He doesn’t reply. Narrowing his stare on her and Jack, he monitors them from where he’s standing. Now it’s not just Jack I want to kick the shit out of, it’s him too.
I know she’s capable of handling herself. With her father owning one of the biggest security firms in Europe, it’s a certainty. But there is no way I can stand here and watch her with him, not when I’ve done everything I can to keep myself away. Last week was a mistake. I shouldn’t have gone after her. But her tears and the way she looked at me, like she finally saw me.
Like a cruel goddess, her eyes meet mine. The instant she sees me her hands are dropping from Jack’s shoulders, pushing herself away from him. And anger claws at my throat and my chest as he keeps pulling her back to him, holding her to him like she’s his.
Cassandra is not his. She will never be his, and I’ll make sure of it, if I have to.
Watching her isn’t anything new to me. I can’t help it, when she’s around all I see is her. Fuck, it doesn’t even matter if she’s right in front of me, or just in the same room, or nowhere near—all I see is Cassie, and I hate it.
I hate every ounce of my control she’s bastardised with the soft laugh and kind smiles she charms people with. She’s the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen, and I’ve seen many. I’ve been up close with some of the most incredible paintings in the world, and not one of them manages to make me feel all the things she does.
It’s foolish, but when I look at her, I don’t see the pretty girl others do; the way her eyes widen as she takes everything in, I know that she’s desperate for something more. She tugs on the lengths of her hair and bites down on her lips like she just wants to feel something deep. I want that too, so fucking bad. And although looking at her isn’t enough, although watching her doesn’t scratch my need in the slightest. I know that she’s better off, if I stay away. But knowing something, doesn’t make it easy to do it.
“Fucking relax!” Christopher grits when I step around him, because I’m not watching this bullshit anymore. His eyes meet mine in warning, and I really couldn’t give two fucks about all the threats he’s made about staying away from her.
“She’s handled herself.” Spitting my fury at him, I watch her as she watches me, and I wonder if she realises how badly she’s fucked me. “Now, you can handle him, or I’ll do it.”
“What fucking part of don’t fuck this up don’t you understand?” His growl is irate, but before I have a chance to tell him where to shove his question, he is already moving.
Without being spoken to, Freddie automatically backs him and whilst I don’t take my eyes off Cassie, I’m aware of the crowd parting ahead of us. Disgust roils in the pit of my stomach at the way Jack is still pawing at her. And it pisses me off that she doesn’t just nut him one in the jewels or something.
Jack Breckenridge is the lowest of the low. A wrong people pleaser, and he has no business touching her. No right to talk to her. I should break each of his fingers off and pull out his tongue.
One day.
Soon.
Ready to drag her away myself, I bite down on my lip trying to release some of my pent up frustration in any possible way, but it’s not enough, not even when the metallic tang of blood coats my tongue and my hands clench so tight that my knuckles threaten to pop.
They are quick to deal with the situation. Christopher’s got her away from Jack as Freddie stalks him outside. His hands are in the air and the fucker is looking at me with a smirk. He’s goading me, and I know I should walk away from both him and Cassie. But there’s too much anger roiling inside me and if I don’t let it out, I’m going to lose my fucking mind.
The crowd is closing in and I am suffocating with rage. I can’t be here, not while she’s looking at me like I’m everything she’s ever wanted and she’s desperate to have me in her grasp. Those golden-brown eyes stuck on me like she’s the fucking sun and I’m in her orbit.
Not today, and not after she’s had her hands on the dregs of society. I’ve wanted Cassandra Sinclair since the moment I first really saw her. Sitting in her father’s office as he listed all the reasons I should work for him, all the ways he and I could bring my father down, I watched her run around their garden with her friend.
It wasn’t the first time I’d laid eyes on her, but it was the first time I’d heard her real laugh, and fuck, it was the most beautiful sound I’d ever heard. It wasn’t the usual reined-in, superficial chuckle from the lady she painted herself to be, for the first time, her laugh sounded like it came from some other place than her head. It wasn’t all airs and graces; it was clumsy. Loose, and so beautiful. The kind of sound that makes you want to smile. Realising that she wasn’t some stuck-up rich girl with self-importance issues, I couldn’t bring myself to look away.
Not right now though, because although
I have no right to feel all this disgust and disappointment—I do. And Jack knows how it’s eating me up inside.
Jack knows how I operate. All the things that push my buttons and make me tick. Thing is, he’s underestimating how fucked I am over Cassandra. And that makes him as stupid as ever.
I push through the crowd keeping tabs on the top of Freddie’s head, so I don’t lose them. With every step my heart gongs harder in my chest and the only thing keeping me from running to my poisonous little flower, is the anger curling my fists at my sides.
Freddie’s about to let the fucker go when I reach them, and I can tell that it’s not something he wants to do either. I know him well enough to know that in his head he’s thinking of all the ways he can make Jack regret putting his hands on Cassie.
In my head I’m breaking all his fucking fingers. I’m choking every last breath out of him as I crush his throat.
Looking back at me as he guides my cousin to the front doors, Freddie shakes his head. I know what he’s saying, but I can’t bring myself to care about anything other than the fact that Jack is sniffing around Cassie.
Not moving my eyes from where he’s standing, his eyes flitting between Freddie and me, I take purposeful steps towards them. The entire time my stomach is twisting with how fucking pissed I am about him being here.
“Stay away from her,” I hiss at him, my shoulder only barely missing his when I stop beside him.
A scene isn’t something we can afford to make in front of all the people here, but I need to make it plenty clear what I’ll do to him if he so much as looks in Cassandra’s direction again. I’m fully aware he can’t help it, fuck, I can’t. But his intentions and mine are very different on all fronts.
“This isn’t the office, Fairfax. You ca—” He starts with a sneer and before he can finish, I close my hand around his throat.