“What the fuck, Christopher?” she growls. Toby pops his large head around her body and looks at me in warning.
“Where is he?” Walking into their apartment, I take a good look around. It’s different to the last time I was here. There’s more shit…everywhere.
Fucking hell!
Leo is minimalist. He likes everything in its place, which means he must be going insane with Cassie’s organised clutter.
“He’s out.” She follows me into the large living space, perching on the back of the love seat as she looks me over, assessing. “I don’t know details. I didn’t ask.”
She’s lying. I can tell by the way she swallows down on nothing and fidgets with her long fringe.
“Where the fuck is he, Princess?”
“Work? I don’t fucking know, and if I did, I wouldn’t tell you. You look like shit. Crazy.”
“My daughter is dead. My wife is gone.” Heart pounding in my chest, I stalk to her.
Toby growls beside her, ready to attack.
“Down, boy.” Patting his head, she sits straighter, taller… “Be careful, Christopher, he doesn’t always listen.”
“Tell me where he is.”
Eyes flitting to the floor-to-ceiling glass wall, like she’s taking in the scenery, she responds, “With Freddie.”
“Where?”
Shrugging, she looks at me with pity gleaming in her big eyes.
“Don’t look at me like that.”
“You need to get yourself together. For Bella…and you. You’re going to end up hurting yourself, and it will destroy her. She’s already lost so much…”
I hate that word. Loss. It’s a cop-out for what happened.
My chest heaves with my uncontrolled breaths.
What does she know of losing everything?
“We. We’ve lost so much.” I take one last step towards her. “Call him.”
Pulling my phone from my back pocket, I call Casper as I follow her to the bedroom door. Watching as she dials, I wait for him to pick up his phone.
Why is every motherfucker out of reach?
“Leo’s not picking up,” she tells me, pushing past me towards the lounge. “I’m starting my internship tomorrow. It’s two in the morning, and I have an eight-o’clock start…”
“I don’t give a shit about your fucking internship. I want to know where the fuck Leo and Freddie are!”
Spinning fast on her heels, she grabs my jaw roughly. It takes me aback. Anger blazes in her eyes.
“Don’t be a dick,” Cassie spits in my face with more fury than I’ve ever seen from her. Her nails pinch as her hand clenches tight. “They’re trying to help you. Hold your shit together. Don’t be so fucking ungrateful!”
Ungrateful?
My hand closes around her wrist as I push her against the wall. My anger is rife, and right now I don’t care if she’s my sister. I don’t care whether I’m going against my own morals. Yanking her hand down, I twist it to her side, my other hand closing around her throat.
“You think they’re holding my shit? Trying to help me?” A bitter laugh rips up my throat. I sound crazy even to myself. “They’re keeping your shit together. Helping you. Keeping you safe. You think Leo’s doing anything for me?”