Page 77 of Cassio (Belles & Mobsters 3)

But then Hunter’s words from our phone call pierced through my brain.

“My father, who wasn’t much of one, wasn’t a good man. He destroyed a lot of families.”Wasn’t that what he said? Maybe he was working against Benito and Marco King all along. All this was just too much information thrown my way.

“Baby, if you-” my mother started speaking, but I quickly stopped her.

“Okay, I’ll do it,” I blurted out quickly, scared I’d change my mind. At the minimum, this agreement would buy me some time. I had some time before we sealed it, and I walked down the aisle.

I turned my gaze to Cassio. Something flashed in his eyes, but he masked it so quickly, I couldn’t hone in on it. Why did I get a sense this man had his own agenda and dangerous secrets? And without a doubt, I felt like we were all playing into his scheme.

“Áine, are you sure?” Jack questioned me. I was surprised he would even give me a chance to refuse. I expected relief from him and immediate acceptance. Instead, there was worry etched on his face. My mother wasn’t much better. She was always a worrier so it was no surprise this latest development set her on edge.

“If you’d rather I don’t do it,” I muttered, “I’m perfectly fine with that too.”

We watched each other and now that Mom said Jack was my biological dad, it kind of made sense. I must have been blind not to notice it before. From the moment I met him, he made me feel at ease. Even as the truth unfolded about the business dealings he was in, I still felt safe under his protection. I coughed it up to Jack’s charm.

The color of his eyes is the exact shade of mine, the thought stuck me. In fact, Margaret and her brothers… we all shared the same color eyes. Neither one of my parents had blue eyes. When I questioned my mother, she said the color came from my dad’s side of the family. I guess she didn’t lie.

When you lie, Áine, stick to the truth as much as possible.Those were the words of my dad, well turns out not the real dad, the prime minister. He must have given the same tip to my mother.

“Can I have a moment with Áine?” Cassio’s question had me darting my eyes his way. What could he possibly want to talk about alone?

Maybe he wants to give me another orgasm, I thought wryly. I mentally rolled my eyes and slapped myself. Orgasms were not the priority here.

Jack’s eyes came to me, questioning me silently whether I was okay with it. I nodded.

“Okay, then,” Jack agreed, concluding the conversation. “We’ll give you two some privacy. We have to go welcome our guests. You two come out when you are ready.”

Jesus, I wasn’t ready for this. I nodded without a word and noted Cassio did the same. Luca and Jack headed out of the office, my mother lingering hesitantly back.

“It’s ok, Mom,” I assured her.

She came to me and wrapped me into a hug. “I’m sorry, baby. I never wanted you to find out... this way.”

I had a sense she meant to say she never meant for me to find out at all, but I kept the words back. I hugged her back. She was a good mother and she loved me, always there for me. Who was I to judge her? Though telling me the truth would have been nice.

She took a step back and I nodded. Then she tilted her head in Cassio’s direction and headed out of the office, leaving the two of us alone.

I sat back in the chair. Cassio sat composed, opposite of me, barely a few feet away from me while I just went through several lifetime shocks. It took less than thirty minutes for my entire world to turn upside down.

We locked gazes and heat rushed through my body, going dangerously south. Jesus, this wasn’t healthy. I drowned in those brown eyes, a flicker of something familiar in them pulling me in deeper and deeper.

My temple throbbed and an image flashed in my mind.Dark tunnel, sounds of bullets in the distance, a man running with me in his arms. His crisp scent with something dark and woody. Cedar scent.

I blinked my eyes and stared at Cassio. That scent! It was familiar; I could smell it now. It wasn’t Jack’s cologne. A sharp, piercing pain shot through my skull, making my eyes tear from the intensity of it. I pinched my nose, then followed by rubbing my temple.

Each time I looked into Cassio’s eyes, I felt sucker punched straight into my lungs and my memory revolted. It demanded to know why he caused my mind to fumble.

I frowned. How appropriate! He made my mind and my body fumble while he seemed completely unaffected. Cassio was unaffected but I thought the man I came to know as Hunter would have been. Maybe? So damn confusing.

He sat back casually, his suit jacket unbuttoned, revealing he had a gun holster underneath it. Not that I was surprised, since he was part of the mafia. Most of the men that worked for Jack, including Jack, wore those on a daily basis. I would start wearing one around my thigh starting tomorrow. Hell if I’d be caught unaware and vulnerable.

Geez, my father was probably rolling in his grave seeing that I had agreed to marry someone in the mafia. Not just someone! A member of the family that killed him.

I studied Cassio’s face. He was extremely handsome with that jet-black hair and golden skin. But his eyes I liked the most. Even with the knowledge of who he was and that I shouldn’t like anything about him, I loved his eyes.

I bet with that face and that body, he had women throwing themselves at him around each corner. Benito King wasn’t a bad looking guy, though he looked a lot better dead in my book. It would seem Cassio, just like his father, was into power and building an empire. Or did he build it already and this was his last claim to the throne? I wasn’t part of Jack’s world nor dealings, but I knew enough that connecting Callahan’s name to the King’s would make Cassio King live up to his last name.

Somehow the knowledge that connecting his empire with Callahan’s was Cassio’s main objective irked me. And that he was going to marry Margaret left a slightly bitter taste in my mouth, especially after the night we shared in Vegas and things we shared over the last six weeks via texts.

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