Chapter 4
Isla
But my mind kept drifting back to that elevator. To Cassian's body, inches from mine. To the electricity that had coursed between us.
I rubbed my eyes and leaned back in my chair. The apartment was silent except for the distant hum of the refrigerator and the occasional car passing on the street below. Leo slept soundly in his room, blissfully unaware that his mother was slowly unraveling.
Almost three years since I'd last felt Cassian Barone's hands on my body. Since I'd given myself to a stranger in a way I never had before.
I closed my eyes, and suddenly I could feel them again—those hands. Calloused and demanding, sliding up my thighs, gripping my waist, pulling me closer.
The memory crashed over me like a wave.
We barely made it to his hotel room. The door had hardly closed before he pressed me against it, his mouth hungry on mine. I'd never been wanted like this—like I was air and he was drowning.
Later, when he moved inside me, he'd commanded: "Look at me." And I had our eyes locked, completely vulnerable. Completely his.
I'd never felt so seen. So known.
I shook my head, dispelling the memory. Focus. I needed to focus on the Calabrese documents, not on the way Cassian had made me feel that night. Not on how his touch had awakened something in me I hadn't known existed.
But that was the problem. Now that I was back in his orbit, I couldn't stop remembering. Couldn't stop wanting.
I slammed the file shut, my heart racing. This was torture. Working for him, being near him every day, pretending I didn't know exactly how his lips felt against my skin, how his voice sounded when he lost control.
Pretending I hadn't spent the last two years raising his son.
I checked the baby monitor on the counter. Leo was still sleeping peacefully, his little chest rising and falling. My beautiful boy. Cassian's son.
The guilt hit me like a physical blow. Cassian didn't know. He had a child—a bright, curious, loving little boy—and I was keeping them apart. What kind of person did that make me?
But what choice did I have? The morning after our night together, I woke up alone. No note. No number. Nothing but the memory of his body against mine and the ghost of his touch on my skin.
His words from that night echoed in my mind.
I don't do relationships, he had told me at the bar, his voice certain. I don't do attachments.
I'd heard the warning but hadn't fully believed it until I woke to an empty bed. What was I supposed to do—track down a man who'd made it clear he wanted nothing permanent? Tell him I was pregnant when he'd explicitly said he didn't want attachments?
The choice had been made for me the moment he walked out that door.
I hadn't expected to fall pregnant. Hadn't expected to feel such fierce, protective love for the tiny life growing inside me. And I certainly hadn't expected to ever see Cassian Barone again.
Until I walked into his office for that interview.
My phone buzzed with a text. I glanced at the screen.
Maya: You still up? Leo good for tomorrow?
I smiled despite my exhaustion. Maya Chen had been my saving grace since Leo was born. My neighbor, friend, and the owner of Sunshine Steps, the in-home daycare where Leo spent his days while I worked.
Me: Still up. Drowning in work. And yes, dropping him off at 7:30 if that works.
Maya: Perfect. Wine and debrief tomorrow night? You look like you need it.
Me: God, yes. 8?
Maya: It's a date. Now go to bed, crazy woman.
I set my phone down, grateful not for the first time that I'd found Maya.
A divorced mother of two teenagers, she'd started her daycare after her own kids entered high school.
She watched four children in her apartment, which was directly below mine—a godsend for a single mother with no family support.
The apartment was rent-controlled, inherited from a distant cousin who'd moved to Florida.
Even at a below-market rate, affording it on an assistant's salary was tight—especially with Leo's medical expenses. He’d had trouble breathing a few times and had to be hospitalized.
Even with his improving health, the next episode could happen any time.
My savings from my previous job as a data analyst at a security consulting firm had kept us afloat these past few years, but those funds were dwindling.
I needed this job at Barone Industries. Needed the higher salary and the benefits.
It was why I'd been desperate enough to apply in the first place.
The clock now read 3:04 a.m. I needed sleep, but my mind was still racing. I gathered the Calabrese documents and tucked them neatly back into the folder. I'd finish reviewing them in the morning before heading to the office.
As I passed Leo's room, I couldn't resist peeking in. He slept on his back, arms flung wide, dark hair tousled against his pillow. So much like his father, even in sleep. The same strong jaw, the same thick lashes. The same intensity, even at two and a half years old.
"I love you, little man," I whispered, carefully closing his door.
In my bedroom, I changed into an oversized t-shirt and sat on the edge of my bed. Sleep wouldn't come, not with memories of Cassian haunting me. Not with the weight of my secret pressing down.
I reached under the bed and pulled out a shoebox. Inside were the few precious mementos I'd kept of my pregnancy and Leo's birth. Things I couldn't display but couldn't bear to throw away.
The first ultrasound photo, a grainy black-and-white image where Leo had been nothing more than a bean-shaped blur. I remembered lying on that table alone, terrified and exhilarated in equal measure when the technician had pointed to the screen and said, "There's your baby."
Leo's hospital bracelet, tiny enough to fit around my thumb.
The day he was born had been the most exhausting, painful, wonderful day of my life.
Maya had been with me, holding my hand through twenty hours of labor.
When they'd placed Leo on my chest, red-faced and screaming, I'd known I'd do anything to protect him.
At the bottom of the box lay a cocktail napkin from the hotel bar where I'd met Cassian. The Palms Resort logo was printed in gold on white paper, now slightly yellowed with age. I'd kept it as a reminder of how quickly life could change. One decision, one night, and nothing was ever the same.
I brushed my thumb over the napkin, remembering how nervous I'd been sitting at that bar. How alive I'd felt when Cassian sat down beside me.
"I should've walked away," I whispered to the empty room. "But I still remember how he made me feel."
Like I mattered. Like I was worth seeing. Worth knowing.
The irony wasn't lost on me. The man who'd made me feel so seen was the same man who'd left without a word. The same man who now had no idea I existed beyond the role of his assistant.
I placed everything back in the box and slid it under the bed. Four hours until my alarm. Four hours to somehow find sleep before facing Cassian again.
Before continuing the lie that was slowly consuming me.
"Someone had a rough night," Maya said when I dropped Leo off the next morning. Her apartment smelled of coffee and cinnamon, the familiar scents of her morning routine with the children.
"That obvious?" I attempted a smile, adjusting Leo's backpack on his little shoulders.
"Only to someone who knows what sleep deprivation looks like." She took Leo's hand. "Go say hi to Emma and Zach, buddy. They're building with the big blocks."
Leo ran off happily to join the other children in Maya's living room, which she'd converted into a colorful play space. At a little over two, he was already so social, so confident. Another trait he'd inherited from his father.
"Work?" Maya asked, leading me to her kitchen, where a pot of coffee waited.
"Yes." I accepted the mug she offered. "New job, mountains of paperwork."
Maya leaned against the counter, studying me over the rim of her own mug. At forty-two, she radiated the kind of quiet confidence I aspired to. Her dark hair was streaked with silver, her face lined with laugh lines rather than worry.
"You still haven't told me much about this new position," she said. "Just that it pays better than the last one."
I hesitated, watching Leo through the kitchen doorway. He was helping a younger child stack blocks, his little face serious with concentration.
"It's complicated," I finally said.
"Complicated how?"
I lowered my voice, though the children were too engrossed in their play to listen. "Remember that guy I told you about? From Miami?"
Maya's eyes widened. "Leo's father? The one-night stand?"
I nodded, my stomach churning. "I'm working for him."
"Holy shit," Maya whispered. "Does he know?"
"No. He doesn't even recognize me." The admission hurt more than it should have. "We used fake names that night. He called himself Antonio."
"And you're what, his secretary now?"
"Executive assistant." I sipped my coffee, needing the caffeine. "To Cassian Barone."
Maya nearly choked. "Barone? As in Barone Industries? The oil tycoon?"
I nodded.
"Jesus, Isla." She set her mug down with a thunk. "That's not just complicated, that's a fucking powder keg."
"I know." I glanced at Leo again, making sure he was still occupied.
"I knew it was him when I applied." The admission felt like ripping off a bandage.
"I researched him after I found out I was pregnant.
When I saw the job posting for Barone Industries, I—I thought he should know about Leo, but I needed to see what kind of man Cassian Barone was before making any decisions.
I thought I could work there, get to know what kind of man he was, and then decide whether to tell him. "
Maya stared at me. "You deliberately walked into that situation?"
"I was desperate. My savings were running out, Leo needed his medical visits covered, and—" I swallowed hard. "And I wanted my son to know his father. Even if it meant risking everything."
"Jesus, Isla." Maya set her mug down. "That's not just complicated, that's playing with fire."
"I know." I glanced at Leo again. "But what was I supposed to do? Show up at his office with a toddler and say 'Surprise, you're a father'? I needed to see what kind of man he was first. Whether he was dangerous. Whether he'd try to take Leo from me."
"And now?"
"Now, I'm in too deep to get out."
"And it’s too late to back out without looking suspicious." I ran a hand through my hair. "And I need this job, Maya. The salary is double what I was making before. Benefits for Leo. Stability."
"Stability?" Maya's eyebrows shot up. "There's nothing stable about working for your child's father who doesn't know he's a father."
"I know how it sounds."
"It sounds insane." Maya softened her tone, placing a hand on my arm. "Honey, you have to tell him."
"I can't." The fear that had lived in my chest for all this time flared. "You don't understand what kind of man he is. The power he has."
"What are you afraid of? That he'll take Leo?"
I nodded, unable to voice my deepest fear.
"Or that he won't want either of you?" Maya asked gently.
The question hit like a slap. Both possibilities terrified me equally—that Cassian would take my son, or that he would reject him. Reject us.
"I don't know what to do," I admitted, my voice small.
Maya pulled me into a hug. "We'll figure it out. One step at a time."
Over her shoulder, I watched Leo building his tower higher and higher. So innocent. So unaware of the complicated web his mother had woven.
"I have to go," I said, pulling away. "Early meeting."
"Tonight," Maya said firmly. "Wine. Talk. No excuses."
I managed a genuine smile this time. "Promise."
I kissed Leo goodbye, breathing in his sweet scent, drawing strength from his tight hug around my neck.
My phone buzzed in my pocket as I stepped into the building's lobby. Cassian's name flashed on the screen, but not his usual work number—this was his personal cell. The one he'd given me with strict instructions to use only for emergencies.
He'd never texted me from it before.
Cassian: My office. 9 a.m. Don't be late. -CB
I stared at the message, my stomach dropping. Using his personal line meant this wasn't just business. The terseness felt ominous. No "good morning," no context. Just a summons.
A second text came through immediately:
Cassian: The Calabrese files you prepared. We need to go over them before the meeting. Several issues need addressing.
My hands went cold. Issues? I'd triple-checked everything before leaving the office. What could be wrong?
I typed back with shaking fingers:
Me: Is there a problem with the analysis?
Three dots appeared. Disappeared. Appeared again.
Cassian: We'll discuss it at 9 a.m.
I stood frozen in the lobby, commuters flowing around me like water around a stone. Maya's words echoed in my head: "You have to tell him."
But I couldn't. Not yet. Not when I didn't know what he knew or what he was looking for.
The walk to the subway felt longer than usual, every step weighted with dread. Cassian Barone wasn't the type to schedule morning meetings about nothing. He'd found something.
The question was: what?
Then I headed for the subway and another day of pretending I didn't know exactly what Cassian Barone looked like when he came undone.
Another day of pretending I hadn't given him the most precious gift of all—and kept it secret.
But now, I couldn't shake the feeling that my carefully constructed lies were starting to crumble.