There was no doubt that using that to his advantage would only fuel her depiction of him as a monster, but right now, standing in her presence, drowning in her sweet caramel scent, he was prepared to do anything he could to give himself the upper hand.
“We need to talk more about this woman who came up to you at the park last night,” he told her, taking a step back because if he didn't, he was pretty sure he was going to have her naked and beneath him before he could blink. While he was prepared to use Cassandra’s lingering attraction to him to his advantage, he wasn't going to rape her, which was what it would be because there was no way she was giving consent for anything right now.
“What is wrong with you?” Cassandra demanded, her eyes about bugging out of her head. “You hang up on me last night, then you just turn up here. You kiss me then you demand more intel.”
Instead of answering, he merely took a seat in a comfortable-looking armchair and waited for Cassandra to calm down. She already knew he wasn't like normal people, he didn't have regular conversations. She’d lived at the mansion with him and his team for months, she should know by now what to expect from him.
After a tense couple of minutes of silence, Cassandra sighed and plopped down onto the couch. “Fine, if you're not going to be reasonable, let’s just get this over and done with so you can leave.”
Not going to happen, little rabbit.
Until I ascertain whether or not you're in danger I'm not going anywhere, so you’d better get used to seeing me around.
“I don’t have any additional intel to offer you. I told you what she said. I'm sure you accessed CCTV footage from cameras in the area, so you can probably try to use facial recognition software to ID her, which will tell you more about her than I could.”
They had accessed the footage already, but they hadn't been able to get a proper shot of the woman’s face that could be used to identify her. They’d followed the car the woman had driven off in, but it hadn't had any plates on it, so they couldn’t trace it, and they had eventually lost track of it as it disappeared between cameras. If she were smart, the mystery woman had a second vehicle stashed somewhere to make her getaway in.
“I don’t know who she is, and I'm sure you know more about what she was talking about than I do. Why are you really here?”
Beneath the anger and pain, Dragon could smell a note of something else.
Hope.
Cassandra was struggling, and she wanted to believe he was there for something more than just to get more intel out of her about the woman from last night.
Wanted to believe he was there just for her.
The thing was, hewasthere because he needed to be near her. It had nothing to do with the mysterious woman, although he was concerned that someone had approached Cassandra to use her and could do so again. This had just given him the excuseto do something he was too stubborn, too cowardly, to do on his own.
“We don’t know who she is, but she obviously works for a man who wants to abduct me and my team and keep experimenting on us,” he said slowly, wishing he had the guts to say what he really felt.
“If she wanted to hurt me, she would have done so last night.”
Fear soured his gut at the thought of her being injured when she was alone and so very vulnerable. “Maybe she didn't want to hurt you, but if she could connect the dots between us and you and go to you with a warning, then Dr. Gardner could connect those same dots.”
“So … what? You want me to move in with one of my brothers until you find this Dr. Gardner guy?” Cassandra asked, and he scented a hint of weariness in her. Almost all her life, she and her family had been burdened with the weight of what had happened to their parents, then she’d had more and more piled on top of her, it was no wonder she wanted a break. To be free to live her life.
“I think you should come back and stay with us. That way, no one will be able to get to you.”
She actually laughed at that. Full on belly laugh like it was the funniest thing she’d ever heard. Grinding his teeth, Dragon waited for her to calm down, and when she wiped away a stray tear, he shot her a glare.
“Yeah, that’s not going to happen,” Cassandra announced. “I don’t want any part of your revenge plans.”
“She’s fine.” He huffed.
“Who is?”
“Rose. The woman we went after. Dr. Gardner’s little sister. She’s helping us find her brother, she’s involved with Steel.” Maybe if he could convince Cassandra that Rose was not in anydanger, and that while they had started their plan to use her, it had all fallen apart when the feisty little redhead turned out to be nothing like they expected, then she’d stop hating him.
Knowing she viewed him as a monster, even though he himself did, left him with a hollow feeling inside he didn't know how to fill.
Brow furrowed, she looked at him quizzically. “You didn't go through with it after all?”
While he’d love to assuage her doubts about him, he couldn’t. “We did. We took her, but it didn't take long to realize we went about things the wrong way. Rose has forgiven all of us for what happened.”
“And this Rose woman is dating Steel?”
“He’s obsessed.”
