51. Cassian
Cassian
Ipin Bash with a glare across the table. “What the fuck was that?”
He tilts his chair back on two legs and has the audacity to shrug. “I don’t know, mate. I had no idea she was going to react like that.”
“Bullshit you didn’t,” I snap, glancing over my shoulder at the door. There’s still no sign of Vivienne and Briar. “She was the best thing to ever happen to you, and you treated her like garbage.”
He stares at his glass, using his thumb to catch the condensation on the side. I expect him to fire off another retort, but he stays silent, his jaw clenched tightly and his nostrils slightly flared.
I hate that Viv was right, not because I can’t handle being wrong, but because I was really hoping it wouldn’t come to this. I thought Bash had changed, that Briar had brought out a better side of him. Turns out, Viv knows her brother better than I do.
“I’d beat you to a pulp myself, but I have a feeling once her brother finds out what you did, you won’t walk for the rest of your life,” I mutter.
Bash doesn’t even flinch. Shep looks at me beneath raised brows, a question in his eyes, but I shake my head. If Slate wants to knock Bash’s lights out for corrupting his little sister, I’ll stop anyone who gets in his way.
Vivienne returns several minutes later, hair damp from the rain.
Our eyes meet for a single beat, and it sends my heart into a tailspin.
We haven’t spoken to each other since our argument right before I left, when she predicted this exact thing happening.
Now I’m not sure she’ll ever talk to me again.
She stands beside her brother’s chair with crossed arms and waits until he looks up at her. “How could you do that?” she demands.
In contrast to the flippant attitude he showed me, he matches the hard lines of her body. When he stands, his chair topples over and nearly hits the floor, but Shep catches it just in time.
“I did exactly what you wanted,” Bash hisses. “So don’t come at me like that.”
Viv gapes at him. “What I wanted was for Briar not to get hurt, but you just couldn’t resist, could you?”
“You said I should break up with her. Well, I did.” He plops back down in his seat with a huff, looking like a deflated balloon.
Viv leans on the table, trying to meet her twin’s eye, but he won’t look at her. “You really think humiliating her like that in front of everyone was the right way to break up with her?”
He slams his palm against the table, making the glassware jump. “Of course not, Viv. But she didn’t give me much choice, did she?”
“Guys, we might want to wrap this up,” Sutton says, casting a look around the restaurant. “We’re starting to attract attention.”
Viv follows her gaze to the patrons turning in their chairs to see what’s going on at our table.
Several cameras are aimed in our direction.
The last thing we need is for tonight’s events to make it into the tabloids.
I’m pretty pissed at the guy myself, but I agree with Sutton—now isn’t the time or place to do this.
Viv sits down in Briar’s empty chair, shooting Bash one more glare.
“I have some news,” I say, flicking my lighter several times. Staring at the tiny flame calms me in a way few things do. When I glance up, five pairs of eyes are on me.
“Well?” Marlowe says. “What is it? Did you finally find someone to go out with you? Or, let me guess.” She wags her brows suggestively. “You’re getting a penile enlargement.”
“Are you done?” I ask, leaning back in my chair and sipping my whiskey.
“Come on, Mar,” Shep cuts in. “Don’t you remember how Jenna Williams couldn’t walk for two days after she and Cass—”
My chair straightens with a clatter, and I lob a shrimp tail at Shep’s head. While I appreciate the support, the last things I want to think about are my failed attempts to forget a certain pair of green eyes and the scent of vanilla and orange.
Viv is staring at a spot on the table, presumably not even paying attention to us. This wouldn’t be the worst conversation in the world for her to miss, even if she already knows about me and Jenna, because I don’t want her hurting any more than she already is.
Bash has his phone out, but his fingers aren’t moving. My guess is there’s a picture of Briar on his screen.
“Actually, I went to see my mum,” I say to my drink. I hadn’t planned on telling anyone about this, except maybe Bash later, but we could all use a good distraction right now. Besides, the more I avoid thinking about the visit, the uglier it gets in my head.
“I didn’t realize you even knew your mum,” Sutton says.
“I don’t,” I say. “Not really.”
“How did it go?” Vivienne’s eyes are on me, wide with hope. It’s on the tip of my tongue to lie, to tell her that it went amazingly well, but what purpose would that serve? It would delay their pity, but the moment they discover the truth, it’ll only be that much worse.
I let out a harsh chuckle. “Let’s just say that she doesn’t regret leaving me behind.”
“What the fuck?” Bash sets his drink down hard. “What does that mean?”
“It means she left when I was two, and she hasn’t looked back since.”
“That’s fucked up, mate,” Shep says, pushing aside some of Bash’s and Viv’s gifts to reach the basket of caramel popcorn at the center of the table.
“Tell me about it,” I mutter, sinking further into my chair.
“Why’d she leave in the first place?” Sutton tosses her braid over her shoulder and leans across the table. “Was she on drugs?”
“My god, Sutton.” Viv rolls her eyes.
Sutton sits up and spreads her hands out. “What? It’s a legitimate question.”
“No, she wasn’t on drugs,” I say before the two of them can get into it.
Normally, Viv is pretty levelheaded, but after everything that went down with Briar and Bash, her emotions are running haywire. I wish I could whisk her out of here so we could talk, but since that’s never going to happen, sharing with the group is the only way I have to spend time with her.
“She had an affair with the guy who’s now the mayor.” I toss back my drink while they process this.
“Douglas Whitaker? How do you know that?” Shep asks, brow furrowed. His dad’s in politics, and my guess is there’s some history there.
“Because she’s married to him,” I say.
“Shut up,” Sutton says. “Mayor Whitaker is your stepdad?”
Frowning, I set my glass down. “I don’t know if it really works like that—”
“Your mum is gorgeous.” A hint of awe coats Marlowe’s voice as she stares at her phone.
“Don’t sound so surprised,” I say.
“Well, I mean, going by this”—she gestures to me—“what do you expect?”
“Was she happy to see you?” Viv asks.
I meet her gaze, searching for a hint that she’s forgiven me, but the only thing I see is curiosity. “I’m not sure. She invited me inside, but she reached for her checkbook pretty quickly after that.”
Thinking about it still hurts—the image of her standing there as if her money could somehow make up for her abandoning me. The fact that she expected me to be grateful for her handout is like a bootheel on a bruise.
“She tried to pay you off?” Bash’s thick brows knit together. “The fucking bitch.”
Viv socks his arm. “Don’t talk about his mum like that.”
“She tried to buy him off,” he says, rubbing his bicep.
“It’s not a big deal,” I say, wishing that were true.
“Yes, it is,” Sutton says. “Your mum offered you hush money. I’m so sorry, Cass.”
“Politicians are scumbags.” Marlowe runs a long red nail along the edge of the tablecloth. “You’re better off without her.”
“Want us to enact some revenge? Maybe slash a few tires, throw some eggs at the house?” Shep offers. “We could tank the guy’s career in a matter of hours.”
I give him a lopsided smile. “No thanks, mate. I’m good.”
He reaches around Marlowe to slap me on the back. “You change your mind, just say the word. We’re here for you.”
“Thanks.” I clear the emotion clogging my throat. “I appreciate it.”
“Wait a second,” Sutton says, glancing up from her phone, where she’s probably also ogling pictures of my mum. “Mayor Whitaker has a daughter.”
My eyes immediately find Viv, who’s already looking at me.
She bites her lip, and I stifle a groan.
I long to reach across the table and tug it from her teeth, which is inappropriate in so many ways, not the least of which is that she’s simply concerned for me and I’m turning it into something sexual.
I tear my gaze away and focus on Sutton. “Yeah, Juliette.”
“Is she—”
“My half-sister? Yep.”
Bash bolts up in his seat. “You have a sister, mate? Why is this the first I’m hearing of it?”
“Calm down.” I roll my eyes and drain my drink. “I just found out, too.”
He turns to Viv, who clearly forgot that she’s not supposed to know about it. She quickly tries to adopt a look of surprise.
“You knew,” he says to her, accusation ringing in his voice. He turns back to me. “You told her and not me?”
“It wasn’t like that,” I say, shaking my head.
“Then what was it like?” Bash bellows. “Because it looks like you’re getting cozy with my sister again after I explicitly told you to stay away from her.”
Viv pulls him back into his chair. “Bash, calm down. That’s not what happened.” It’s exactly what happened, but I’m with Viv on this one. We keep Bash in the dark for as long as possible. For the rest of his life, preferably.
“Did you know?” Bash asks Shep, who shakes his head and shoves another handful of popcorn into his mouth.
“Get off your high horse, Bash,” Sutton says. “You don’t need to know everything.”
He flips her off and turns to Marlowe. She gives him a coy look. “What will you do if I say I already knew?”
He narrows his eyes, and she lifts her martini to her red lips with a smirk.
“No one knew but Viv,” I say. “And I just found out. She just happened to be there.”
Our eyes meet once more, and as much as I wish I could stare at her for the rest of the night, Bash isn’t going to take kindly to that. I spin my empty tumbler on the table.
“Are you going to meet her?” Sutton asks, toying with her bracelet.
I shrug. “What’s the point? She’s probably exactly like her mother.”
“Or,” Sutton says, dragging out the word, “she’s nothing like her mother and needs rescuing.”
“This isn’t Disney channel,” Marlowe says. “God. I’m sure she’s perfectly fine not knowing she has a half-brother.”
“And what if she already knows about Cass and is waiting for him to reach out?” Sutton asks.
“Aw, you could have a touching family reunion,” Bash mocks, then flags our server down for another drink. “That’ll give the mayor all the press he could hope for.”
I ignore him, because it’s obvious his surliness has nothing to do with my situation and very little to do with Viv and me. He’s torn up about Briar, and until he processes that, we just have to deal with the bear.
“I don’t want to disrupt her life,” I say. “What good would it do her?”
Viv frowns at me. “Are you serious right now?”
I thought I was, but she’s making me second-guess that. “Yes?”
“You don’t think she’d benefit from having you in her life?” she asks.
I stay silent, waiting to see where she’s going with this.
“Cass, she’s missing out on knowing you. I think everyone at this table can attest to being better off knowing you,” Viv says, slightly breathless as she glances around at the others.
“Obviously,” Sutton says. “God knows how long I’d have to wait to get car repairs done otherwise.”
I lift the corner of my mouth and shake my head. My heart feels funny, kind of warm and soft.
“I’m kidding, of course,” Sutton says. “You’re a great friend. You never even told people about that thing with Daniel Germain.”
“You told me not to,” I say incredulously.
“Exactly. You’re like a vault, and that trait is seriously lacking sometimes.” She shoots a look at Marlowe, who rolls her eyes.
“What happened with Daniel Germain?” Bash asks, but Sutton just shakes her head.
“You’re protective and loyal,” Shep says to me. “And you’re the only person I’d trust to have my back in a fight.”
“Obviously I’d be a better partner in a fight, but they’re right about all the rest, mate,” Bash says. “You’re my best friend, and while I sometimes want to beat the shit out of you, none of us would be the same without you in our lives.”
“I, for one, would be a lot better off,” Marlowe interjects, and I flip her off with a grin.
“Marlowe!” Viv says.
“Just kidding. God.” Marlowe turns to me. “You’re an amazing friend, Cass, even if your style sometimes sucks”—she gives my army pants and T-shirt a pointed look—“and I’m sorry you can’t see that.”
“He could if he got his head out of his ass every once in a while.” Bash lifts his refilled glass. “To the best friend I’ve ever had.”
Everyone joins in the toast, and I scrub a hand over my face before my eyes can get any weird notions about tearing up. I swallow the thick lump of emotion in my throat. “Thanks, guys. You lot aren’t too bad yourselves.” My voice sounds like it’s seen the inside of a blender.
Maybe blood is overrated. Maybe you just need people who see everything there is to see about you and love you anyway.
“So you’ll meet her?” Viv asks. “Juliette?”
I open my mouth to tell her that I haven’t changed my mind, but the words won’t come. She has so much faith in me that it’s physically impossible to let her down. “I’ll think about it,” I say.
Her face lights up with hope, and I kick myself for waiting so long to put it there.