Page 44 of Captivated

“Are we almost there?”

“Yes. Just a few minutes.”

“Are we going to the point?”

“We are. I should have assumed you knew it since you’ve lived here for ten years.”

“It’s my favorite place, too,” she tells me, giving me another of her soft smiles. “My brother and I used to see who could go out farther onto the jetty before the other got scared. I always won, of course. Until he got older, that is, and entered his fearless phase, while I couldn’t help picturing myself slipping and getting stuck between the rocks as the waves washed over me.”

“I’m glad you had that common sense.”

“Yeah, but then I always owed Sean five dollars when he won.” I can see her smile in the reflection of the window, but then her face falls. “That’s where he got his first taste of betting, I suppose. He has a gambling problem.”

“Is that why he looks the way he does?”

Cassie clears her throat. “He got into a little trouble, but I took care of it.”

A little trouble? If it was a little trouble, she wouldn’t have had to sell the car I got her.

“If I can do anything, let me know.”

Her head whips back towards me. “I don’t need help. It’s a family thing and I’m going to take care of it.”

“I thought you said you already did.”

“Don’t twist my words. You know what? This was a bad idea.” She sits up in her seat and crosses her arms.

I blow out a silent breath and think of how I can salvage the morning. She just put her guard back up and firmly in place, and I don’t get much time to think, because once I park at the point, she unbuckles her seatbelt and gets out.

“Cassie!” I call after her, but it gets swallowed with the wind as she slams the door.

Jesus fucking Christ, Nico. Piss her off some more. Because that’s worked so well for you so far at bringing her closer to you.

Grunting, I chase after her. Damn, she’s quick. She’s already out on the jetty. Luckily, just a few rocks deep.

It’s freezing, and the wind whips her hair all around her, making her look like an ethereal warrior surveying her kingdom before she goes to battle. The deep red against the blue backdrop is like blood in the water. And if I’m not careful, it’ll be my blood.

Cassie has the power to cut me deep if I keep getting too far ahead of myself with her. I know she wants me, but I think she’s afraid. And I understand why, I do. But she’ll never understand me if she continues to keep her guard up when we’re together.

Cassie also has the power to make me cut everyone who’s ever cut her. I’d be her hero if she’d let me. Not the hero who saves, though. No, I’d be the avenging hero who gets rid of everyone who already has, and would dare, hurt my girl.

So, perhaps I’ll be the villain with good intentions.

It’s the most unlike me thing I could possibly do. I thought Leo and everyone in the family was crazy for wanting to burn the world for one single person, but I guess the view is all rose-colored from where I’m standing now, because it makes perfect fucking sense to me in this moment.

Approaching Cassie, I shove my hands in my coat pockets and plant my feet right behind her.

“You keep pushing me away,” I say just loud enough for her to hear me above the wind.

“I know.” She nods. Taking a deep breath, she lets it out and turns around to face me, tucking her wild strands behind her ears. “It’s been engrained in me since I was a kid. Family secrets stay within the family.”

“I was taught something very similar.”

“I figured.” Cassie’s eyes hold mine, and I can see the battle she’s waging on whether to tell me what I can sense she wants to finally let go of. “I don’t talk about my family, Nico. To anyone. Not Lexi, who I trust implicitly, and not even my brother. It’s not for lack of trying, though. I want to tell you. I’ve wanted to tell you a few times now, but each time it got stuck on the tip of my tongue.”

“I told you I’m here.” I cup her face – rubbing my thumbs back and forth across her cold cheeks. “Your secrets are my secrets, Cassandra. I want you to trust me with them, but I won’t force you.”

“I know. You’re good like that.”

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