5. Cassandra Walker
‘Istill think we should kill the barista,’ my monster purred in my ear as I navigated my Audi through Silent Hollow’s financial district.
‘We’re not killing the barista,’ I silently snapped back, taking a sip of the coffee Theo had given me. And thank god she did. It was the only thing keeping me together this morning. I was hanging by a damn thread.
‘You never let me kill anybody. I’m losing patience with you,’ my monster growled in frustration, and I gritted my teeth against the urge to just tell it to shut the fuck up.
‘I let you kill my mother.’
The beast that lived inside me snorted, and I rolled my eyes. Usually, I didn’t outwardly react to the voice in my head, but alone in my car, where no one could see me, I allowed myself to indulge.
‘Let’ is an interesting choice of words, little killer. I seem to remember you begging me to slit her throat.’
‘Please. I don’t beg,’ I snipped, and my beast chuckled softly.
‘Come now. Just one little barista. It would be easy. All you would need to do is learn her schedule. We could follow her home. I bet she screams so pretty… Besides, she was flirting with your street fighter. Don’t you want to punish her for that?’
‘Theo is not my street fighter. Besides, I’ve told you a thousand times. We can’t just go killing innocent people. We’ll end up in prison.’
‘Let me have the street fighter, then, if you do not want her. I bet you she screams even prettier than the barista.’
Rage and fear coursed through me at the thought of my monster setting its sights on Theo.
“Theodora is off limits. You are forbidden from killing her.’
‘I do not have to kill her to make her scream.’
This psychotic conversation with the demon in my head was doing nothing to improve my mood.
I’d already been in a shitty mood when I’d left my condo that morning, so being blindsided by none other than Theo freaking Fairview on my pit stop at my local cafe had thrown me for even more of a loop.
No one managed to rile me up the way Theo seemed to, and it was one of the many reasons I needed to stay the fuck away from her.
I’d spent the entire drive to my office thinking about Theo instead of the four point two billion things I needed to get done today, and honestly, it was exhausting.
She was hurt again.
She was hurt again, and I hated it.
Anger swirled in my gut at her complete disregard for her own safety.
I didn’t understand why she constantly put herself in danger like that, and it infuriated me.
It was why I’d been avoiding her for weeks.
Every time I saw her and noticed she’d suffered a new bruise, all it did was make me want to murder the fuck out of whoever had put it there, and frankly, I’d been spending most of my life trying not to indiscriminately kill people that pissed me off… much to my monster’s dismay.
So, it was better for everyone if I didn’t constantly trigger myself by spending time with that adorable little masochist.
I was still thinking about the soft smile on Theo’s beautiful, yet bruised face, when the elevator chimed, indicating that I’d arrived at the lobby of my firm.
The doors slid open, and I immediately felt more balanced.
‘Be quiet now. We’re at work. You know the rules,’ I muttered silently to my beast, and it sighed but conceded, curling deeper into the cage I’d built for it in my mind.
A deep sense of contentment settled in my bones as my heels struck home on the white marble floors leading to the glass doors of my personal source of true freedom.
This was where I belonged.
This was where I thrived.
Here, I was queen of my own shit. Nothing could touch me here.
The only thing that would make it better was having my name up there on the wall, right next to Sinclair and Morrissy, but I was already well on my way toward that.
Sinclair, Morrissy, and Walker LLP–coming in hot.
A rush of excitement rolled through me as I imagined how the sign would look with my name spelled out in that same glistening chrome.
I’d earned it.
What was pissing me off was that Sinclair and Morrissy hadn’t announced it yet.
I’d just won the biggest celebrity case this firm had ever seen. It’d been all over the news and had gone viral on several social media platforms.
It’d been a defamation case between Tristan Steele and his record label. I’d represented Tristan and had spent the last few months absolutely destroying opposing counsel.
I’d always been good.
I had a perfect record and had yet to lose a case, but this last one put my name on the map.
It had put our firm on the map.
No one had even known about our tiny firm until I’d taken that case. Really, I had Dr. Tom Callahan to thank for it.
Tristan and Tom were friends from high school, and after his label had sold his masters to a more problematic record company without his sign-off, Tristan went to Tom, who recommended me to represent him.
When I took the case, Tom said he owed me for helping his friend, which was ridiculous. He’d basically handed me the key to making partner. But still, he’d treated it as a favor, and when I’d called him to come save my brother from bleeding out after he’d been shot, he’d come running.
I owed Tom for more than just that.
He’d also saved Theodora’s life when she’d almost fucking died on me… which… just the thought of that made me literally nauseous.
I shook my head.
Don’t think about her. Eye on the ball, Cassandra.
The partners were probably just waiting to announce the promotion at my celebration dinner that night.
I strode through the glass doors leading into the busy foyer, nodding at Alyssa, my administrative assistant, as she scurried up to me with her trusty iPad.
“Ms. Walker! I’m so glad you’re here! The press called, and they want to interview you today, or at least get a statement about the conclusion of the Steele case. Everyone’s really excited!”
“Alright, no problem. Can you just put the details on my calendar?” I asked as Alyssa fell in line to walk with me as I made my way to my office.
“Already done. Also, Nolan Cross has been asking for a meeting with you. I tried to tell him you were booked up, but he just kind of… helped himself to your office. He’s in there waiting now. I’m really sorry. I insisted he needed to make an appointment like everyone else, but he wouldn’t listen.”
I scrunched up my nose in distaste.
Ew.
Fucking Nolan.
We hooked up one time, and now he thinks he’s entitled to just bypass my assistant?
He wasn’t even a good lay.
Jesus.
“Give a man an inch…” I grumbled, and Alyssa laughed nervously next to me as she rushed to keep up on her much shorter legs.
I slowed down slightly to give her time to catch up, giving her a tight smile.
“Don’t worry about it, I’ll deal with Mr. Cross. Can you just make sure my calendar is clear by at least six so I can get to Chez Guillame at a reasonable hour? You can head out at four today if you’re finished with all your tasks, in case you need to get ready for the event.”
“O-of course, Ms. Walker! Thank you!” Alyssa squeaked, and I smiled at her, handing her my now-empty cup of coffee.
Theo had a lot of faults, but she had good taste in coffee, I’d give her that.
“And if you could get me another triple long, I’d appreciate it.” Alyssa nodded and rushed off, leaving me to deal with Nolan.
I paused before the door to my office. Taking a moment to straighten out my blouse, I let out a slow, grounding breath. Dealing with Nolan was always a little taxing. I was beyond irritated that he was the first person I had to meet with today.
‘Not the first. Your street fighter was the first,’ my monster reminded me with a swish of its tail.
My lip twitched, but I forced Theo into the box I tried to keep her in at the back of my mind.
‘Not now, pest. Let me work.’
Opening the door to my office, I did my best to fix my face as Nolan glanced up from whatever he was doing on his laptop, where he’d made himself at home on one of my leather couches.
My office was a corner office, and two of the four walls were floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking Silent Hollow’s financial district. All my furniture was a fresh blend of bright ivory whites and rich sandstone.
It was very bright and modern. I’d intentionally avoided the cliched ‘boys club’ look that I’d noticed most of my male counterparts had favored when decorating their offices.
I had original signed black and white posters from Audrey Hepburn and Marilyn Monroe on the walls, along with some more modern signed posters from powerhouse female celebrities I’d had the privilege of meeting at various events over the course of my career.
The rest of my space was pretty standard legal stuff, like floor-to-ceiling bookcases full of law books and a TV I used to keep an eye on news segments surrounding whatever cases I might be working on.
“It’s nearly eight am, and you’re just getting in now? Better late than never, I suppose,” Nolan drawled from where he was sprawled on my couch.
Nolan was waspy, and everything about him screamed old money. His honey-gold hair was a perfectly crafted flow of waves, styled with a bit of soft pomade, and his eyes were boy-next-door blue.
They looked even brighter than usual, as he wore a navy bespoke suit with a deep gold tie. He had one ankle crossed over his knee, and his socks had little golfers on them, making him seem a little more human than I knew he was.
Nolan was a lot like me, minus the boatloads of childhood trauma.
Not that we’d ever sat around braiding each other’s hair and swapping tragic back stories. I just knew Nolan didn’t have anywhere close to as brutal an upbringing as I had, simply because not many people did.
I was basically raised in a cage for the first thirteen years of my life, for Christ’s sake. I wasn’t trying to win the trauma Olympics or anything, but I mean… if the Louboutin fits.