~ Chapter 15 ~

Cassie

I close my eyes at Nico’s Italian words and he drops his hands from my face and wrist.

It takes me a moment to gather my wits, then methodically unbuckle my seatbelt and climb out of the car. I was eager to jump out and leave as quickly as possible when he first parked, but now every cell in my body reluctantly follows my brain as it tells it to move farther away from him and inside the house where it’s safe.

Safe.

I’m safe when I’m alone, when it’s just me, and when no one is around to hurt me. Even when that comes with a loneliness that can be isolating, it’s still preferable to being hurt.

I can feel Nico’s eyes trained on me the entire time, and because I’m not sure about what comes next, I look back at him when I reach the front door. His heavily tinted window is rolled down halfway so I have an unobstructed view of his handsome face that’s hard as stone, but marred with regret and determination.

I look longer than I should, just memorizing his face. And when I finally look away and enter the house and close the door behind me, I lean against it, exhausted. It feels like I just closed the door on what could’ve been the best thing to ever happen to me, but that’s impossible. He can’t be.

I take a deep breath and gather myself.

I’ve got this.

Nico was just a distraction from my current predicament anyhow, and I don’t need him to interfere or make me feel bad for what I’m going to have to do to help Sean get the rest of the money.

I went to Pandemonium yesterday to audition and the manager loved me. I got weird sleezy vibes from him that I had to push down and ignore, but he said I would make a lot of money there, and that’s all I care about. That’s the endgame goal that’s keeping me on track.

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