Page 52 of Maddest Temptation

Nothing.

“Cassio,” I tried again.

I reached the bathroom in record time but halted once I saw him sitting on the floor. Why was I so stupid?! I shouldn’t have left him. I should have brought my phone with me, I needed to call 911, and I didn’t care about the consequences. I opened the glass door bracing for the worst.

Cassio was sitting with his head bowed between his knees. Water poured over him, the skin on his back was gleaming in an angry red. I stepped inside the shower cursing when the scalding water touched me. Quickly, I turned the cold faucet on. I had turned it on. I recall making sure the water wasn’t too hot.

“Cassio.” I crouched beside him. The sight of him was haunting. His powerful frame seemed so small right now.

I placed my hand on his upper arm, his skin burning. Slowly he turned toward me and when he opened his eyes, I finally allowed myself to breathe. I knew he was alive, but the thoughts of something worse happening just kept coming back. I looked at the white tiled floor and noticed the water was still coming out in a pinkish hue.

“I’m going to wash you, okay?” Not waiting for his answer, I reached for a loofah and began cleaning him up.

“I killed them.” He finally spoke again, startling me.

“Who, Cassio?” I asked as I cleaned him.

“All of them.”

Okay. Breathe, Francesca.

My heartbeat increased, and I tried to ignore it. I knew what Cassio was, and I knew what being Capo meant. You didn’t get to rule the Outfit unless you were worthy of that title, and I knew Cassio didn’t keep it by being nice.

“I lost it, Francesca, I killed his men.”

“Who’s, Cassio?” I asked worriedly.

“Grigori Petrovich. I found them at a bar and killed them all,” he whispered.

“It’s okay,” was all I managed to say. What he was telling me was definitely Outfit business, but for me, it was all gibberish.

“No, Francesca, you don’t understand! I killed his men today,” he said and that was all of it.

When I was done washing him, he finally stood up, almost towering over me. I yanked the towel from the bar and began gently patting him, avoiding the area where I had patched him up. He didn’t complain but neither did he speak.

“To bed now,” I ordered him, and he didn’t complain either. I led him toward my bedroom and pulled the duvets on my bed.

Out of respect, I looked away from his nakedness, but mainly because I was a coward. In the end, I took one small peek at his peach-shaped ass and then quickly closed my eyes.

“You can look if you want,” he said with a smile. My eyes widened; he was facing me. I did everything not to look down. “What’s pretty is meant to be seen.”

“God,” I rolled my eyes. “You must have hit your head pretty hard. Go to bed, Cassio.”

He sat on the edge and slowly slid in. His wince was the only indication that he was in pain. I pulled up the blankets covering him up carefully. The amount of time it took me to turn off the bathroom light was the amount of time it took him to fall asleep. I sighed deeply, not knowing what to do now. Reggie and that big heart of his curled right beside Cassio and closed his eyes, too.

5:08. The clock read.

I sat on my sofa, foot tapping anxiously against the floor. Forty minutes ago, I had put Cassio to sleep. More than one hour ago, he stormed into my apartment. My head snapped toward where the stains of blood had been.

After he fell asleep, I managed to clean the mess left in his wake and also changed from my wet clothes. The moment I sat on the sofa it all came crashing down. I was shaking, and I couldn’t tell if it was the fear of what just happened or if I wanted to use. Who was I kidding? I knew that both options were correct.

Thankfully there was nothing in my apartment that I could use, but on the downside, I had no painkillers he could take once he woke up.

My mind was still trying to wrap around the fact that none other than Cassio was sleeping in my bed. Today I experienced a kind of fear I hadn’t experienced in a long time. The kind that had crushed me once.

I couldn’t lose anyone else, not like I had lost Arabella, my best friend. It was undeniable that I still obviously cared for Cassio. I would always do so, no matter what he’d done to me, a part of me would always care. I don’t know what I would have done if he had?—

“No,” I whispered.

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