Page 38 of Maddest Temptation

“Baby?” He asked more to himself than to me. He looked shocked. In that moment, his cold unfazed expression subsided with complete perplexity. He looked at me again from head to toe, lingering on my body with such intent that the room began to turn hotter. I knew I should end the charade there, but I was enjoying the look on his face. Everyone knew my marriage had been a fruitless one.

Tip tapping came from the hallway taking his attention from me. Reginald, my baby, came running toward us. His skinny body wiggling with excitement, he was most definitely the worst guard dog in existence.

“What the hell is that!” Cassio remained paralyzed, looking down skeptically at Reginald. I picked him up in one swift motion settling him in my arms, and he began to wiggle, I gave him one kiss on his cold muzzle.

“This is Reginald,” I said matter of fact.

“That is your baby?”

“Yes,” I answered simply. And I could measure the amount of sudden relief that filled him. Why should he even care? The action made me suddenly very angry. “I really have more important things to do than chitchatting with you. As odd as it sounds. If you’ll excuse me.” I tried to pass him by, but the apartment was too small for the two of us, he was already taking up too much space, and he hadn’t even left the entrance.

“Sit down, Francesca, you are not leaving,” he said with all the calm and coldness in the world, something I imagine he learned over the years. It was incredible what a calm and detached tone of voice could accomplish. People thought shouting was the answer, but it wasn’t. “You better remember who I am, Francesca.”

“Oh, trust me, I haven’t forgotten.” How can I?

He came inside eyeing my apartment with both interest and disdain. Taking in the boxes I still hadn’t opened and the complete mess I’d made of things. What a grand surprise.

He took a seat on my stool, forcing me to stand in my kitchen looking at him. He didn’t sit on the sofa, which meant this wasn’t going to be something fun to discuss. I settled Reginald on the floor and leaned against the kitchen counter putting as much space between us as possible. I hated that he was here for less than five minutes, and I was already nervous. With all that had happened in the last two days, this was the last thing that I needed.

His eyes trailed to something behind me, and Cassio stood, walked toward it, and grabbed one of my orange pill bottles. It was hard to judge at that moment what was going on in his head, but I could tell from his clenched jaws that it wasn’t pleasant.

“What did I tell you about the drugs?”

I didn’t answer.

“What. Did. I. Say?” His voice was deadly calm.

I flinched.

“There would be consequences,” I whispered.

“Shit, Francesca,” he hit the bottle against the counter. “When are you going to get it together?” He growled angrily. “I can’t keep dealing with your shit all the time.”

“I didn’t ask you to,” I argued. “You were the one who came barging in. Why are you here, Cassio? I have more important things to… hey, what are you doing?”

“Who gave you this?” His voice was no longer calm. “Who the fuck gave you this?”

“Paolo.” I snapped. “One of his friends was a doctor.”

“This is heavy shit, Francesca.” He shoved the bottle into his pocket exactly where I would never dare reach.

“I know, that’s the point.”

He picked up a piece of paper and then grabbed a pen from the nearby table and wrote a number. “If you don’t make an appointment by Wednesday, I’ll come back here and force you into a clinic.”

I laughed. “Have you lost your fucking mind?” I crossed my arms.

He spun around so fast that I stumbled back. “I don’t deal in requests, I deal in orders, and you will abide by them.”

“I am not one of your men, Cassio.”

“No,” he agreed shaking his head. “You are much worse. I have given you a choice,” he said with a scary calmness.

“You can’t force me.” I dug my nails deeper into my palms.

“Test me and you’ll find out what I am capable of, Francesca. Speaking of which,” he ran his thumb under his lip. A sign he was pissed. “We have to talk.”

“I have nothing else to say to you.”

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