Page 101 of Hate Me

I was just making my way out of the kitchen, when Cas appeared at the threshold.

I took him in looking his usual slick and stylish self in a navy tailored suit, complete with a silver tie and a crisp, white shirt. “Aren’t you home from King Tower several hours early?”

“We have a visitor arriving in a few moments. I needed to be present.”

“What visitor? Dante?”

He shook his head. “Jeremy Wheeler.”

I tensed right up. “What?”

“He wishes to see Skylar for himself to ensure she is well. He’s astutely determined that her communications are being monitored so he doesn’t trust that her responses are truly hers.”

“And why do we give a fuck what he wants? Why are you even allowing it, rather than telling him to go to hell?”

“Bastian.”

I blew out a breath. “It’s her decision, I know. Just… why does this need to be happening now?”

“You’re concerned it’s going to destabilize things?”

“How far she’s come, that she is actually coming back to herself and us.”

“We won’t allow that to happen.”

“Can’t you just send him away?”

He stepped into me and laid a hand on my shoulder. “It’s not just about protecting her agency. He’s connected to Frank Bennett. Whenever Frank comes up for air in between deep cover operations, he reaches out to Wheeler to obtain a report on his daughter’s activities and overall wellbeing. The time is due for that to occur any day now.”

“And you’re worried that without him being able to see her, he’s gonna report to her black ops father that she’s being held hostage by us?”

“Something along those lines. We don’t want added complications right now. Things are at a crucial stage with my operation against Elijah, nothing can destabilize that.”

“But Frank Bennett definitely has the means to cause a shit-ton of trouble and grief, if he deems it necessary to protect his daughter.”

“He does, yes.” He shoved his hands into the pockets of his pants. “This is also a good test.”

“For what? For her?”

He nodded. “She’s been cut off from the world here in King Manor for weeks. This will be the first contact she’s had outside of the bubble of the three of us—well, and my staff. He’s also a connection to Jett in the way that he’d been working with her on her mission against him too.”

As much as I didn’t like the idea of her being tested like this, because it felt too calculating, I also knew it was an unfortunate necessity.

And, yeah, honestly, I also wanted to see how she would respond. It was a major anxiety for me, worried about something pulling her away from us, or something interfering with her progress and putting her back on the obsessive track.

“All right, yeah.”

“Good.” He gave my shoulder a squeeze. “I’ll let her know.”

I watched then as he headed through the kitchen and out through the patio, walking a few feet into the forest, which was the acres upon acres of King Manor’s backyard that surrounded the mansion.

I stayed where I was, out of earshot, but taking in their movements, reactions, and expressions.

Caleb frowned as Cas approached, clearly wondering both why he was home so early, and why he was interrupting his therapy session with Sky.

Skylar blinked out of the concentrated state she’d been in and looked up at Cas, smiling. She rose to her feet and gave him a greeting, welcome-home hug. He returned it in that very affectionate way of his, holding her tightly, then nuzzling against her cheek for several moments, before releasing her.

Caleb leaned back on his hands, curiosity sparking as he waited for Cas to get down to the reason for the interruption and him being home already.

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