Chapter 29
CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
SLOANE
The guards the Astors hired were a waste of space. They didn't even realize we were on them until we had our hands around their necks, and they were halfway to bedtime.
"Do you think all rich people hire from the same idiot agency?" Nyx dropped her guard at our feet. "I'm not sure what their role here is supposed to be, but they suck at protection. A trained monkey could've done a better job."
I had to agree. Even the guards who secured the gates in the community I grew up in were useless. They were no better than rent-a-cops who shouldn't be allowed to carry guns.
"Enough talking," Anita snapped. "Let's move."
"I wonder what crawled up her ass," Nyx leaned over and whispered a little too loudly.
I kept my mouth shut. Nyx was the only one of us who had a death wish. Lilith and I knew better than to push Anita's buttons when she was already in a mood.
We moved as a group up the driveway toward the house. There were no other guards on the property, so we didn't encounter any trouble.
"How do we want to go about getting inside?" Nyx asked when we were ten feet from the front door.
"You're the one who wanted to do things the right way, so I figured we could try knocking on the door to see where that gets us."
Nyx rolled her eyes at me. "Tell a person once she can't kidnap a child, and suddenly, she's a smart-ass."
I ignored her dramatics and raised my hand to knock on the very expensive and probably heavy ornate wooden door. When it finally opened minutes later, I was forced to duck or take a bat to the temple.
"Fucking hell." The young woman didn't stop with one swing. She let out a roar and attempted to use me as a damn pinata.
"Enough!" Anita grabbed the bat and threw it across the driveway. "We aren't here to hurt you. We just want to talk."
"You know," Nyx piped in. "I never realized until now how many times you use the word enough. One would think you're constantly breaking up arguments."
Anita cut her a look that could scorch the earth. Nyx was testing her patience, and by the looks of things, Anita didn't have much left. "Shut the fuck up and get inside before I decide to use this bat to bash your head in."
"Tsk. Tsk. Not the best way to convince the au pair here we come in peace."
I pushed Nyx inside before Anita resorted to bloodshed. Lilith merely shook her head, and Hayes' gaze bounced between us all. I could only imagine what he was thinking.
"What do you want?"
I had to give the young woman credit. She held her ground despite the odds being five against one.
"We just want to talk about Benjamin, Cassie."
"How do you know my name?" Cassie's voice wobbled.
"I know what I'm about to tell you is going to be a lot, but you need to know I'm telling you the truth.
My name is Sloane, and I'm Benjamin's biological mother.
I have a whole dossier on you. I know you were brought on as Benjamin's au pair when he was one year old, and you were only seventeen.
I know you've been with him ever since. You live here in the house and are paid a measly salary, considering you don't get any time off.
I know you lost your parents when you were seventeen, and the Astors took you instead of putting you into the foster system.
I'm sure it seemed like a miracle to you at the time. "
"It didn't," Cassie cut me off.
"What didn't?"
"I never thought it was a miracle. I knew from the beginning the Astors weren't good people.
They tried to play it off like they were doing me a favor, but I could tell there was something off about them.
I had every intention of leaving when I turned eighteen, but then I met Benjamin, and I knew I couldn't leave him to be raised by them. "
The hair on the back of my neck stood on end. "Did they abuse him?"
I was assured I was turning my baby over to a loving family. The adoption agency had nothing but positive things to say about them, and from everything I gathered back then, they were a reputable agency.
"No. Nothing physical but they deprive him of love and attention. He is a prop to them. Nothing more."
Hayes stepped up behind me and placed his hand on my lower back. It was his show of silent support. And I needed it now more than ever.
"Ms. Cassie. Ms. Cassie." A little boy's excitement bounced around the large house. "I finished it ten whole minutes early."
Cassie spun around and tried to block my view of Benjamin, but she was too late.
The damage was already done, and there was no mistaking the little boy was my son.
Silver hair that matched my own hung down to his icy-blue eyes.
The cutest freckles dusted across his nose and were a nice contrast to his pale complexion.
He was lanky in a way that hinted to a recent growth spurt.
He would easily be taller than me someday.
His height was probably the only thing he got from his asshole sperm donor.
"Whoa." Benjamin came to a skidded stop. "I've never met anyone with cool hair like mine." He peeked around Cassie. "Who are you?"
I didn't know what to say. Words were lodged in my throat. Any worry I had that I couldn't care for my son evaporated in thin air. I would love and protect this boy with my life.
"She's a friend, Benny." Cassie didn't have the same trouble speaking. "Why don't you go work on part two for me."
Benny huffed, "You could just say you want grown-up time. You always tell me lying’s bad even if it's done for good reasons."
I had to work hard to hide my smile. The kid was smart and perceptive. I would give him that.
"You're right. Can you please give us some grown-up time? I'll call you down when we're done."
"Okay." Benny spun on his heel and marched away. "But just so you know, I'm going to work on part two because I want to. Not because you want me to."
I waited until my son was out of the room. "He seems happy."
"That's because the Astors don't spend any time with him. I raise him and don't deprive him of the love he deserves."
"How much do you know about Benny's adoption?"
"How about you tell me what you know, and I'll fill in the blanks where I can."
My gut told me we could trust her.
"Have you ever heard of The Givers?"
Cassie's gasp was the confirmation I sought that she could provide us the information we needed to possibly take them down. "I'll take that as a yes."
"If you know about The Givers, then you know just how powerful the Astors are."
"No one is that powerful," Nyx said. "They want you to think so because they have a lot of money, but at the end of the day, they are dirtbag clients of an awful organization."
"No, you don't understand. The Astors aren't clients of The Givers; they are them."
Anita and I shared a look. "What do you mean?" I asked. Could I really have chosen that badly for my child?
"The Givers are made up of five families. They've been operating for generations. This generation of Astors are the first who couldn't have a baby of their own, so they used their network to adopt Benny. But the kicker is, they don't want the other families to know he's not biologically theirs."
My throat bobbed. "Why not?"
"Each generation of families is handpicked to ensure only the best genetics move forward.
If they knew Benny didn't come from the Astors, they would get rid of him.
They are evil. The Astors included. They ensured they had leverage to hold over my head.
If anything happens to Benny, then they will take something from me. "
I held up my hand. "What kind of leverage are we talking about?"
Cassie sighed. "My daughter. I got pregnant under their employ. They took my daughter away from me and only let me see her for a few hours every other week. If I don't do what they want, I don't get to see her."
The situation was much worse than I ever could've imagined.
"You said they ensured they had leverage over you. What do you mean by that?"
Cassie fiddled with the hem of her shirt.
"Working for the Astors can get kinda lonely.
I love spending time with Benny, but when he started attending school, the days began to drag.
That's when I met Ollie. He was one of the gardeners, and I thought we had a connection.
" She dropped her eyes and whispered, "I thought he loved me. "
She glanced back up. "We would sneak away to spend some time together on his lunch break, and more often than not, it led to us having sex.
A few months later, I found out I was pregnant.
When I went to share the good news with Ollie, he smiled and said his job was done.
Apparently, I was the price he was willing to pay for his freedom. "
Son of a bitch. These people were worse than I thought.
"They promised him freedom to knock you up?" Nyx asked in disbelief. "Who the hell does that?"
"The Astors," Cassie said with conviction. "They never hid who they were from me because they knew I wouldn't leave Benny, but apparently, they figured the extra insurance was needed because now that they have my daughter, I can never get away from them."
I didn't even need to look at my team to know we were all considering the same plan. "Do you know where she's kept or with whom?"
Cassie shook her head. "No, but it's always the same couple. The husband is a complete jerk, but the wife seems nice. She smiles at me and gives me updates when they bring Sasha to me."
"When did you see her last?" I asked with hope that it was recent enough to access CCTV footage.
"Two days ago."
Perfect. I could work with that.
"You don't by chance know the make and model of the vehicle, do you?"
Cassie smiled. "I can do you one better. I memorized the license plate. If I ever managed to escape, I wanted a way to find my daughter."
Nyx whistled. "Smart. They got cocky and underestimated you. It's going to be their downfall."
"They don't know the first thing about being parents. I would do anything for Benny and my daughter."
I was suddenly very grateful for Cassie. My new goal in life was to be half the mother Cassie was to my son.