Chapter 9
It takes at least another month for my family to convince me to return to my life. I don"t really like what is waiting for me. A room in my parent"s house, my job as hostess of the Dragon"s Lair, our family restaurant, and a life without Jason at my side. While packing, I realized that if I wanted to change my life, I needed a plan. Right now, all I managed was to get my parents to agree to let Jason stay with me when he has a night off.
Maybe I could go to college or find a hobby. I cycle through a lot of ideas while getting my bags ready. Carlos is picking me up, and hopefully, I"ll see Jason tonight when I go to deliver the food at Midnight Heat. I"ve missed the people that worked there and I haven"t talked to Annette in ages.
I hear the car approaching and close my last bag. I look around the room I"ve shared with Jason. The memories are bittersweet. After all, we wouldn"t be together if I hadn"t been attacked. Carlos knocks on the door, and I go to let him in.
"Hey, sis. Are you ready?"
"Yeah. My luggage is in the bedroom."
He carries the two bags easily, and I grab my purse. I take a last look at the house. This was my safe place for the past two months. Am I really strong enough to leave it behind? Carlos starts blowing on the car"s horn, and a feeling of annoyance replaces everything else. My brother, the gentleman. I walk out of the house and close the door behind me, making sure it"s locked.
My entire family is at my parent"s house waiting for me. They"ve got food, balloons, and signs that say "Welcome Home." I"m not sure that this feels like home anymore. No. Home is in Jason"s arms. Home is wherever he is. I try my best not to show that part of me that wants to be somewhere else right now and enjoy the happiness my family is showing me.
Mama has made all my favorites and I eagerly ingest all of the delicacies. After dessert has been served, I go to sit in the living room on one of the sofas. My mother follows me and sits beside me.
"You miss him already, don"t you?"
"I don"t know what you"re talking about," I say softly. "When"s my first shift at the restaurant?"
"Tomorrow at three."
"Can"t I have the earlier one?"
"No, your cousin Cheryl is out on maternity leave, so I have that shift."
"Mama…"
"You can do this, Cassie."
I nod so she thinks I agree, but we"ll see what tomorrow brings.
It"s eight o"clock, the time when I usually bring the employees at Midnight Heat their dinner. I wait in the kitchen for Tuck to come get me. When he arrives, he greets me with a big smile, and that helps me relax a bit. We talk about nonsense while we walk towards the club, and his funny comments lift my spirits. It helps because I feel like someone is watching me, and that takes my attention from my worries.
When everyone at Heat has their food, I take mine and Jason"s to his office. I knock softly on the door, and it opens almost immediately. He"s smiling. Jason is not someone who smiles a lot, so I return it. What I really want to do is hug and kiss him, but this is his place of work, and I don"t want to do anything inappropriate.
We walk silently to the office where we normally eat our dinner, and he takes everything from me and sets it up on the table. I guess he"s become accustomed to taking care of me now. I blush, remembering all the ways that he takes care of me. Jason has proven to be an insatiable lover who knows how to please his woman. Yes, that"s me, his woman.
"Cassie…where did you go?"
"What?"
"You looked like your mind was far away. Come back to me."
He grabs my hand across the table and squeezes reassuringly.
"I was just thinking about us. Daydreaming, I guess."
"Don"t leave me again."
He sounds serious, and I look at his face to see if he might be joking, but his expression is impassive as usual.
"I"m right here, stop worrying."
When we finish eating, he clears everything up and goes to the kitchen with me to dispose of the containers. That"s when he decides spontaneously to be the one that takes me back to the restaurant. He dismisses Tuck and offers me his elbow. I take it gladly and we start on our way down the street.
During the walk back, Jason seems uneasy and so do I.
"You feel it, don"t you?" I ask him.
"Yeah, I think someone is watching us."
We hurry our steps, and that"s when we hear footsteps behind us. I turn to look over my shoulder. It"s Marcos, and he"s got a gun. Jason shoves me behind him and puts his hands before him as if trying to appease Marcos.
"You finally came out of hiding, little mouse. Come to me." Marcos calls.
"She"s not going anywhere." Jason's voice cuts through the night. "Marcos, surrender to the police. They will be more lenient if you do that than if they have to waste more resources looking for you."
"Cassandra, come here, NOW!"
"You don"t own me, Marcos. You"re going to jail for a long time." I poke my head out from behind Jason.
"My lawyers will get me off easily from that alleged assault." His smile is evil, and a chill goes through me. "If you don't come to me, I"ll shoot your little boyfriend here. I know you"ve been sleeping with him, you slut."
"Stay where you are, Cassie," Jason says firmly, letting me know he"s got things handled.
But Marcos is a wildcard.
"I"m tired of playing this game with you, Harris. I"ll always win. You know why? Because I"m not afraid to do this."
He points the gun at Jason and pulls the trigger. Jason"s body jerks back towards me, and I try to keep him up, but he collapses beside me. Marcos starts to advance towards me, and I"m filled with rage that he dared hurt Jason. I let him get closer and closer until he is almost close enough to get a hold of me. He"s still pointing the gun at Jason because he knows that even wounded, he"s the most dangerous person here.
Then I kick Marcos's hand to disarm him. I need that gun if we are going to live through this. The gun falls from his hand, and of all the things, he smiles at me again—like I"m that same defenseless person I was last time. I try to kick him again to get some distance so that I can reach for the gun.
He"s too fast and grabs me by my injured arm. I scream at the pain, and he just laughs like a maniac. He pulls me closer to him and grabs me by the neck. My right hand is free, and instead of trying to dislodge the hand that is on my neck, I grab his balls and twist as hard as I can. He screams like a little girl and lets me go.
This is it, this is my shot, so I lunge to my left and grab the gun. I don"t point it at him just yet. I need a few seconds to compose myself and to remember everything Jason has taught me about handling the weapon.
"Give me the gun, Cassandra."
"It"s Cassie, you stupid idiot." I bark at him.
"Cassandra is more elegant, classy, but I see you"ve got none of that if you"re giving yourself to Harris."
I try to position myself behind Jason so that I can check if he"s still breathing. I"ve got only one good arm and have no way to call the police. No one seems to have heard the first shot, and my anxiety ratches up. Once I see Jason's chest moving, I concentrate on Marcos. He"s been inching towards me without me noticing.
"Turn yourself into the police, Marcos."
"That"s not going to happen."
"What will it take for you to leave me and my family alone?"
"I"ll never stop coming for you. You're mine."
"Back away, or I"ll shoot."
"You wouldn"t dare."
"I"m not the weak flower you attacked two months ago, Marcos. I can defend myself now."
"A kick here and a kick there means nothing."
He takes another menacing step towards me. I"m still not pointing the gun at him. Do I want to shoot him? Only if he hurts me. I need to get Jason help. You can do this, Cassie. I"m stuck in my head, trying to get myself to hurt another human being, when Marcos grabs my bad arm again and pulls me towards him.
"You"re mine, Cassandra."
I struggle against him, but the grip he has on my bad arm grows more forceful. That"s when he feels the muzzle of the gun against his side, and he punches me. I fall back on my ass, but now I know it"s him or me. When he starts coming for me again, I shoot him twice in the chest. He crumbles in front of me, and I kick his body away.
Getting up is hard, and I can't seem to catch my breath, but I need to get help for Jason. I go to his side and see that he"s still breathing, but it"s very shallow, and he"s lost a lot of blood that pools around his back. I call 911 and then call Carlos. He must have called Jason's team. In seconds, I see them pouring out of the nightclub. They kneel down and start putting pressure on his wound so that he doesn"t bleed out.
What the hell was I thinking? I should have done that. But I couldn't think. I only heard the gun. It kept echoing in my head.
Suddenly, police and paramedics surrounded me, and the cops wanted answers. I show them where I put the gun and tell them it"s not mine. It"s Marcos"s. Still, they take me in for questioning. Carlos wants to go with me, but I plead with him to go make sure Jason is okay.
The questioning takes hours, as one would expect. They make me tell them everything a gazillion times. I explained how I asked to be taught self-defense so that Marcos wouldn"t hurt me again. They didn"t like that, as if I was planning to kill him. Whenever they gave me a break from the interrogation, I asked about Jason's condition. No news.
Finally, after what seems like an eternity, a lawyer comes into the room, saying he"s representing me. When he sits beside me he tells me he"s a friend of Jason"s and that he"s got my back. He does. He acts fast, and everything that comes from his mouth sounds professional and cutting. To my surprise, I"m released within thirty minutes of him entering the room.
When my paperwork is finished, I ask the lawyer, Wesley, to take me to the hospital where Jason is being treated. He tells me I already have a ride. Althea, Jason"s partner at Midnight Heat, is waiting for me in the police station lobby.
"What"s going on, Althea?"
"They"re operating. So far so good, I"ll take you there."
I sigh in relief and follow her out of the police station. At the hospital, my brother Carlos is looking pale but hopeful. I run into his arms, and he hugs me tightly. I gasp in pain because of my arm.
"What"s wrong?"
"My arm."
"You didn"t tell the police you were hurt?"
"I wanted them to go faster. If I told them, they might have had to take me to the hospital first and then all the hours of interrogations. I wanted to get out of there—get to Jason."
"Well, you"re not getting out of it. This is still going to take a bit of time – the nurse just gave us an update – so we"re going down to the emergency room to get your arm looked at."
I look up at Carlos and see the determination on his face. He"s not going to take no for an answer. Carlos can be really laid-back or really stubborn. I tell Althea and the other members of Jason"s team, who are waiting for news where I"m going. The staff in the ER take a look. This time, I"m going to get a cast otherwise they might have to operate. I don"t care what they do, as long as it"s fast.
Every thirty minutes, I send Carlos to get an update. The third time, when they"re almost done with me, he comes in with a smile.
"Jason"s out of surgery. Prognosis is good."
My heart leaps in my chest, and now I"m desperate for the doctor to stop fussing with my arm.
"I need to go, doc."
He just nods and finishes my cast. To me it seems like it takes forever, but it"s just fifteen minutes. When I get upstairs, they tell me Althea is in with Jason. I nod and sit down in the waiting area. It doesn"t take long for her to come out and tell me he wants to see me. I bolt out of my chair and go inside.
Jason is pale, and his eyes are closed, but I see his breathing is normal now. I go to the side of his bed and put my hand on his. He slowly opens his eyes and we just look at one another for the longest time.
"Are you okay?" He whispers.
"I am, baby."
I pull up a chair beside his bed and sit with him. They"ll have to drag me away from his side if they don"t want me here anymore. I"m not leaving the man I love.