The Bound Bride

by Anne Lawrence

  She formed a fist and slammed it into Adam’s face. He buckled briefly and swiftly recovered to the point where he could press her against the wall again. Cassandra hissed at the impact and tried to keep from slipping to the floor. Cassandra stood as tall as she could and pushed him back. Adam went down, his body smashing through a coffee table and against a bureau. She turned back to Iris.

  “Cass, I’m—”

  “Not now. We’re leaving.”

  She pressed Iris closer to Jeff’s arms. He held her gently as Iris burst into a new set of tears. Cassandra started to push them into the hallway when she felt a hand at her head.

  Adam was back, and he roughly pulled Cassandra back into the room by her hair. She was being dragged across the floor, and Adam lifted her to his feet. His eyes were wild as he grabbed her face.

  “Who do you think you are?”

  “Her friend,” Cassandra spat. “What are—?”

  He slapped her. Hard. Cassandra fell and reached for her face. She shuddered at the thought of another blow when Jeff appeared in her line of sight.

  “Get off her!” he screamed. Jeff pulled Adam away and threw him against the window. Adam hit the glass and slid down like a bug on a windshield before he collapsed to the floor. Jeff moved forward and kicked his side for good measure. Adam held his hand s up in fear of more. Jeff left him moaning on the floor and helped Cassandra to her feet. She wiped a stray strand of hair from her face.

  “You okay, Miss Dodd?”

  Cassandra nodded and sneered in Adam’s direction. She should have known she should have understood what was happening. Even before Oliver’s sad story. But Iris was on her feet, trembling in the doorway. Cassandra grabbed Jeff’s arm and started to her side.

  Jeff stopped Cassandra’s stride and turned her face to him.

  “My God.”

  “What?”

  “Your eye!”

  Cassandra lifted her fingers to her face. When she held them before her, she could see a small trickle of blood sliding down to her palm. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw the bathroom door, open, and she charged forward and hastily flicked the light switch.

  She was met with her reflection in the glass.

  A bruise was just beginning to form across her cheekbone. The skin was red and throbbing. She knew that it would turn purple with each passing moment. And there was a tear just below her eye. Her blood was staining her cheek, and Cassandra reached for tissues. She pressed them to her in face in an effort to stop the stream.

  “Good!” Jeff said. “Just hold it there.”

  Her patted her shoulder and hurried out of the bathroom. Cassandra leaned back and saw him take Iris’ hands in his.

  “Your stuff in there?” he asked as he pointed to the space where Adam continued to moan. Cassandra saw Iris nod, and Jeff rushed back into the room. She moved to Iris’ side with her hand still against her face.

  Now Cassandra took her hand.

  “Why didn’t you tell me?”

  Iris started to cry again, and Cassandra pulled her into an embrace.

  “I couldn’t. I don’t even know how it happened. He was so nice. It was just little things. But then I couldn’t get away. How could I do that?”

  Cassandra had no answers. Even as she held Iris, her mind drifted back to Oliver. He was many things. But he had vowed to never hurt her. And despite the forced cohabitation, he had proven as good as his word. In Oliver’s arms, Cassandra was never bruised, her flesh was never torn. After what had happened to his sister, she knew that he would never put another girl at any risk of physical harm. He just wanted her safe.

  Her bleeding face was everything but.

  Cassandra eased Iris into the hallway and turned back for Jeff. He was already there with a bag that had to bet be Iris’. He hauled it into the hallway and slammed the door behind him. Iris fell to the floor at the sound, and Cassandra knelt beside her.

  “Shhh. It’s okay, Iris. We’ll take you home.”

  She peered up at Cassandra threw her fingers.

  “Where’s that?” she said in a hoarse voice.

  Home was where Oliver was. Right now it was where he wasn’t. Cassandra was grateful for his appointment. Glad he needed Faye so she could have Jeff. Cassandra helped Iris to her feet.

  “Just come with me. Jeff?”

  He nodded and led the way down to the car. The desk clerk’s eyes were full of fear as the three of them made their way back to the car.

  Jeff pulled away from the curb, and Cassandra settled Iris against her in the backseat. The words Iris couldn’t speak over the phone poured out against Cassandra’s shoulder.

  “I liked him. He said he liked me. I don’t know when—”

  “It’s over, Iris.”

  “I tried to call you. You… you didn’t pick up.”

  Cassandra hated herself for tuning Iris out.

  “So I just came. And Adam… he was just there. On the train. I didn’t want to tell him who you were. I just said that I needed to clear my head.”

  Iris spoke of searching for Cassandra. She talked of Adam’s eyes watching her every move, not sleeping, as Iris thought of Cassandra’s nearness and hoped that she’d see her walking along the sidewalk on the arm of her catch.

  Iris did not yet know how impossible that was.

  “And he… I wished… he finally fell asleep. I… I should have just run. But I didn’t know where I was.”

  Cassandra held her closer and silently related to that particular state of being.

  Jeff looked back at them over his shoulder, and Cassandra saw him regarding Iris with an enraged tenderness. He appeared glad to have saved her, but he hated what she’d had to endure before their arrival. Cassandra relaxed against her seat and pulled Iris closer.

  They were safe with Jeff.

  Stephens’ Point slipped away, and soon they were back of the road towards the house. Cassandra closed her eyes and waited for Jeff to slow the car. Oliver would be hours. Cassandra already imagined cleaning Iris up, concealing Adam’s blows to her face with all the makeup she had. When he finally returned, she would have to spin the story in a way that would spare Iris of any blame. But Adam could still play his part. Cassandra would just have to shield her injuries from his eyes.

  The car grinded to a halt. Cassandra lifted her lids and saw the façade of the house bathed in late morning light. She hadn’t seen that since the day of her arrival. The house and its many windows invited her back. Cassandra smiled and imagined working her plan perfectly.

  But then she saw the other car.

  Jeff was shaking in the driver’s seat. Cassandra left Iris’ side and pressed her palms against Jeff’s shoulders.

  “He’s back?” she whispered.

  Jeff could only nod, his hands tense against the wheel. They remained motionless. She heard Iris sobbing again, and Jeff turned back to take her hand.

  “Don’t worry… Miss. We’re home. We’re… we’re okay. Right, Miss Dodd?”

  Cassandra couldn’t answer the question. Oliver would never hurt her. But she was under contract, and she had made a promise to wait for his return. She had violated every term of their agreement, and now she would have to meet him with bruises and blood. But if he just gave her a chance to explain, he’d understand why she had to break their deal and see to her friend. He had left his father’s house to tend to Lily. And Jeff had had her back. Everyone had returned, more or less, in one piece.

  She just needed a chance to explain.

  “Miss Dodd?”

  Cassandra let a soft breath pour forth from her lips, and she gripped Jeff’s shoulder.

  “Go on.”

  Jeff guided the car to the front of the house. He looked back at her as Cassandra eased Iris away from the backseat. She led her to the front door. Jeff quickly followed with Iris’ bag in his hand.

  Just breathe, Cassie.

  They started up the steps. Faye suddenly appeared in the doorway.

  “You better have one he
ll of an explanation because—”

  She stopped speaking at the sight of Cassandra’s battered face and let out a light gasp.

  So much for makeup playing its part.

  Cassandra let Jeff take Iris under his arm as she stepped forward.

  “Faye. Just let me—”

  “Cassandra? What happened? Where…?”

  Her voice trailed off as she looked at Iris in even worse shape. Faye moved away from Cassandra, and Iris shuddered at her nearness. When Faye tried to touch her, Iris flinched, and Jeff held her closer to his side.

  Faye fixed all of her attention on Jeff.

  “Who is she?” Faye asked.

  Jeff started to speak as Cassandra descended the few steps and took Eve by the arm.

  “She’s a friend,” Cassandra stated plainly. “It’s not as bad as it looks.”

  Faye did a double take.

  “Really? Because from here it looks pretty bad.

  She lightly touched the bruise quickly forming under Cassandra’s eye.

  “You go all out, don’t you?”

  Cassandra didn’t have time to answer. She needed to ask her own question.

  “Why is he here?”

  Faye snorted and pressed her hands to her hips.

  “Isn’t it his house?”

  Faye tossed the question back in Cassandra’s face like a rock. Of course it was his. Much more than it was hers.

  But that didn’t explain why he was back before his meeting could have barely commenced.

  Cassandra held her ground and stared Faye down. She could feel a small stream of blood trailing down her cheek and moved to quickly wipe it way. Faye rolled her eyes and reached into the pocket of her blue blazer. Her hand reappeared with a handkerchief.

  “Here.”

  Cassandra took it quickly and cleaned the blood from her face, from her hands. She looked at the open door. Oliver was inside. She expected him to appear at any moment. When he saw the danger she invited into his home by way of her complete disobedience, what would he do? She hoped for concern in his eyes and a chance to make him understand. But the businessman in him might simply toss her the bag that she arrived with, and Jeff might be made to drive her away to a place where she’d never see him again.

  What if he wasn’t even that generous? Cassandra could see she and Iris walking until their feet blistered as they struggled to make their way back to town.

  Faye smoothed her hands down her sides and pointed to the house.

  “He wants to see you. If I were you, I wouldn’t keep him waiting.”

  Cassandra looked to Iris. She was completely confused by everything that had and was happening, and she saw Jeff’s arm hold her closer.

  Faye sadly smiled at Iris.

  “You look like you need a doctor. Or a drink. Maybe a bit of both?”

  Iris cracked the first smile that Cassandra had seen since their reunion.

  “I… can I just lie down somewhere? Please.”

  Faye nodded and ordered Jeff to settle her in the great room for the time being.

  “Why—?”

  “Because they need to talk. Now just follow one instruction. Can you do that?”

  Jeff started to protest as Faye tousled his hair. He seemed to understand his place, and he led Iris away from Cassandra’s view. She’d be okay. She’d be safe with Jeff.

  And Cassandra had her own reckoning to face.

  Faye took her by the arm and started to lead her into the house.

  “I guess I get it. I’d do the same for any of my friends.”

  Cassandra turned to Faye and expected sympathy. She saw only resignation to a fate Cassandra had unwittingly stepped into.

  “But he will take much more convincing.”

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  They entered the house. Cassandra looked for him in every corner. Oliver was nowhere to be found. Faye guided her to the foot of the steps. Cassandra could hear a glass shattering against an upstairs wall. She flinched under Faye’s touch and started to turn back to the afternoon.

  Faye held her where she stood.

  “Uh uh. You made your bed here. Now you have to face him.”

  Cassandra made for one of the hallway mirrors. She spit on the handkerchief and tried to wipe her face clean of everything. The blood obeyed, but the bruise wasn’t going anywhere.

  Faye’s reflection appeared in the glass over her shoulder.

  “Better?” Cassandra asked.

  Faye shook her head. At least she was honest.

  “He… he was horrified when you weren’t here.”

  Cassandra could see him rushing through every bedroom, looking for her in baths, heading down to the pool. When he found her gone, he had to have every awful thought imaginable. She didn’t want those thoughts playing about his brain.

  “Do… do you know about his sister?” Cassandra asked.

  “Sweetheart, I know everything about him.”

  Naturally he had taken someone into his confidence, and Faye was handy. Faye could be trusted. Cassandra was almost in that same place just hours ago. Now she’d have to claw her way back into his good graces.

  Because despite what was essentially a gilded cage, Cassandra still wanted to be in that place.

  Faye turned Cassandra away from the mirror and lowered her voice.

  “So you know, too?”

  Cassandra slowly nodded.

  “Then brace yourself. I… I never thought this was wise. I thought you’d do the time and still leave him more alone than ever. But… but I didn’t think you’d actually prove his point.”

  She looked in the mirror again. Maybe it was safer to stay out of the light. Safer for her.

  But not for Iris.

  Faye patted her arm and looked to the staircase. Cassandra took the steps, three at a time, and made her way to their bedroom.

  Oliver was standing at the window, looking out at the opposing direction to her ultimate return. She saw his stance shift as he heard her enter the room. A slip of his profile appeared over his shoulder.

  “Oliver?”

  She lost his face as he stared out the window again.

  “Cassandra.”

  That was a bad sign.

  She wanted to be Cassie again.

  Cassandra moved to him and tried to touch his hand. Her fingers nearly had it when he pulled away and walked deeper into the room.

  He never looked at her.

  Cassandra treaded across the shattered glass and stood several feet from his back. He moved to the desk and started to busy himself with pen and paper. Was he already calculating the total sum of all she now owed him?

  She could explain. She just needed a chance.

  “Oliver—”

  “Don’t. Sit.”

  She fell to the bed and looked at the tension stretching across all of his back. If she could just touch him, she knew she could make it right.

  Cassandra started to reach for him when he looked up at the ceiling. But not at her.

  “Where were you?”

  Here was her chance.

  “Oliver, I had to—”

  “Had to? You didn’t have to anything but play by the rules. No, Cassandra. You wanted to go.”

  “No! I—”

  He was on his feet, pacing the room. She wanted him to look at her. It would crush him. It would prove his point. But it might also thaw the ice quickly forming all around them.

  “Spare me, Cassandra.”

  He opened the closet and started pulling the few things that were truly hers off of hangers and stuffing them into her bags. So he was just going to toss her out like she meant nothing? Before the previous night, she would have welcomed the escape.

  Something had shifted.

  Cassandra sprang up from the bed and reached for his arms.

  “Oliver, just let me—”

  He shook her off.

  “Don’t touch me!”

  “Oliver, if you just—”

  “Just—”

&nbs
p; And he finally turned to see her face. She saw him gasp at the bruise. He blinked as if he couldn’t comprehend what had happened. Cassandra relaxed slightly and pounced on the silence between them.

  “It’s… it’s not what you think.”

  Oliver’s hand trembled as he touched the bruise. His blinking intensified, and she saw tears start to form in his eyes. Cassandra took hold of his wrist and smiled weakly.

  “What… what do I think?” he asked.

  “That… that it’s like it was with Lily. It’s not. I mean… I mean it kind of is. But I wasn’t the one in trouble.”

  He moved closer to her. She could feel his breath on her face.

  “Then how did this happen?”

  She had to speak fast. Any trace of understanding was rapidly leaving his face.

  “Iris,” Cassandra blurted out.

  “Who is Iris?”

  “My friend. She’s… she’s mixed up with this guy. She came here looking for me. I had to help her.”

  There. Now he’d have to see why she’d broken the contract. He would have done the same. Would he have wanted her to ignore Iris in her desperate hour?

  “So you rode to her rescue?”

  Cassandra nodded. She expected, wanted him to fold her into his arms and tell her that he understood. He would have done the same thing. He had tried to do the same thing for his sister. A part of him might actually be relieved that the scene hadn’t played out as a carbon copy of his past.

  She was still awaiting his embrace when he pushed her away and started to laugh.

  “Let me get this straight, Cassandra.”

  Would she ever be Cassie again?

  “I carefully explained why you were here and what was required. And at the first chance, you not only violate our agreement, but you actually put yourself in danger? You did that intentionally?”

  She stepped towards him, and he turned away in disgust.

  This was his reaction?

  “My friend needed me.”

  “So call the police. Or call me. Or send Jeff to sort things out. Seems to me like you had loads of options at your disposal. But no. No you had to set yourself up for this.”

  He took her arm and turned her to a mirror. Cassandra looked to the floor. She could bear her own face. She could feel the damage throbbing just below her eye. It was Oliver’s eyes that suddenly scared her.