full name!
"I’m fine. Just a little headache. That's all. Plus, I'm tired and had a glass of wine while doing pizza prep."
“Pizza and margaritas? Hell, yeah! Please tell me you got pineapple," Jayme jokes. Okay, he isn't such a bad guy, and yes, he is definitely sexy! I could get used to him. I just laugh and nod.
I go to stand up again; this time, he lets me. But when I glance down, his jaw is still tight, and he looks hurt. I move without thinking. I sit on his lap, wrap my arms around his neck, and hug him close, nuzzling my face in the crook of his neck. I can slowly feel the tension leaving his body as he wraps his arms around me.
"Thank you for being so concerned, Lucian. I promise I’m okay, and it won’t happen again." I can feel him place his lips on my head, inhaling deep, like this morning when we were snuggled in bed. We just sit there for a moment, embraced by one another. I can tell seeing me hurt is causing him pain because he wants to go after who did it.
*Ahem* *Cough* *Cough*
Jayme interrupts the moment. I go to move away, and he keeps his arm crossed over my middle and holds onto my hip.
"Hey. I know you can take care of yourself and all, but please don’t feel like you have to do it alone. I can help you fight your battles, too, " he says as he leans in and kisses me on the forehead slowly, letting his lips stay there for a moment. I can feel the heat pooling between my thighs again. I smile at him as he pulls his lips away.
"I know. If I do need you, I won’t hesitate to call."
"Yeah, and I’m here as backup, too. I may seem like Richie rich, but I can fight with the best of them." Jayme takes jabs atthe air. Landing a right hook, then an uppercut to the invisible foe.
I can’t help but laugh. I don’t see Jayme being in a fight. It might damage his pretty face. He is more likely to pay someone to fight his battles for him. Fucking rich guys.
37. Lucian
Idon’t want to let her go. I feel immensely possessive and have a dire need to protect her. Watching on the cam as he attacked her and me unable to help, made me almost feral. Then seeing her and seeing all the damage he did, my whole body was tense. Her hug calmed the beast within for now. A beast I didn’t know existed until now. I want to hurt him, somehow. I lock eyes with Jayme over her shoulder as I hold her. He nods as if he can read my mind, find out where that fucker lives.
She hops off my lap, standing and pulling me up with her. We have an hour to get the shit set up for when Ash and Sunny get here. I’m at the head of the table, Cassie and Jayme on my right, Ash, and Sunny on the left. Fuck! I also need to keep those two away from Jayme. Ash normally attacks anything attractive with a pulse and loves to chase. She is um... incredibly open about everything. She’s a very “live in the moment” kind of woman. We never hooked up thankfully. And when it comes to Sunny, Jayme is just his type. He came out to us as bisexual about 2 years ago and good lord, he is just as bad, if not worse than Ash. He is a huge flirt, especially if he has a drink. He even tried to take a pass at me at Halloween last year. I was flattered but kindly declined. Jayme is going to be a huge distraction tonight.
The door flies open and in walks Ash and Sunny. They fling off their coats and grab me up in a group hug before I can even get the words “Hi” out of my mouth. I’m locked with one on each side of me and I couldn’t be happier. I have missed my friends.
“Damn, it’s good to have you back man!” Sunny speaks first.
“Hell yeah, it is. You know you are getting shackled here permanently. Don’t even think about leaving again. Cassie was a mess without you.” Ash laughs, jabbing me in the ribs.
