Page 46 of Burning Beauty

Maria burst out laughing and, after a few seconds, Cassandra started laughing too. It was too hard to imagine anyone pity fucking Cassandra. The woman defined physical perfection. She was the Helen of Troy that Homer had in mind when he wrote The Iliad. The face that launched a thousand ships.

Nope. No way would Maria believe that Cassandra had to beg anyone to fuck her.

"Okay, maybe not pity fucking," Casandra admitted when they finished laughing.

"Well, at least you answered one of my questions about this place. We do have pool boys. But do they live in the same place as the dog walkers?"

Cassandra started laughing again. "What?"

Maria grinned at her. "Never mind." She eyed Cassandra's matted hair and stained pajamas. "Why don't you go take a shower and I'll set up our dinner tray. While we're eating you can tell me all about the pool boys and the mystery building that houses all the extra staff."

Cassandra sighed and pushed herself off the bed. She walked toward a door that Maria assumed led to an ensuite washroom, her unicorn tail twitching as she walked. She paused in the doorway to look back at Maria. "Thank you."

Maria gave her a thumbs up and Cassandra disappeared through the door closing it behind her. Maria shook her head as she stripped the blankets and sheets off the bed. She found extra bedding in a chest at the bottom of the bed and swiftly made it up for Cassandra. She shoved the soiled blankets out into the hallway where she would grab them and take them down to the laundry room later.

She wandered through the room, picking up piles of magazines, clothes, books, an iPad, the things Cassandra probably used and discarded over the past few days. When Maria was finished tidying, she looked around and spotted French doors. She opened them and discovered a pretty little patio with Mediterranean tiles, potted plants, a lounge chair and a bistro table with a couple of chairs.

Maria ran back inside to grab their dinner tray and busied herself setting up their food on the bistro table. It had been Yara's idea to entice Cassandra with crepes filled with peanut butter, bananas, chocolate sauce and whipped cream. She had also added a small vase with a pink carnation, which Maria placed on the table. She looked at the tequila bottle on the tray, wondering how it would go with the crepes, then shrugged and set it on the table with two shot glasses.

"Oh my god, this looks amazing!" Cassandra enthused, stepping out onto the balcony.

Maria smiled her relief at seeing Cassandra in a clean bathrobe, her face clean and shiny with lotion and her hair piled on top of her head with a towel wrapped around.

"How did you get the room with the balcony!" Maria demanded jokingly, "This view is incredible." She fanned her arm out to indicate the broad stretch of manicured lawn ending in a beach with the ocean beyond.

"Bitch, I was here first," Cassandra said, dropping into a chair and unfolding a napkin across her thighs. The move was smooth and graceful, quintessentially Cassandra. Maria's relief grew as she hoped Cassandra was truly coming out of her funk. "Hands off my balcony. I will carve you up like a Christmas turkey if you tell Nic you want to change rooms."

Maria dropped into her chair with a laugh. "You are just as blood-thirsty as your husband."

Cassandra froze and looked at Maria, pain in her eyes. But the pain wasn't for herself this time, it was directed at Maria. "Don't call him that," she said seriously. "He's not my husband, not really. He belongs to you, and it bothers me when I think that I might stand between you and the man you love."

Tears stung Maria's eyes as she regarded Cassandra. She had to take several shallow breaths before she could speak without crying. Finally, she said quietly, "Family is what we make it. Who says it means only man and wife? I'm glad that we've been forced together through circumstances. Without your marriage to Nic I wouldn't get to know you. Understand?" Maria was afraid she was rambling, but she wanted to say the right thing, and speak from the heart.

Cassandra smiled, her eyes glittering brightly. "Yes," she said, musingly, almost as if having an epiphany. "This is my family and we all care about each other differently. I don't need Italy."

Maria wasn't entirely sure what Cassandra was talking about, but she nodded her agreement. "Exactly. You don't need Italy. Not when everything you want is here."

Cassandra grinned. "Let's eat!"

They dug into their crepes, devouring the delicious sweetness until there wasn't a single morsel left on either of their plates. Cassandra dropped her fork and without pausing, reached for the tequila bottle.

"Oh god," Maria laughed loudly. "I might throw up if I try to drink after all that food."

"Too bad," Cassandra said smartly, pouring two drinks. "You made your own bed when you brought a bottle of tequila into my room. I don't drink alone."

"Evil," Maria mumbled as she took the shot glass. She held it up. "To friends."

Cassandra held hers up too. "To the family we make."

They clinked glasses and downed the fiery liquid. Maria's eyes popped at the smooth, delicious taste. "Damn," she said huskily. "Nic knows his tequila."

Cassandra giggled and set her glass down, picking up the bottle for refills. She shook her head. "Nope, he didn't start stocking tequila until you came around."

Maria's mouth fell and she automatically reached for her glass. "Seriously?"

"Oh yes," Cassandra nodded conspiratorially. "That man has been smitten since the second you existed on his radar. It's only gotten worse since you came to live here."

Maria didn't quite know that to make of that revelation, but she held a tiny secret glow deep inside. She grinned and downed her second shot, savouring the fire as it made its way to her belly. She could feel her limbs begin to grow heavy and relaxed. She leaned back in her chair and looked out at the sparkling ocean.

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