Page 56 of Reign of Psychos

Cassian forced a smile as the staff made a last call for all guests to take their seats.

“At least she’smychoice, unlike Camilla.” He pulled me closer, resting a proprietary hand on my ass. “And besides, you no longer get to have a say in who I marry.”

Lucian sneered. “Spoken to your mother lately?”

Cassian’s control snapped a second before he lunged at his father. Lucian’s guards both leaped forward to intervene, even though a public scuffle was exactly what Lucian wanted. He thrived on discord. Anything that made him look like the innocent victim worked in his favor.

Before Cassian could throw a punch, I grabbed his wrist and squeezed hard, digging my nails in, distracting him. I felt rather than saw Dario move closer, ready to haul Cassian away, while Landon scanned the few remaining guests, checking nobody was filming us.

“He’s not worth it,” I murmured in a low voice intended only for his ears.

Cassian exhaled slowly, some of the tension leaving his body as Lucian made a show of straightening his tie and smirking.

“You’re right.” He turned his back on his father - the ultimate insult - and brushed his lips against mine. Then he grinned when Lan leaned in to do the same, followed by Dario. I heard Lucian’s sharp gasp of surprise. I guess he hadn’t expected us to flaunt our relationships so openly.

None of us took any notice as Lucian muttered something that sounded a lot like ‘whore’under his breath, probably hoping to provoke Cassian again.

“Let’s go and enjoy the show,” Cassian said, taking me by the hand and leading me toward the sweeping staircase adorned with sparkling lights and fragrant spruce pine garlands.

This was my first opera. Cassian had explained the story of Madame Butterfly, but nothing prepared me for the emotional impact of the performances.

On stage, Butterfly sang ‘un bel dì vedremo’, pouring her hope and longing into the music. I felt her pain. This might only be a performance, but in the darkness of our private box, it was all very real to me.

As the aria ended, I sank back into my chair, wrung out. What the fuck was wrong with me? It had to be pregnancy hormones.

I didn’t do emotions. Rarely, anyway. Yet recently, I’d cried at the slightest thing. Only this morning I burst into tears when I realized the hotel had no blackcurrant jam. How embarrassing.

The server had almost shit herself when Kyril threatened violence if they couldn’t find a pot of blackcurrant jam. Luckily, the hotel hurriedly dispatched a member of staff to hunt down some jam, skillfully averting the crisis.

“Cara, are you alright?” Dario’s soothing words snapped me back to the here and now, and I sniffed. Loudly.

“Something in my eye,” I lied, wiping a few stray tears away.

Landon nodded. “I feel like that when I watch the Lion King. That bit where Mufasa dies gets me every fucking time.”

The Lion King? I’d never actually seen it.

On stage, Act 2 ended, and the lights went up, signaling the intermission.

“I need to use the bathroom.” Yet another fun side-effect of pregnancy. Yay.

I climbed awkwardly over Dario, trying not to get distracted by his hand on my ass. Now was not the time to think about sex. My bladder was ready to burst after the tall glass of sparkling water with a slice of lime I’d guzzled down.

“I’ll come with you,” Landon said.

“I’ll be fine!”

“No, I’m not letting you go alone,” he insisted with a wink. Hmm.

Knowing him, he planned a sneaky hookup in the ladies’ bathroom, but the long queue outside the door soon dissuaded him.

“I’ll wait here for you,” he told me with a quick brush of his lips against mine.

“Gosh, I wish my husband treated me like that,” an older lady chuckled as we both stepped inside the cavernous bathroom and waited for a free cubicle. “Looked like that, too.”

I wondered if maybe I should pinch myself. Was this a fever dream? Maybe I was still imprisoned in my father’s dungeon and my imagination had been playing tricks on me, showing me a future I could never have.

Just as I finished peeing, my phone buzzed in my clutch.Eden. I frowned. She knew we were at the opera, so why was she calling?

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