Chapter 6

Cassian leaned forward, resting his forearms on his knees. The moonlight coming through the small window reached part of his face, Alessia could smell the tobacco on him, mixed with his cologne.

“Look at me.”

She shut her eyes, her head shook in decline. “Please...”

“I said, look at me.”

There was no need for him to raise his voice. Alessia opened her eyes and met his pale silver stare. Cassian reached for her, his fingers went around her jaw, and Alessia immediately flinched. She had expected him to hurt her.

Instead, he simply held her face and lifted it, her head tipped back, his thumb moved along her jaw before settling against the side of her neck, right over her pulse. Cassian felt it beating beneath his thumb and Alessia couldn’t make it slow down. Her heart was racing, she tried to breathe normally, but every breath came too quickly.

Cassian’s eyes changed when he felt it. He pressed his thumb a little harder. “Your heart is beating so fast, Dolcezza,” he took another drag from his cigarette, smoke passed over her trembling lips. “It feels like it wants to burst right out of your chest.”

“P-please...” A tear slipped down Alessia’s cheek. “Don’t hurt me.”

Cassian leaned closer. His mouth came near her ear, she felt his warm breath against her skin. The smell of tobacco followed. “I haven’t even started yet.”

—

The rain had made a mess of the estate grounds. Alessia stood beside the small tool shed near the eastern wall, soaked through and shivering.

Her sweater was heavy with water. Her fingers were numb, and her lips were sore from the cold. She didn’t care. She had to get out. She couldn’t spend another night in that house after what had happened with Cassian. She could still feel his thumb against her pulse when she closed her eyes. She could still remember the smell of his tobacco.

Alessia looked at the wall. It was almost fifteen feet high. Razor wire ran across the top, catching the light whenever the floodlights passed over it.

Then she saw the crates. Someone had left a small pile of them beside the shed. They were stacked against the wall, close enough to the place where a fallen branch had pushed the wire down.

It was her only chance . “Just move,” she whispered into the dark. “Just keep moving.”

She left the shed, her boots sinking into the mud as she crossed toward the crates. She climbed onto the first one. The wet wood shifted beneath her weight. Alessia grabbed the next crate and pulled herself higher. Rain had made the wood slippery, her knee scraped against the rough pine, but she ignored it. By the time she reached the third crate, she was close enough to the wall to reach for the ledge. She stretched her fingers.

“I wouldn’t take another step if I were you, little girl.”

Alessia stopped. She knew that voice wasn’t coming from above and she slowly looked back. Three men stood near the tree line. Cassian’s men.

Dressed in black tactical coats and stood in the rain as if they had nowhere else to be. The man in the middle was Luca. He had broad shoulders and a long scar running through his left eyebrow. A small tactical knife turned between his fingers.

“You know,” he said as he came closer, “the Don’s guards patrol the front gates. But this section? This section belongs strictly to Boss Cassian. Nobody walks around here unless he says so.”

Alessia’s wet foot slipped. She fell from the crate and landed on her hands and knees in the mud. “P-please,” she pushed herself backward until her back hit the shed wall. “Don’t tell him... please. I just wanted to go outside...”

Luca looked down at her. “Tell him?” he laughed once. “We don’t have to tell him anything, sweetheart. He already knows.”

Alessia stared at him, terror blooming in her chest.

“He’s been watching you from the study window since you stepped out of the East Wing.”

Her stomach dropped as she turned toward the mansion. The second-floor study was easy to see from there.

Cassian stood behind the glass. The desk lamp behind him gave just enough light for her to see his face. A cigarette rested between his lips, and smoke drifted upward.

He wasn’t moving, wasn’t waving at her, wasn’t saying anything to the guards. He was simply watching.

His silver eyes were fixed on her. Luca grabbed the back of her sweater. Alessia barely had time to react before he pulled her to her feet.

“Up you get,” he shoved her toward the back entrance. “Boss wants you inside. And I’d suggest you stop crying, little girl. He doesn’t like noise.”

The private study was warm compared with the rest of the estate. The fire in the stone fireplace was burning, and the room smelled of leather, old paper, and tobacco. Alessia stood in the middle of the room, wet and shaking. Water ran from her clothes onto the Persian rug, her socks were filthy, and her teeth kept knocking together.

Cassian was by the desk. He had taken off his suit jacket and rolled the sleeves of his black shirt up to his elbows, intricate tattoos covered his forearms. He poured himself two fingers of amber liquor and Alessia watched the ice move in the glass as he took a drink.

He set the glass down with a soft thud. “You ran.”

“I... I was just...” Alessia couldn’t get the rest of the words out, she swallowed and stepped backward. “I was just trying to get some air...”

“Liar.”

Cassian turned toward her. He crossed the room quickly and Alessia backed away. Her lower back struck the edge of the table and she stopped. There was nowhere else to go.

Cassian came closer and put both hands on the table, one on either side of her hips. Alessia was trapped between him and the table.

“You tried to run from me, Dolcezza.”

He leaned in close. The smell of scotch and tobacco washed over her. Alessia pressed her palms back against the table, trying to create some space between their faces.

Tears spilled over her lashes. “Please,” she whimpered, her voice barely a whisper. “I won’t do it again… I promise.”

The corner of Cassian’s mouth curved upward into a cold, lethal line.

“You won’t get the chance to,” he murmured, his silver eyes trapping her in place.