7. Cassie
CASSIE
Music drifts across the beach. Executives laugh around fire pits, investors drink champagne, and somewhere behind the resort bar, a steel drum band plays loud enough to drown out my thoughts.
Unfortunately, not loud enough.
Because each time my eyes drift closed, I still feel Gideon Carrington’s hands gripping the edge of his desk last night while he looked at me like kissing me nearly destroyed his self-control.
So naturally, I spend the entire welcome party avoiding him.
“Girl, if you stare at that cocktail any harder, it’s gonna file a harassment complaint,” Delilah says beside me.
I snort despite myself. “I’m serious, Dee. I cannot deal with him tonight.”
Her brow lifts. “But he can absolutely deal with you. That man’s been glaring at every male organism within a ten-foot radius.”
“Stop exaggerating.”
“Cassie.” She grabs my arm dramatically. “He looked at a waiter carrying your napkin like he wanted him dead.”
Before I find the words, a warm voice cuts through my embarrassment.
“You gonna spend all night hiding over here?”
Elias Ward steps beside us wearing rolled linen sleeves and an easy grin. Unlike Gideon’s suffocating intensity, Elias feels effortless.
“I’m considering it,” I say.
“Well, I’m rescuing you.” He offers his hand. “Dance with me.”
Delilah practically shoves me forward. “Go. Before Mr. Iceberg burns a hole through the island.”
I laugh for real this time.
Elias pulls me toward the crowded dance floor near the shoreline, and my shoulders loosen. He spins me beneath glowing lanterns while waves crash nearby.
“You finally smiled,” he says.
“Maybe you’re less annoying than I thought.”
“Ouch. I’m devastated.”
I grin wider, and he places a hand lightly against my waist as the music slows.
Then everything changes.
The air shifts cold before I even see him.
Gideon appears beside us in dark slacks and a black button-down. His iron-grey stare locks on Elias’s hand touching me.
“Cassie,” he says sharply. “I need a word.”
Elias glances between us. “Everything okay?”
“Perfect,” Gideon bites out.
I yank my hand free. “Actually, I’m busy.”
“Now, Cassandra.”
The command in his voice snaps something inside me.
Humiliation burns up my throat as executives openly stare. Gideon grips my elbow and walks me away from the party toward a darker stretch of beach.
The second we’re alone, I whirl on him.
“What is wrong with you?”
His jaw flexes. “You were distracted.”
“I was dancing, you insane control freak.”
“You let him touch you.”
I don’t bother pretending to look elsewhere, stunned. “You dragged me away from a party because Elias touched my waist?”
Gideon steps closer, eyes blazing. “I hated it.”
The confession hits harder than shouting ever could.
My heartbeat stumbles.
“You have no right to act possessive and jealous whenever another man looks at me,” I whisper.
His expression turns raw. “Then tell me how the hell I’m supposed to stand there watching it happen.”
We stay exactly as we are.
And suddenly, terrifyingly, I realize this thing between us is no longer just mine anymore.
The beach party glows gold beneath hanging lanterns and flickering fire pits, but I can barely breathe properly.
Everywhere I turn tonight, I feel Gideon watching me.
Not casually either. Intensely. Like the man’s stare alone could strip paint off walls.
So I avoid him.
Which is harder than it should be when he’s six-foot-something, unfairly handsome, and apparently determined to haunt every corner of this island.
“You look stressed,” Elias says, appearing beside me with two cocktails balanced in his hands.
I laugh softly. “That obvious?”
“Only to people paying attention.”
His grin is easy, warm. Nothing like Gideon’s sharp-edged intensity. Elias leans against the outdoor bar in rolled linen sleeves, expensive watch catching firelight while ocean waves crash behind us.
“Dance with me,” he says.
“I’m terrible at dancing.”
“That sounds fake.”
“It absolutely is.”
“There she is.” He points at me. “That smile’s been missing all week.”
The music shifts louder near the beach stage, and before I can overthink it, Elias takes my hand and pulls me toward the crowd.
For once since arriving at Azure Cay, I relax.
I laugh when he spins me beneath the lantern lights. Sand brushes my ankles. Humid wind curls loose strands of hair around my face. Executives and investors sway around us with expensive drinks and loosened ties while steel drums pulse through the night air.
“You’re smiling again,” Elias says.
“Don’t ruin it by noticing.”
“Too late.”
His hand settles lightly on my waist.
And suddenly the temperature drops.
I don’t even need to turn around to know Gideon’s here.
The energy changes whenever he enters a room. Conversations tighten. People straighten instinctively. Fear follows him everywhere like a tailored shadow.
Elias notices first. “Uh-oh.”
I glance over my shoulder.
Gideon steps in, black slacks and a dark button-down with the sleeves rolled to his forearms. His expression is carved from pure irritation.
Those cold eyes lock directly onto Elias’s hand touching me.
“Cassie,” he says flatly. “I need you.”
My stomach flips stupidly.
Elias lifts a brow. “Everything alright?”
“Business matter,” Gideon answers before I can speak.
I fold my arms tightly. “It can wait.”
“No. It can’t.”
His voice sharpens on the last word.
God, he’s unbelievable.
Embarrassment burns hot across my skin when nearby executives start openly staring at us. Gideon steps forward and grips my elbow gently but firmly enough to leave no room for argument.
“Excuse us.”
“Gideon—”
“We’re leaving.”
I yank my arm free the second we reach a quieter stretch of beach away from the music.
“What the hell was that?”
He faces me, jaw tight. “We need to discuss tomorrow’s investor schedule.”
“Oh, bullshit.”
His eyes narrow.
“You dragged me off the dance floor because you were jealous.”
“I was not jealous.”
I let out a disbelieving laugh. “Right. And Delilah hates gossip.”
“Cassie.”
“No, actually, you don’t get to do that.” I throw my hands up. “You don’t own the right to publicly embarrass me because another man touched my waist for five seconds.”
His expression hardens, but something raw flickers underneath it.
“You were enjoying yourself.”
“Yeah. I was.” I step closer despite my anger. “Because Elias was being nice to me instead of acting like a possessive lunatic.”
The second the words leave my mouth, silence crashes between us.
Gideon stares at me like he’s fighting himself.
Then finally, quietly, he says, “I hated seeing him touch you.”
My breath catches.
The ocean roars behind us, violent and endless.
“You can’t say things like that,” I whisper.
“Why not?”
“Because you’re my boss.”
His gaze drags slowly over my face, devastatingly intense. “That doesn’t stop me from wanting you anyway.”
The words settle between us like a lit match.
That doesn’t stop me from wanting you anyway.
My pulse stutters so hard.
Gideon looks wrecked after saying it. Not messy on the outside, of course. He still stands there in perfectly pressed black clothes with that brutally controlled posture that makes executives tremble during meetings.
But his eyes?
God.
Those silver eyes are completely exposed.
Like he hates that I can see this much of him.
Like wanting me is the one thing powerful enough to crack straight through all that iron control.
“Gideon...” the word comes out shaky.
“Say something.” He says.
I should.
I should remind him this is dangerous. Reckless. Completely inappropriate.
Instead, I whisper, “You’ve been acting like you can’t stand me for weeks.”
A rough laugh leaves him. “Cassie, if I acted how I actually feel about you, this entire company would’ve noticed a long time ago.”
The confession knocks the air from my lungs.
Heat quarrels beneath my skin when his gaze drops briefly to my mouth before lifting again.
And there it is.
The thing I’ve been trying not to name since we landed on this island.
This isn’t flirting anymore.
This isn’t tension I imagined inside late-night meetings and stolen glances across conference tables.
Gideon wants me.
The terrifying billionaire who barely lets people breathe wrong around him watches me like restraint is physically painful.
I take a small step backward because suddenly being this close to him feels dangerous in a completely different way.
“I need to go,” I murmur.
His expression flickers with instant regret, but he nods once.
“Cassie.”
I stop walking.
“Elias isn’t the problem,” he says quietly. “You are.”
My heart nearly betrays me on the spot.
I turn away before he can see how badly those words affect me, but my entire body feels unsteady.
Because at last, after everything since meeting Gideon Carrington, I realize I’m not falling alone.