Chapter Nine #3
‘Because I want to,’ she said quietly.
His face stilled. ‘And I want you.’
‘You mean sexually.’ Her voice was suddenly shaking, and he frowned, swore in Greek.
‘No, not just for sex. Or to help manage this crisis. I want you in my life.’
‘I want that too.’
‘Are you sure? You’re not just saying what you think I want to hear?’ He looked tense, his face more strained even than when he had talked about his past.
And she could understand why. Like her, he had been following a well-defined path for years. Now they were moving into a hazy, terrifying unknown landscape. Except it wasn’t unknown because they had bared their souls, shared every detail of their lives.
Not every detail.
She took a breath. ‘That would depend on whether you want to hear that I trust you and I love you.’
Something flickered across his eyes. He pulled her against his chest almost roughly as if his body was processing a sudden, massive surge of feeling and that roughness was the overflow. ‘I do want to hear that, more than anything.’
‘I can trust you, can’t I, Antaeus? No more secrets. No more lies.’
She felt him nod, his fingers tightening in her hair. ‘So we’re really doing this?’
‘We really are.’ She laughed weakly, relief and happiness saturating her so that her legs felt suddenly boneless. ‘But I don’t think we should go to your apartment. Let’s go to mine. No one will be looking for you there.’
‘Are you sure?’
She felt his gaze in her blood. Gray was the last man to come to her apartment. But it had happened by osmosis as a consequence of inviting him into her business. She had never invited him or any other man into her home feeling as she did about Antaeus.
She nodded, and he pulled her close, his mouth finding hers.
As they walked into her apartment, they reached for one another like newlyweds. Afterwards, they lay in bed, bodies entwined, his need to stay close mirroring her need for him to stay.
‘Why don’t you try and get some sleep?’ Cassie said as Antaeus stifled a yawn.
‘I will if you will.’ His breath was warm on her belly as he leaned in to kiss her stomach, then nip her hipbone. She moaned softly as he licked a stripe up to her left breast. In another minute, she would be lost to him.
‘This is not going to lead to sleep,’ she protested, but he was pushing her thighs apart, his breathing not quite in control. She let her head fall back because he was irresistible.
Her eyes closed, breath catching as he caught her wrists. He was pinning them to the bed when his phone rang.
It was starting.
The next four hours were full-on. But they were well prepared. When Antaeus talked to journalists on the phone, Cassie sat with him in her kitchen. Writing notes and pushing them across the table, guiding him back to the narrative.
Naturally, his past was excavated. The news channels showed photos of Andreas at the time of his sentencing alongside a brief rehash of his crimes and some footage of Antaeus talking on a podcast. But by late afternoon, interest was already fading.
Probably because rehashing an old fraud trial was not gripping enough to offset the intricate financial and legal complexities, which were incomprehensible and dull to most people.
‘I don’t want to tempt fate, but I think the worst might be over,’ she said as Antaeus checked for updates to the story online.
‘I think you might be right.’ Getting up from his chair, he ran his hand over his face. ‘That reporter sounded almost bored.’ He pulled Cassie towards him. ‘You are insanely good at your job, do you know that?’
She smiled up at him, body melting, heart molten. ‘I know. You were good too.’ Truthfully, he was a natural. He stuck to the script but ad-libbed with ease. He sounded exactly the right mix of contrite and resolute.
He grinned. ‘I know.’ As she punched him lightly on the arm, he pulled her closer, then frowned as her stomach rumbled. ‘I completely forgot about lunch.’
‘It’s the adrenaline. I don’t have much in, but I could go down and grab a sandwich from the deli.’
‘I’ll go. I need some fresh air to clear my head.’
As she started to protest, he shushed her, pressing his thumb to her lips. ‘I’m not a celebrity. No one is going to recognise me, and anyway, nobody knows I’m here.’
He was back in New York, and it showed. He had shifted up a gear, his whole being carrying that unspoken assumption of compliance. Gazing down at him from her window, she felt a shiver of panic as she watched him walk down the street, his phone jammed against his ear.
Was him leaving enough to break the spell?
But all this had been hard-won. It had cost both of them so much to get here. What they shared was strong enough to survive a few hours apart. Nevertheless, she kept watching him until he disappeared from view.
She had a quick shower, flicked the duvet into some kind of order and was making a coffee when the door buzzer rang. That was quick.
Without checking the screen, she pressed the entry button and walked eagerly to the door. ‘Can’t keep away, can you?’
But it wasn’t Antaeus. It was her mother.