Chapter 22 – Cassandra #2
I couldn’t hold back the sob anymore. It ripped out of me, raw and painful.
“But Vance found you anyway,” Rafael continued. “Years later, in Ohio. He’d been following leads, tracking shell companies, looking for any connection to David Miller’s daughter. And when he finally tracked you down, he saw an opportunity.”
“To use me,” I said bitterly.
“To use you,” Rafael agreed. “To manipulate you. To turn you against us. To make you his weapon.”
I drank the scotch in one burning gulp, barely tasting it.
“That ambush,” Rafael said. “When you gave Vance real intel for the first time. I sent Drew.”
My head snapped up. “You knew?”
“I intercepted your burner phone signal. Traced the tip back to you.” Rafael’s expression was unreadable.
“And I sent Drew because I knew he would make it out alive. He’s as ruthless as needed in the moment.
And I knew that if things went wrong, if you were in deeper than I thought, Drew would be motivated to protect you. To bring you back.”
“You manipulated both of us,” I said, and there was no accusation in my voice. Just exhausted realization.
“I gave you both a choice,” Rafael corrected.
“I could have confronted you immediately. Could have had you killed or imprisoned or exiled. But I wanted you to come to me on your own. Because if I’d told you the truth about Vance, about your father, you wouldn’t have believed me.
You would have thought I was lying to protect myself. ”
He was right. I wouldn’t have believed him.
“You needed to see it,” Rafael said. “You needed to feel it. Needed to realize on your own that Vance wasn’t who he claimed to be. That his motivations weren’t pure. That he was using you.”
“And if I hadn’t figured it out?” I asked. “If I’d kept working with him?”
Rafael’s eyes went cold. “Then we would be having a very different conversation right now.”
I believed him.
We sat in silence for a long moment, the weight of everything settling over me like a heavy blanket.
“Are you going to kill me?” I finally asked, my voice small.
Rafael chuckled—actually chuckled—and shook his head. “Kill you? No, Cassandra. You haven’t done anything wrong.”
I stared at him in disbelief. “I betrayed you. I accessed classified files. I met with your enemy. I gave him intel that almost got people killed—”
“You protected my nephew,” Rafael interrupted. “You sent that anonymous tip. You saved Drew’s life, Damir’s life, and Kirill’s work. You chose us when it mattered most.”
“But—”
“The only thing you did wrong,” Rafael said, walking to the window, “was take too long to come to me. You should have trusted me sooner. Should have asked me about your father instead of searching in the dark.”
“I was scared,” I admitted.
“I know.” He turned to look at me, and for the first time since I’d known him, his expression was almost warm. “And I don’t blame you for that. You’ve spent your entire life with no one to trust, no family to turn to, no stability. Of course, you were scared.”
Fresh tears spilled down my cheeks.
“But you’re not alone anymore,” Rafael said. “You have Drew. You have this family. You have a child on the way who will grow up knowing exactly where they come from and who they belong to.”
I couldn’t speak. Could only nod.
“Vance Donovan is being handled,” Rafael said, his tone shifting back to business. “Kirill is tracking his movements. When we find him, we’ll deal with him. Permanently. You don’t need to worry about him anymore.”
“What about me?” I asked. “My job?”
Rafael returned to his desk and sat down. “You’re still my assistant. Still trusted with my schedule, my files, my operations. Nothing changes.”
“How can you trust me after everything?”
“Because you proved yourself,” Rafael said simply.
“You had every reason to destroy us, every justification. Vance gave you the perfect motivation, the perfect cover story. And yet, when it came down to it, you chose to protect us. That tells me everything I need to know about where your loyalty truly lies.”
I wiped at my tears with the back of my hand, feeling lighter than I had in months. Maybe years.
“Thank you,” I whispered.
“Don’t thank me yet.” Rafael’s lips quirked into a small smile. “You’re about to have a baby with a Kamarov. Your life is going to get significantly more complicated.”
Despite everything, I laughed. It was watery and broken, but it was real.
“Now go home to your husband,” Rafael said, waving a hand dismissively. “He’s been pacing outside this office for the past hour, convinced I’m going to have you killed.”
My eyes widened. “Drew’s here?”
“Where else would he be?” Rafael raised an eyebrow. “He wouldn’t let you come alone. Said something about ‘over my dead body’ when I suggested it.”
More tears. God, I was such a mess.
I stood up on shaky legs, walked to the door, and paused with my hand on the handle.
“Rafael?”
“Yes?”
“I’m sorry. For everything. For not trusting you. For putting people in danger. For—”
“Cassandra.” His voice was firm but not unkind. “You’ve apologized enough. Now go. Before Drew breaks down my door.”
I nodded, opened the door, and nearly collided with Drew, who was indeed pacing in the hallway outside Rafael’s office.
The moment he saw me, his eyes went wide, scanning my face, my body, looking for injuries or signs of distress.
“Are you okay?” he asked, his hands immediately going to my shoulders. “What did he say? Are you—”
I threw my arms around his neck and buried my face in his chest, sobbing.
Drew held me tight, his arms wrapping around me like a shield, and I felt him press a kiss to the top of my head.
“It’s okay,” he murmured against my hair. “I’ve got you. You’re okay.”
“He knew,” I said between sobs. “He’s always known. And he—he told me about my father. About Vance. About everything.”
Drew pulled back just enough to look at my face, his gray eyes searching mine. “And?”
“And he’s not going to kill me.” A watery laugh escaped. “He said I took too long to come to him.”
Drew’s entire body sagged with relief. He pulled me close again, and I felt him shaking slightly.
“I thought I was going to lose you,” he whispered, so quietly I almost didn’t hear it.
“You’re not getting rid of me that easily,” I said, trying for humor even though my voice was still thick with tears.
He pulled back, framed my face with his hands, and kissed me. Soft and gentle and full of so much emotion I thought I might break from it.
When he pulled away, his forehead rested against mine.
“No more secrets,” he said. “No more lies. We’re in this together. All of it.”
“No more secrets,” I agreed. “I promise.”
He kissed me again, deeper this time, and I melted into him.
Behind us, I heard Rafael’s door close, giving us privacy.
And for the first time in two years, I felt like I could finally breathe.
The lies were over.
The truth was out.
And somehow, impossibly, I was still standing.
Still loved.
Still part of a family I’d tried so hard to destroy.
Drew took my hand, laced his fingers through mine, and led me toward the elevator.
“Let’s go home,” he said.
Home.
With him. With our baby. With a future I’d never thought I’d have.
“Yeah,” I said, squeezing his hand. “Let’s go home.”