“Great,” Rose said with a laugh. “Because I can't wait to talk and get to know you. I’ll fill you in on my pretty depressing childhood, but I've never really had a friend before.” Vulnerability bloomed in Rose’s tone, and when Steel growled,she rolled her eyes and swatted his shoulder. “Relax, you didn't even know me then. There was nothing you could have done to stop my psycho brother.”
Feeling totally lost in the conversation, because other than knowing who Rose’s brother was, and that Dr. Gardner was the one responsible for giving the guys their enhanced skills, and who was now coming after her, she didn't have many details about what else the scientist had done to the guys. And she had zero idea what the man had done to his sister, although it was clearly enough for Rose to hate him and work with Delta Team to bring him down.
They all trailed inside and were halfway to the kitchen when Rose suddenly spun around to face her, tears shimmering in the woman’s forest green eyes. Taking a step toward her, Rose paused, seemed to consider her options, then with a shake of her head, threw her arms around Cassandra’s neck.
Caught off-guard, instinct had her returning the other woman’s hug, although she wasn't quite sure what the sudden display of emotion was all about.
“Thank you,” Rose whispered. “I know what you tried to do for me, that you tried to stop them. It all worked out okay, but you were the first person in my entire life to actually care about what happened to me just for me, not because you could get something out of it. I know it messed up things between you and Dragon, but I’ll be forever grateful that you cared even though you didn't know me.”
Her own eyes stung, not just at the sincerity in the other woman’s voice, but because here she was complaining to herself that she didn't feel like she fitted in with the people in her life when she had an entire family that loved her, and Rose hadn't had anyone. And how did the woman even know about her and Dragon? It wasn't like they’d paraded around the mansion flaunting that they … liked each other. Had made it known thatfeelings were developing and they were attracted to one another. Felt a connection that neither of them had done much about pursuing.
Cassandra felt like the last year had been full of grieving. Grieving for the man she thought all her life had been her father, grieving for herself and the woman she’d always thought she was, grieving for her family and the distance she felt between them that she knew was one-sided.
Grieving the loss of Dragon and what might have been.
Maybe it was time she stopped being a passive observer in her own life, stopped worrying about the differences she felt separated her from the people who loved her, stopped drowning in grief, pain, and loss, and figured out who Cassandra Charleston was going to be going forward.
If Rose could rise from the ashes and find love with a man who had abducted and tortured her and still find things to smile about and be grateful for, then she had no excuse for not putting pieces of herself back together. The new Cassandra might be different, maybe a little more jaded, not quite so sunshiny, her pieces might be bent a little, possibly even broken in spots, but in the end, she was still her.
Chapter
Ten
January 6th
11:23 A.M.
Something had to change.
There was being stubborn, and then there was being stupid, and Dragon knew he had firmly crossed over into the second.
If Rose could forgive Steel after what they’d all done to her and still want to be with him, there had to be a chance that Cassandra could forgive him for shutting her out. All he had to do was pray that she understood that revenge had been all he’d been thinking about from the time he was old enough to understand what it was and what his family was trying to turn him into.
Revenge against his mafia bloodline might not be in the cards, but once they got Dr. Ridge Gardner’s name, making the man suffer for everything he’d put him and his team through had been all-consuming. Ignoring Cassandra when she was trying to get in the way of a revenge she could never truly understand the scope of had seemed like the only logical thing to do.
But Cassandra had been right.
Using Rose was wrong. It didn't help them get one step closer to revenge, instead it brought them one step closer to becoming the monsters Dr. Gardner had intended them to be.
Listening to Cassandra, taking that step back to examine what they were doing rather than just jumping straight in, would have saved Rose, who had already suffered so much, from being hurt all over again.
Just because things had turned out okay, that Rose had fallen for Steel, who was utterly obsessed with the redhead, didn't make what they’d done any less wrong. It was only the fact that Rose had proven to be immune to the effects of torture that had stopped his team from going any further. Despite Steel and the others wanting to back off from her, he had been the one still insistent on continuing, insistent on killing her once she lost any perceived usefulness.
Now he had to make things right before he stood even a chance at earning Cassandra’s forgiveness.
Finding which room Rose was in was easy. With the number of rooms in the mansion, they’d all managed to carve out their own spaces. After spending three years locked in a reinforced glass cage together, with their every move watched and not a single second to themselves, it was no wonder that now they all craved a place to call their own. While they had some shared spaces, the main office where they planned ops, the kitchen and dining room, one of the living rooms, and the gym, the rest of the spaces were their own personal ones.
When he found Rose in the smaller office, she was sitting at the desk, a furrow in her brow as she concentrated on the piece of paper she held in her hands. None of them had known until recently that Steel had a thing for origami, something he’d learned how to do from his grandmother. He’d shared the interest with Rose, and now she was obsessed, working onperfecting her technique and learning new objects to fold and make like it was her lifeline. Not even having one of her arms in a cast stopped her.
“You going to stand there staring at me or are you interrupting me for a reason?” she finally asked without looking up from what she was doing.
Guess Steel’s little ladybug was more aware of her surroundings than he’d realized. Not that he should be surprised. He and his team had chosen the lives they’d been handed, even if they hadn't had all the intel they needed to make an informed decision, but Rose had been forced to learn survival skills, or she never would have made it through being raised by her brother.
Entering the room, he moved to stand by the window, staring out at the forest surrounding the mansion. It was peaceful out there, it was one of the things he loved most about this remote retreat Eagle had found and created for them. There were no neighbors for miles, nothing out there but trees and wildlife. It was the only place he’d ever lived that felt like a home.
Maybe that wasn't due entirely to the location of the Gothic mansion, and also included the fact that the men he lived with felt like family.
Theywerehis family as far as he was concerned.
