Chapter 5 I’m Important To Her #2
Instead, a faint smile touched his lips.
A smile that only made Elias look more horrified.
"I love her. That's enough."
His answer came so quickly that it was obvious he had never needed to think about it.
The smile deepened slightly as his gaze drifted toward the bed.
"And she loves me too."
Elias looked ready to argue.
Cassian beat him to it.
"She just hasn't figured it out yet."
A strangled sound escaped Elias's throat.
Cassian continued as though his conclusion was the most reasonable thing in the world.
"Have you ever seen her go after anyone else like this?" he asked, turning back toward him. "Has she stolen deals from anyone else? Picked fights with anyone else? Gone out of her way to make anyone else's life difficult?"
His eyes gleamed with unmistakable amusement.
"No." He answered his own question before Elias could. "Only me."
A quiet satisfaction settled over his features.
The look of a man who genuinely believed he was special.
"So what does that tell you?"
Elias stared at him.
As if trying to determine whether this was some elaborate joke.
"What does it tell me?" he repeated incredulously.
He threw both hands into the air before pacing several steps away. When he turned back around, he looked like he was physically struggling to remain patient.
"It tells me she's targeting you, Cassian. That's what it tells me."
"No."
The answer was immediate.
Firm.
Completely certain.
"It means I'm important to her."
Elias closed his eyes. For a moment, he looked genuinely exhausted.
Cassian simply continued.
"She's comfortable enough to do those things to me. Comfortable enough to take whatever she wants from me."
A faint smile appeared at the corner of Cassian's mouth.
"And she can have it."
Elias frowned.
"Have what?"
"Everything."
Cassian's gaze shifted toward Juliet again.
"My money. My company. Every deal I've ever made."
A low chuckle escaped him.
"If she wants it, it's hers. So what's your problem if I'm happy?"
Elias looked at him as though he had finally lost his mind. He looked down at the blood covering Cassian's knuckles. At the bruises forming across his hand. At the man who had nearly beaten someone to death earlier tonight because Juliet had gotten hurt.
Then he looked back up at him.
"Jesus fucking Christ."
The defeated curse came out under his breath.
He dragged a hand down his face and shook his head.
"I'm going home. Do whatever the hell you want."
Without waiting for a response, he turned and walked away.
A few seconds later, the front door slammed shut.
The sound echoed through the massive house before fading into silence.
Cassian remained where he was.
For several moments, he simply stood there staring at the closed door.
Then he turned.
His gaze landed on Juliet. The irritation disappeared from his face. The tension left his shoulders. Even the hard line of his mouth softened.
Cassian's eyes lingered on her sleeping face.
A small smile tugged at his lips.
‘God. She looks so peaceful.’
He found himself walking toward her before he even realized he had moved.
His expensive suit was wrinkled from the night's chaos, and dried blood stained one sleeve of his jacket.
Without taking his eyes off her, he loosened his tie and tossed it onto a nearby chair before shrugging off his jacket.
The garment landed on the floor beside the bed.
Juliet remained perfectly still.
But inside, panic was steadily building.
Her heartbeat was so loud she was certain he would hear it.
Every step he took seemed to echo through the room.
Closer.
Closer.
Until he finally stopped beside her.
The mattress dipped slightly as he leaned down.
Juliet's breath caught.
Then she felt the soft press of his lips against her cheek.
The kiss was brief.
Gentle.
The kind of kiss that carried so much familiarity it felt almost instinctive.
Heat rushed through her body.
Her fingers tightened around the bedsheet beneath her.
She fought the urge to react.
Fought the urge to open her eyes.
Above her, she heard a low chuckle.
The sound made her stomach drop.
Cassian straightened slowly.
"Sweetheart."
His deep voice rolled through the room.
Warm.
Lazy.
"If you're going to pretend to be asleep, at least commit to it."
Juliet's entire body went rigid.
"You stopped breathing the second I walked over here." The amusement in his voice deepened. "You were doing much better when Elias was still around."
Juliet wanted the floor to open up and swallow her whole. For several seconds, she remained stubbornly motionless.
Cassian simply watched her.
Like a hunter who already knew exactly how this ended.
Finally, her eyelashes fluttered. Slowly, Juliet opened her eyes.
The first thing she saw was Cassian standing beside the bed, one hand resting casually in his pocket while he looked down at her with undisguised fondness.
Her eyes instantly filled with tears.
She could barely believe it.
The man she had spent years thinking hated her—the man she had constantly fought against, provoked, and challenged at every turn—had been in love with her all along.
The realization hit her so hard that her chest ached.
As she lay there staring at him, memories began flooding back one after another.
Every argument. Every deal she had stolen.
Every time she had deliberately pushed him past his limits just to get a reaction out of him.
Looking back now, she suddenly realized how easy it would have been for Cassian to stop her.
A man like him could have crushed her countless times over without even lifting a finger, yet he never had.
He had let her get away with things no one else ever could have.
Her throat tightened painfully.
She lifted her head and looked up at him.
Cassian was standing beside the bed, staring down at her with an expression she couldn't quite read.
"Cassian..." she whispered. "Are you in love with me?"