Page 38 of Burning Beauty

Maria was confused and the bottom of her stomach dropped as she imagined this gorgeous creature in bed with Nic. Physically the pair were a perfect match. "You had sex with Nic?"

Cassandra wrinkled her nose and reached over to take Maria's spoon right out of her hand, dipping it into the last bit of yogurt left in Maria's bowl. "Ew, no. I thought we already agreed that was gross. I've salsa'd with Nic, gone to Hong Kong with him, but I never drank blood." She ate the yogurt and then continued, "Never had sex with him either. Not even on our honeymoon."

"But why?" Maria asked curiously. "I mean I get that he's more like a brother to you, but I don't understand why you two didn't give the marriage a shot, back in the beginning, when you had no choice but to get married. Wouldn't it have made things easier if you'd tried?"

Cassandra sighed, dropped the spoon back in Maria's bowl and leaned back on her elbow. "I don't really know, to be honest. It just never felt like it was an option for us. He was my best friend back then, I totally hero worshipped him. And he looked at me like I was the younger sister he never had. It didn't feel all that complicated for us to decide to just not be together in that way. I think if we had tried to have a real marriage it would've ruined our friendship."

Maria leaned back on her chair, closing her eyes and tipping her face up to the warm sunlight. She contemplated Cassandra's words. She couldn't really picture not being attracted to Nic. She'd felt an electric jolt go through her the first time she laid eyes on him and the attraction only got stronger with time. The man took her breath away, ignited a fire within her and stole her sanity. The idea that Cassandra would feel nothing but friendship was utterly foreign to her.

"If you're so close to him, then why do you act like you're afraid of him?" Maria asked curiously.

Cassandra sighed deeply and shifted on her chair. "I wouldn't say I'm afraid of him exactly, more like I have a healthy respect for him and what he does. It's true that I used to be much closer to him, when he was younger, more able to share himself and his feelings with me. But years of hard business has eroded what we used to be to each other. I've seen him make some terrible decisions. I've seen him do things that make me sick to my stomach. After that... I guess I allowed him to drift into the darkness where he seemed most comfortable."

"Do you love him?" Maria asked, a catch in her voice as she asked. She didn't know why it mattered, but she wanted to understand the relationship between Nic and his wife. Maybe understanding would help her with her situation.

"Yes," Cassandra replied easily, but then continued. "I will never stop loving Nic. He's been around almost my entire life, as a brother and a protector, I will probably always love him."

Which meant her first loyalty lay with Nic. Something that Maria would have to be careful of if her friendship with Cassandra continued to develop. And if the other woman had any say in the matter, they were going to be besties in a matter of days.

When Maria opened her eyes, she found Casandra hovering over her, a worried frown on her beautiful face. "I hope I'm not upsetting you," she said hurriedly. "I do love Nic, but of course you always get dibs on him since you're fucking him, and probably going to have his kids and stuff."

Maria burst out laughing, she couldn't help it. Cassandra was such a strange mix of self-awareness, but she also had a child-like innocence about her. "I'm not upset," Maria assured her. "I'm starting to understand that you and Nic have a very special relationship. I have no desire to come into the middle of that."

"Oh, you won't," Cassandra assured her, sinking back onto her own lounger. "If you try it, I'll just trick you into believing we're friends then stab you in the back while you're sleeping and blame it on one of Nic's enemies."

Maria's mouth fell open so hard her jaw creaked. Cassandra held a straight face for a solid thirty seconds before bursting into laughter. "I really love that you don't know whether or not to believe I'm capable of murder," she giggled and slapped her bare leg.

"You... you are utterly terrifying," Maria spluttered. For fucks sake, she still wasn't sure if the other woman was being truthful or not.

"Besides," Cassandra said, fiddling with a bottle of sunscreen. "Knives aren't really my thing. If I needed to kill someone, I'd probably poison them."

"I'm never eating anything you give me," Maria assured her.

"Solid plan." Cassandra nodded approvingly. "But I wouldn't do that to you. I think we're going to be the best of friends; I can feel it."

Maria narrowed her eyes. "It's not like you have many friendship options around here."

Cassandra sighed. "Yeah, Scootch is going to be pissed that I'm throwing him over for a human woman friend."

Maria laughed. "Scootch is one of the dogs?"

"Yup, he's the friendliest of the bunch. I'll introduce you later, but I don't recommend looking him in the eyes. He seems to take that as a signal of aggression."

"Noted," Maria said. They fell silent for a few minutes, then Maria asked another question that had been bothering her. "So... you and Luke? That was quite a kiss in the driveway that first day I arrived."

"Oh my god!" Cassandra squealed and rolled onto her side. "I've been dying to dish about him, but there's no one I can talk to. Isn't he just the most beautiful man you've ever seen?"

If a woman enjoyed giant, scarred-up thugs, then yes, very dreamy. Maria kept that thought to herself and murmured something non-committal, which seemed to give Cassandra the go ahead to finally dish to her new female friend.

"He is just the sweetest man!" she gushed, crossing her arms over her chest and hugging herself in a way only a woman in love could do. The move made Maria ache a little. She'd missed so many years of her life after Marc died. It was nice talking to another woman in a semi-normal setting. "He does the nicest things, like brings me flowers and takes me for walks on the beach. He opens doors for me, and he always checks to make sure it’s safe before moving me from location to location."

Maria didn't want to burst her bubble, but someone had to tell her... and since they were friends now, it may as well be Maria. "Except for the flowers, that's all bodyguard stuff he's doing for you, isn't it?"

"Well duh," Cassandra said, rolling her eyes. "Heisa bodyguard, but the difference is, he's not my bodyguard. I have a personal guard, Phillipe, and he is good at his job. But because Luke loves me, he's extra vigilant with my care."

"Well, I'm very happy for you as long as you're happy." Yeah, that sounded like something a friend might say.

Cassandra nodded emphatically. "Yes, I'm so unbelievably happy it's really quite sickening." She beamed at Maria. "And I finally have someone I can gush to and tell all my girly things. Oh, I know what I want to tell you, Luke has the biggest dick I've ever seen!"

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