Page 88 of The Mistake

“Yes, does she like dressing up, going to parties?” I asked.

She turned a bright red and nibbled her lip.

Folding my arms across my chest, I glared at her. “You have no idea, do you?”

“Back home, Charlotte wasn’t allowed to … participate in Halloween.”

I saw the shame as she lowered her head.

Anger consumed me. I was so pissed off, but instead of being angry, Itook a deep breath, and then nodded my head.

“So, you don’t know.”

“No.”

Moving back behind my desk, I stared down at the calendar and then made the decision. One of my nightclubs always celebrated Halloween with a fancy dress-up. Charlotte would find out one way or the other exactly if she enjoyed it or not.

“You can leave,” I said.

Cassie made no move to leave and this annoyed me. Lifting my glare to her, I waited.

“I’m sorry,” she said.

“What exactly are you sorry for? For not fighting for her? For letting your father do the shit he did to her? Have you seen the scars on her back?” I asked.

“Yes, I’ve seen them. I was the one who cleaned them up. You can judge me all you want. You don’t think I do the same to myself? You don’t think I regret not standing up for her? My father was scary.”

“And what am I?”

I stared at Cassie, but Ididn’t allow her to see anything other than the pain and suffering I’m capable of.

She took a step back and placed a hand on her stomach. Tears sprang to her eyes. “I’m sorry.”

“You can go.”

“You care about her, don’t you?”

“This is not your place toask. Leave, Cassie.”

“I know she likes you. I’ve … Rage and I were never able to make her smile, or to look forward to something. I don’t know if she cares about Halloween, but I do know she would love to enjoy a Thanksgiving. Charlotte had to be on her own during that time. Dad … Demon, wouldn’t allow her to join in. Thanksgiving always took place at the club, and he made sure she stayed at home.”

This made my anger spike.

“And Christmas,” Cassie said. “I would try to get her presents, as would Rage. If he knew how much she loved something, he’d take it from her.”

“Get out of my office, Cassie, and right now, be glad that I know my wife loves you, and wishes you to be well.”

Cassie didn’t argue with me. She had gone pale.

I could kill her and Rage easily, but that would upset Ivan, and I wasn’t in the habit of getting on his bad side. Sitting down behind my desk, my thoughts drifted to my wife. Charlotte truly was a beautiful soul.

I didn’t have a freaking clue how she’d been able to stay that way, with men like her dad constantly trying to take away from who she was. I wanted to kill him. This wasn’t the first time, nor would it be the last time that I wanted to kill him. In fact, I do think I’d enjoy it very much.

“Sir, are you okay?” Vlad asked, stepping intomy office.

“I’m fine. Any news?”

“No. Everything is clear. There have been no overdoses, no missing women. No street crime. It’s clean.”

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