“And if I refuse to leave?” I hold my breath, waiting to see how far his orders go.
“I’ll have to use other means to bring you back home,” he tersely states, and I disconnect the call, unable to handle the pressure gathering between my ribs.
I almost jump out of my skin when the doorbell rings. Not wanting to make a scene, I quickly push my feet into my heels, ready to leave. Mark doesn’t need to get involved in my family dramas. We just started to date.
Before I can tell him I need to leave, Mark strolls toward me, looking worried.
“What’s wrong?”
“I have to go.” I smile at him, still unable to wrap my mind around it. They crossed the line. I could call the police, but I doubt they’ll come to help me. Unless they keep harassing me, then I could file a report. No, I need to cut to the chase and finally set them straight. This needs to end.
“My in-laws just arrived in London, and they sent the driver to pick me up.” I grab my coat from the chair I discarded it earlier and check my phone for any messages from my in-laws or my sister. But there’s nothing. Infuriated, I toss my phone back into my purse.
“How did they know where you are?” Mark asks, but my mind is somewhere else. So, he grasps my chin and lifts it until I have to look at him. “Cassandra?”
“My driver reported my location.” And I have no idea for how long he was doing just that. Mark’s face becomes sharp like a blade ready to cut. He lets out a curse under his breath.
“Let me drive you home.” His stern tone sends a bolt of lightning through me. I know he doesn’t like this situation, but neither do I. I’m sure I can handle my in-laws. He doesn’t need to get involved. I just need to lay down the law. The bell rings again. “Cassandra, let me meet your family. Let’s put this introduction to rest.”
“Okay,” I breathe out, knowing Mark isn’t going to relent. Besides, I might need someone by my side to deal with them.
They have done similar things in the past. I thought it was because of the press following me around, sometimes provoking dangerous situations on the road. But that was in America. This is here. My home, my rules, my life.
“I guess we should. The cat is out of the bag anyway,” I agree.
When we open the door, we find two tall, unfamiliar, military-looking men in black suits waiting for me.
“Ma’am, please follow me.”
My heart jumps to my throat and my hand clutches around the bag handle for support. They can’t do this.
Mark shifts protectively in front of me. He widens his stance like he’s ready to fight them. “Mrs. Cade isn’t going anywhere with you. Remove yourselves from my property or I’ll do it for you.” Mark’s order cuts like a blade between my ribs and my heart stutters, responding to the weight he sinks in his demand.
“Ma’am, please, come with us,” one of them insists, not even acknowledging Mark’s remark. “The car’s waiting for you downstairs.”
Before I can say anything, another three men dressed in black suits appear in the hallway, caging them in between us. My shaking hand touches Mark’s back for reassurance as I swallow the lump of adrenaline coursing through my system.
“Please help these men out,” Mark firmly demands the new arrivals, and they nod, moving toward them like soldiers. I hold my breath as if willing this encounter not to end in a bloody fight. To my relief, they don’t challenge Mark’s bodyguards. Instead, they leave without a single word.
Mark turns around and pulls me into his embrace, stroking my back in reassurance. I finally draw in a shaky breath, filling my deprived lungs.
“Let’s get it over with,” he whispers, kissing my temple as unease snakes its way up my body.
~Mark~
My hands tighten around the wheel, thinking about Darren’s bold move. He made sure I know he figured out what’s going on between us. Well, if he changed the game, I’m going to respond accordingly. He’s a fool to think I’ll allow him to dictate our lives or stand in my way. Not anymore.
My gaze travels to Cassandra, lost in her head. I bet she didn’t know her driver is a safety detail ordered to act to protect the family’s interests. Not hers but theirs. I’m not planning to let her deal with them on her own.
When we turn into the driveway, she sits straighter, wringing the edge of her dress as she looks at the entrance, chewing her lip. So, I interlace our fingers, bringing her hand to my mouth to absorb some of her edginess.
“Ready?”
She forces a smile that doesn’t reach her eyes and nods. We both exit the car, and I guide her to the entrance as another male in suit opens the door for us. She falters seeing him, but then her spine snaps straight like a rod, and she steps into her house, determined.
“Come on in, Mark,” she softly demands, searching my gaze for a sliver of uncertainty. But she finds none. I’ve made up my mind.
Once I help her out of her coat, we both move into the open living space. I take in the burned wood hardwood floors, off white walls decorated with vivid abstract art and family photos. The modern glass fireplace with a massive clock mounted at the top, separating the living space. The industrial style furniture paired with other smart design pieces, creating a cozy atmosphere. It makes me relax, knowing she chose her home to be functional instead of encased in an abundance of wealth.
“Good evening,” Cassandra greets everyone, and her kids holler hellos as she bends to kiss their heads.
I catch sight of Darren by the fireplace, resting against the mantle with his back to us. Hearing her voice, he turns around. His hard gaze locks on me and his lips press in a tight line until his jaw pops sharply against his cheeks.
“Good evening, Darren, I didn’t know you were coming to London. I would have cleaned my calendar to properly prepare for your arrival.” Cassandra saunters to greet him with a defined formality that sounds cold and sharp like the edge of the blade. At this moment, her manners remind me of Helen’s.
“There were a few things I needed to take care of,” he gravely responds, not giving away his cards yet. His hawk-like gaze travels to me, but I ignore it, so he guides her farther into the dining area to speak.
While they chat, my gaze settles on Leif, playing with Cassandra’s twins on the PlayStation. He looks different since I saw him over three years ago, just before he married Cassandra’s youngest sister. He never was as refined as the rest of the Cade men, but it seems to me, someone polished his sharp edges. We were the family rebels back when we were young. I wonder if it’s still true. Perhaps family life changed him for the better. We’ve never bonded, even if we both hated family legacy and wanted the life outside of it.
Aisha stops feeding her baby girl and twists to look at me. Her full lips stretch into a wide smile and her eyes sparkle with excitement. “You must be Mark.” After cleaning the little beauty’s face and hiking her onto her hip, she stands and walks toward me.
“And you must be her beautiful sister.” I beam at them.
“I’m Aisha Cade, and this is our little girl, Maya.” The little human hides her face into her mother’s chest, watching me with childlike curiosity. She chews her tiny fingers, cracking a shy smile at me.
“It’s my pleasure to meet you, ladies.” I kiss Aisha on the cheek, not missing the fact she’s scrutinizing me with the shrewd intensity of a protective cheetah. If I make a mistake, she’ll cut my throat and leave me bleeding. Instead, I turn and beam at her little angel in her arms, hoping to win over her daughter’s affection.
“Come on in, meet my husband, Leif.” She points to the man I grew up with since they found me living on the streets. He doesn’t acknowledge me, but Aisha doesn’t miss a beat. “And the two rascals over there are Cassandra’s children. The raven-haired boy is Leon and the biker chick with wild blond hair sticking in every direction is Liane.”
“Hey, I love my hair,” she protests but doesn’t look away from the screen, too engrossed in the game. “Hello,” she sings to me.
“Hi,” the
boy hollers next to her.
His eyebrows are drawn together while he tries to win the race. Liane shoves her elbow to his flank, but the boy clearly has a tunnel vision on the finish line. His hair falls into his resolute eyes as he maneuvers the race track, leaving Leif and his sister in the dust regardless of his twin’s attempt to rig his game.
“That’s not fair, Leon. You’ve cheated!” She throws her remote control onto the sofa and crosses her arms, pouting.
“I have not!” Leon retorts and puffs his chest, ready to argue, but before this could get out of hand, Leif steps in.
“Knock it off, you two. No one cheated. We both lost to your brother in a fair contest.” His stern tone ends the fight straight away. “Liane, sweetheart, next time you can settle the score and win the race. Today is not your day.” Something hot burns in my chest, settling in uncomfortable pressure as I watch both kids respond to his fatherly tone.
“Hey, you two need to go to bed,” Aisha interferes. “Now!”
“But there’s no school tomorrow, Aunty,” Liane whines like a puppy.
“Guys, you stayed up way beyond your time only because you wanted to hang out with your grandpa,” she reasons, and they both grumble, unhappy. “Go kiss your mom good night.”
And they both sprint toward their mother, entwining around her legs like two monkeys.
“Well, I’m going to put this little angel to sleep. Take care, Mark. I hope it’s not the last time I see you.” She winks and leaves us alone.
Leif cranes his neck to finally look at me. His sharp pale gaze digs into me like shrapnel. He stands, extending his frame to his full height, and saunters toward me like he’s on a mission. He grasps my palm in his, sinking force into his firm grip, and shakes it.
“A prodigal brother returns.” His cold and full of distrust gaze locks on mine. “How do you know Cassandra?” His tone, sharp and low, rattles deep in his throat.
“She works at Fading Ink.” I squeeze his palm back, not backing down. He knows the truth already. We both know this was inevitable. All the secrets are eventually bound to crumble their castle of lies. They can’t keep her in the dark for the rest of her life.
“And you always bring your employees home?” His jaw gets razor-sharp, his words tainted with a threat. I grin, expecting nothing less of him. Leif has a special bond with Cassandra, and he cares for her well-being, but so do I.
“Only when I’m dating one,” I admit to him, and his eyes darken, flooding with fierce protectiveness.
He lowers his voice so no one can hear us, and steps closer into my personal space. “What do you think you’re doing, Mark? Do you even know what she went through?” He shakes his head, snorting. “Let her go. She deserves happiness and peace.”
“I know.” My hands ball into fists at my sides. “I don’t want her hurt either.” My chest wrings with a phantom ache, thinking of letting her go. “I can’t, Leif. She is mine.”
“Listen to yourself.” He steps even closer, hissing in my face. “You know Cassandra for what, a few days and are already talking like a psychopath. She isn’t yours, Mark.”
I hold my breath as he carves those words into my flesh. My chest burns with denial, but how can I explain my fixation?
“Don’t do this to her. She won’t survive this heartache.”
I close my eyes, but when I snap them open, he sees the truth.
I can’t.
11
Against The Tide
~Cassandra~
“I thought we made it clear to you that a certain extent of responsibility befalls your name. The job at Fading Ink might hurt our business image. We had enough of bad press because of you.”
They’re afraid my mental issues might resurface and soil their public image. The Cades barely had time to hide the evidence of my previous trauma before. My family admitted me to a psychiatric hospital because the pain was too much to deal with. The Cades don’t want to be associated with my less than pristine past. That’s why they hired people to teach me to speak and conduct appropriately, to hide my ‘craziness.’
Needing a moment to curb my emotions, I stroll to the window. Latching my gaze onto the trees in the garden, I try to soak up the tranquility from their hypnotic movements. Seeking something that might alleviate the threads of anxiety twisting inside my chest. I can’t lose a shred of control around them.
“I don’t need anyone telling me what to do. I’m nobody in your world, regardless if I carry your family’s name. So why are you so amped to push me around? Let everyone forget about me.”
“Because you make rash decisions like this one.”
Irritation filters through me, hearing his patronizing reply. I’m anything but spontaneous. This isn’t even about it. They simply need to punish me for the fact I survived, and their son didn’t. I’m a pawn in their hands, and they’re playing me like a rag doll on the strings. How long will I have to suffer for them to finally snap the strings and let me breathe on my own?
“This decision wasn’t rash. I was planning to change my career path for over three years since you didn’t want me working at the bank. Obviously, I’m not cutting in with my simple nature into your world of wealth and power. This job solves all the problems for us both. Look, Fading Ink is a respectable company. Why do you believe this job will hurt your business?”
“What about family legacy, have you forgotten who you are?”
A sharp gasp nips my throat, remembering his wife and me having this conversation during Logan’s first death anniversary.
“You are death. Wherever you go, demise follows.” She chugs some liquor down her painted lips as her tears flow down her cheeks in dark rivulets. “You are cursed, Cassandra. Whoever loves you dies.” She weeps, burying her face in his suit jacket, pressing a picture of him to her chest as my heart shatters in a million shards at her feet, slicing me wide-open.
“And who the hell am I?” Shaking off the memory, I twist around to face him, my eyes stinging with tears I keep locked away by sheer willpower. “Because you don’t treat me like I’m worth a thing, Darren. You’re treating me like I’m a transaction piece to secure your empire. Let’s not pretend you care about my well-being. This is your way of keeping tabs on me and controlling my every move.”
“Don’t be daft, we’re teaching you about our society. We can’t allow you to tarnish our reputation, not when you carry our name.” His gruff response makes my heart hammer against my rib cage, desperate to escape its clutches.
Darren strolls past me toward the folding glass door overlooking the garden, but not really denying my statements. It makes something in me break, realizing I’m right.
“When my driver or security team isn’t here to guard me, it won’t be hard to transfer them and leave us be.” I hold my breath, waiting for him to turn around. Darren Cade shoves his hands in his charcoal gray suit pants, answering me with charged silence. Fuck, this family is driving me insane! “Darren?”
His over six feet frame twists to face me. “They’re staying,” he states. His piercing eyes sharp like needles lock on me, and his resolve pins my feet down to the floor.
“You can’t keep me prisoner, and I won’t allow you to dictate my life.” I match his razor-sharp tone, balling my fists at my sides.
“Don’t start a war you can’t keep up, sweetheart,” he gently utters, and his features soften as if my resolve amuses him.
Dammit, if he doesn’t remind me of his son. My chest aches with hollow emptiness and unease sneaks under my skin as I realize how helpless I am to fight him. My worst fears from the past bound back, attacking every cell of my being. Power of money is capable of bending any system, any man, and any situation. I just wonder what Logan’s family intends to do to me.
“But I will.” A fierce fire burns inside my chest. “Or your clean name won’t be the only thing you lose.” I press my lips tight, afraid he might realize I’m not bloodthirsty and heartless to follow through my threat.
A smirk forms
on his handsome face, refined with well-aging attractiveness. He steps closer with an intensity that presses against my mind. “Be careful,” he grouses, but we’re interrupted by my twins like two chaos bringers, coiling around my legs.
“Mommy, take us to bed, please.”
I smile at them, stroking their heads as my heart stutters with unease.
Logan’s father might find a way to destroy me, and I don’t know if he cares enough not to break the hearts of my children.
“Let’s go. I’ll read you a story after you brush your teeth.” My voice vibrates with hollow emotions as I watch his gaze, digging into me with a warning.
At least, my kids haven’t noticed the tension, and that’s all that matters. They’re the ones I want to make happy and safe, even if trying to maintain this relationship with my in-laws kills me. Once I saunter into the living room, I see Mark and Leif like two mountains of muscle, standing inches apart, breathing fire.
My pulse responds to the peculiar vibes between these two. When Mark steps back and turns to face me, I ask, “Where’s Aisha?”
“She took little Maya upstairs to sleep. We’re going to stay the night,” Leif grumbles, and I nod. “Need help with the munchkins?”
I search his gaze, trying to determine what’s going on.
“Yeah, I do.” I turn to Mark, clasping his hand in mine. “Will you wait for me?”
He squeezes my hand as Liane winds herself around my leg, watching the newcomer curiously.
“Of course.” He nods, lifting his gaze to stare at Darren over my shoulder as Liane tugs me upstairs.
“I’ll be back in a minute.” I twist to find Darren, who is glaring at Mark, and I waver. Perhaps I should stay and make sure my father-in-law won’t say anything to upset him.
Tangled IN LIES (Book#3, IN YOU) Page 13
