Forever Loved (Forever Lost Book 2)

by Laura Morgan

  Roger walked her to the doorway of the casino and waved goodbye as she stepped into the elevator, clocking off for the evening only after seeing her to Leo’s premises safely. As always, she appreciated his continued hard work. She rode up in silence, aware she had a cheesy grin on her face, but didn’t care. Life was good, and Cassie felt like nothing could get in her way.

  That was until she rounded the corner and heard giggling coming from Leo’s office. It wasn’t the friendly sort, or the polite. It was lust-filled and teasing, the sort a girl threw at the man of her dreams over candlelight and wine. Her stomach dropped, but Cassie had to see for herself what was going on inside before she could react. You’re such a fool. Of course you wouldn’t be enough for him. You were never enough before, why did you think things would change now? Her brain teased and tormented her relentlessly, and Cassie had to fight the urge to scream or puke, or both. She reached out to grab the handle and noticed the door was open just an inch, so she peered inside.

  “Come on, Leo. She’ll never have to know. I’ve told you before, I’m very discreet…” Suzie was inside, perching against Leo’s desk, while he sat in his huge leather chair across from her. Cassie couldn’t tell whether she thought he was enjoying her advances or not. His face was icy but his eyes seemed to be burning into her with a regard that made Cassie’s blood boil.

  “Suzanne, I have told you repeatedly not to harass me. Your behavior is trashy, to say the least.” Cassie felt relief tinge the edges of her anger, and hoped with all her heart he was being sincere. “I told Brian to get you in check, and he’s clearly failed. You’re fired with immediate effect. Get your things and go.”

  “I’ll tell everyone you fucked me anyway. Your precious girlfriend will leave you in a heartbeat, and then I’ll sue for sexual harassment. I’ll say I was too intimidated to say no,” Suzie bit back, clearly disgruntled that he’d refused her offer.

  “You can say what you want. I have all our conversations on tape to prove exactly the opposite. We’re done here, you can leave.” Leo’s tone was vicious and stern. He’d never spoken to Cassie that way, and she hoped he’d never need to. She’d always known how scary he could be, but the man sitting behind that desk was something else entirely. His features and tone were calculated and malicious enough to send shivers down her spine, and she wasn’t the one he’d said it to. Mr. Solomon was clearly in the room, not her Leo, and part of her actually felt bad for Suzie. But then again, maybe not.

  Cassie opened the door fully and walked in with a scowl. “Are you gonna get out, or am I gonna have to throw you out?” Suzie seemed startled by her entrance, whereas Leo didn’t appear fazed, and she had to wonder if he’d noticed her there already. She wasn’t completely sure of his innocence, but for now all she cared about was taking out the trash.

  Leo pressed a button on the intercom, calling to his cousin, and Brian came rushing in. He took Suzie by the elbow, and didn’t say a word as he frog-marched her out the office. Cassie was glad to watch her leave. She just hoped Brian wasn’t planning on coming back until she’d completely left the premises, and for good this time.

  Cassie was furious, and didn’t delay in making it known to her beau. Leo sat and took every vicious word she spat without retaliating, and when she finally started to calm down, he stood, walked around the desk, and wrapped her in his arms.

  “I’m so sorry, love,” he whispered, running his hands up and down her back. “I promise you I didn’t do anything with her. She’s been stalking me and trying to get close, but I only learned the full extent of it recently. It seems she’s become a little too obsessed, and I’m sorry you had to hear her saying those vile things, but you know they aren’t true. You’re my one and only, Cassie. Us against the world, remember?”

  “Yeah, I remember. It’s just hard to believe it sometimes. I’m sorry,” she replied, leaning into him. “What’s she been doing, then?”

  “It started with flirting and harmless eyelash fluttering, but then I noticed she’d dyed her hair and styled it to look like yours.” Cassie looked up at him in surprise. She hadn’t even noticed, but now she thought about it, Suzie had gone from being a dye-job blonde to a brunette seemingly overnight. “She started to dress like you and listen to the same music. Even when she started trying to talk to me about plays and the theater it didn’t click. I’m not sure she was even aware of what she was doing, but it appears she thought that if she could look and act like you, I might fall for her.”

  “Whoa, crazy bitch,” Cassie murmured. It all fell into place. There had been a handful of conversations during her visits when Suzie had asked her about herself and her hobbies, and Cassie had been polite and chatted back with her. She’d seemed perfectly harmless to her at the time, but she guessed that was exactly the point. Suzie had seemed harmless, when in fact she was an overdramatic lunatic who could’ve potentially driven a wedge between her and Leo forever.

  Leo groaned when she pulled away, but Cassie needed some space. Just a minute so she could fully calm her fraught mind. She used the bathroom and reapplied her makeup to hide her panda eyes, all the while deep in thought. When her cell chimed to tell her she had a text, she jumped in surprise, but her anger soon returned when she saw what was written there.

  Suzie: So, did he tell you a bunch of lies to hide the fact he’s been fucking me every day for the past few weeks? Don’t trust a word your player of a boyfriend says. He told me he loved me. He made me promises he didn’t keep. How long until he breaks your heart too? Luckily, I’m not upset, I’m angry. I just keyed his precious car, what do think he’s gonna say about that?

  Cassie flung her cell back in her bag. She was ready to go out there guns blazing, but knew Leo wouldn’t let her if she told him about the text. She decided against letting him know that she’d even gotten the message. She wanted to deal with that stupid girl herself.

  “I’m going down to get a drink,” she told him when she came out of his private bathroom a few minutes later. “You don’t need to come with me. In fact, I could do with a few minutes to myself.”

  Leo looked hurt, but he nodded in understanding. She’d believed him when he said nothing had happened with Suzie, but still felt like the whole thing had put some distance between them. Cassie wanted to go back to how she’d felt while travelling up in the elevator, and forced herself to push her anger aside. Rather than hash it out yet, she just gave Leo a chaste kiss and left him to it while she headed down to take care of their little stalker issue once and for all.

  She pushed open the back entrance door and stepped out into the cool night air. Cassie looked around but couldn’t see any sign of Suzie, so she grabbed the cell from her purse and called up the contacts list. Then, a soft whimpering caught her attention, and she followed the sound around one of the trucks, where she found Suzie lying face-down on the ground. Cassie leaned over to check her, but could already see blood trickling down her face from a wound on her head, as though she’d been knocked out.

  She stood and turned to run back inside when she collided with a wall of a man who had seemingly been hiding in the shadows beside Suzie’s unconscious body. “Please, take my bag, you can keep all the money inside. Just don’t hurt me,” she pleaded. Rather than convince him to snatch her purse and go, her appeal earned her a deep laugh in response.

  “I don’t want your money, Cassie.” Her blood turned cold, and she peered up at the man standing before her in the darkness. She couldn’t see his face, but she knew right away who he was. Her blood turned to ice as the hoarse voice sparked fearful memories that quickly came rushing back. She wanted to run, but was halted by the sound of the man’s voice and the overwhelming presence he had over her.

  “GG? Is it really you?” she asked, stepping over Suzie’s outstretched legs as she stumbled further into the loading bay. “What are you doing here?” Cassie was shaking. This was far from the reunion she’d always hoped they might have.

  “Don’t call me that anymore. I’m certainly no
Gentle Giant. In fact, I’m far from the man you once thought you knew. And all of that’s thanks to you, though, isn’t it? In your bid for freedom you threw me to the wolves, Cassie, and now you’re gonna pay for what you’ve done.” His voice was bitter and cruel, Grayson’s words callously tormenting her in a way he’d never done in all their time together in Mexico. His icy demeanor made her crumble, and she shook her head. As much as she hadn’t wanted to turn him over to the police along with the rest of Victor’s crew, his arrest had been unavoidable, and she’d done her fair share of beating herself up about it since that day.

  Realizing her cell was still in her hand, Cassie looked down at it, hoping she might have enough time to press the alarm that’d alert Roger she was in danger. “Don’t even think about it,” Grayson said, stepping closer to her.

  Cassie didn’t listen. She unlocked the screen with a tap of her finger and hit the app that would send her protector an alert and their location. Cassie managed it just in time before Grayson reached her and threw the phone from her hand. She knew it had to have smashed on the hard ground, but hoped with all her heart that the cavalry would arrive regardless.

  Grayson stepped closer still, pinning her to the truck behind, and a flicker of light illuminated his face. He’d aged a lot more since she’d last seen him. He had even lost the soft, caring look he’d always had about him where she was concerned, and all that was left was an empty, heartless shell. He’d once treated her like a sister and made her feel safe and protected with him, but the man standing before her seemed adrift. Grayson was nothing but a thug, and he was right, she was to blame.

  He grinned maliciously and reached behind him, pulling a ringing cell phone from his back pocket, which he seemed to take great delight in showing to her. When the screen lit up, she blinked and focused. It took her a second to figure out what she was reading, and she sobbed when she realized what it must mean.

  Alarm triggered. Location stored and ready for GPS navigation.

  Grayson had Roger’s phone, which meant he’d also paid her bodyguard a visit, and she let out a cry for her dear friend’s safety.

  “What’ve you done, GG?” she asked. “Where’s Roger?”

  “I knew you’d have a way to contact him, so I went to his apartment and made sure he wouldn’t be able to respond to your alarm when you triggered it. In fact, he won’t be doing much of anything anymore,” he told her with a sneer. “You’ve become so predictable, Cassie. You played right into my hands.”

  Cassie felt like she might be sick. Grayson hadn’t said it specifically, but he’d hinted that Roger was either in a bad way or dead. Her Gentle Giant was truly gone, and she tried to fight his hold over her, but it was no use. Grayson was twice the size he used to be, and overpowered her easily. He pinned her to the truck by her shoulders and stared her down.

  “Okay, okay,” she conceded. In a moment of clarity, Cassie decided against fighting him. She knew she had to keep him talking in the hope someone would either stumble onto them or Leo would come looking. It was her only choice. “And what about her?” she eventually asked, nodding over to where Suzie still lay unconscious.

  “I befriended her a while back, showed her a good time. She was incredibly forthcoming with information about the new boss and his girlfriend. I’d barely even got my dick wet before she was spilling the beans about you and your new life here in London,” he scoffed. “Oh how she went on and on about the gorgeous Mr. Solomon and how she wanted to be just like you. Deranged skank thought she could take your place, so I spurred her on. I knew I couldn’t get near you with Roger and Leo around, so I watched and waited. Bided my time. You made sure they kept you close, made sure you were safe.”

  “Like you used to,” she tried, but Grayson’s scowl told her he wasn’t ready to reminisce about the past yet.

  “I told Suzie before her shift tonight that she should try one last time to proposition Leo, that he’d kept her waiting long enough. I wanted to really rile him up, hopefully enough so that he’d forget all about taking proper precautions for your safety. I intercepted your precious Roger on his way home and took care of business the only way us thug types know how, and then I waited.” He grinned, and the sight of his hateful smile made Cassie’s blood run cold. “After that, it was a case of me sitting and waiting for the opportunity to get you down here. I figured you’d be furious that she’d dared try it on with him, and when she came storming out saying you’d thrown her out of his office, I knew exactly what to do.”

  “So you knocked her out and texted me on her phone so I’d come after her?” Grayson nodded. “And what now?”

  “Now?” His cruel tone was back. “Now you pay for everything you’ve done, Mrs. Sanchez.” She shuddered at the name, and shook her head. This couldn’t be happening, not after all this time. Cassie had been assured that the cartel couldn’t travel into the UK, nor would they be able to find her if they did. She’d legally changed her name, and her business was registered to holding companies, so she was as untraceable as she could be. Leo hadn’t hidden his identity like she had, but he had people working for him both here and in the States that took care of his protection and would know if anyone was snooping around in his business. Grayson had clearly been lurking in the shadows for weeks, if not months, and she knew for sure now that he meant everything he’d said. He was the polar opposite to the man she’d left behind almost two years previously and was clearly there to make her pay.

  Her adrenaline kicked in, and Cassie used every ounce of strength she had to punch Grayson in the jaw. He groaned in shock, rather than pain, but she used his moment of disbelief to send a knee into his groin and then ran as fast as she could back toward the doorway.

  Just a few feet from the entrance, she was tackled to the ground with such force she was winded instantly. All she could think about was the baby. Cassie knew that if she kept fighting him, she’d lose it, so she went limp in his hold in defeat.

  It didn’t stop Grayson mocking her. “We’re doing this the hard way, huh?” he asked rhetorically, ignoring when she shook her head pleadingly. He then pulled a syringe from his jacket pocket and stuck it straight into her neck. Within seconds, Cassie was floating away. The last thing she felt was her body being lifted into Grayson’s huge hold as he carried her off into the darkness, but she had no way of fighting him.

  ***

  “Where the hell is she?” Leo barked at Brian, staring him down angrily. “I told you to keep an eye on her!”

  “You said she was going to the bar, so I went there first. She wasn’t there and nobody had seen her either. After searching for a while I came straight to you, Leo. No one knows where Cassie is.”

  “Keep looking,” Leo growled. He slumped in his chair and held his head in his hands. Her cell phone was off, Roger wasn’t answering, and Siobhan hadn’t heard from her. Leo was going out of his mind with worry. She never took off like this. Cassie’s own fear of something bad catching up with her always made sure he could contact her or get eyes on her whenever he needed to. He’d even been known to have her followed on many an occasion thanks to his paranoia for her safety, but had never once lost her. He failed to comprehend how she’d gone missing from his casino without anyone knowing. She had to be somewhere.

  Leo knew invading her privacy wasn’t right, but he hadn’t been able to relinquish all his bad habits the past year, and for his own sanity he had been keeping tabs on Cassie wherever she went. He’d known when she’d gone out to buy the pregnancy test, and he’d guessed the news when she’d come to see him looking pale and terrified an hour later. His surveillance made it almost impossible for her to surprise him, but he was happy to forgo the excitement if it meant he felt secure. Having lost her to Victor was soul destroying, and he’d done everything in his power since getting her back to make sure it didn’t happen again. Short of implanting a microchip into her body, Leo would do whatever it took to make sure Cassie was safe. He’d never rest unless he knew where she was at all times,
even if that made him much more of a crazy stalker than Suzie had ever been.

  He lost all track of time as he sat there and wallowed in his worry, but came around quickly when the door to his office flung open and Brian came inside. He was carrying a dark-haired woman in his arms. She was limp and barely moving, but Leo knew right away it wasn’t Cassie.

  “I found her out by one of the trucks. She used her phone to text Cassie not long after we kicked her out. That much I could see. There’s no sign of her out there, but I did find this.” Brian put Suzie down on the couch and reached into his pocket. He pulled out Cassie’s broken cell and handed it to his cousin with a sour look on his face.

  Deadly rage boiled inside of Leo. He flew over to where Suzie was still lying unconscious on the couch and shook her awake, not caring about any injuries. When her eyes opened, he bombarded her with questions and demands. He couldn’t stop until he knew what’d happened, and the only person with any answers was sitting before him in stunned silence. Suzie seemed terrified of him, but Leo was glad. Maybe she’d think twice before messing with him or Cassie again; but before he could address any of that, he had to get his answers.

  “Get what you can out of her, I’m trying Roger again,” Leo told his cousin, who nodded and kneeled before Suzie with a kind smile. While Leo paced the room, he could hear Brian talking to her softly, apparently taking the gentler approach, and it seemed to be working. After getting nothing but endless ringing from Roger’s number, Leo stopped his prowling and listened to his former employee as she began opening up about her foolish actions at long last.