by Laura Morgan
“My real name is Cassie,” she whispered, trailing circles on her thigh with her fingertip. “I love the theater, art, and the movies. I want to travel the world, but I’m scared of flying. Oh, and I’m a terrible dancer.”
Otis laughed and took her hand to cradle it in his.
“Thank you, Cassie.” He kissed the back of her hand before placing it on his cheek, leaning into her soft touch affectionately. “Do you have any idea the life I want to give you? The world I can show you? I’ll even teach you how to dance if I need to…I had noticed your lack of prowess on the dance floor,” he added, laughing softly.
“There’s more,” she replied, her face falling, and Otis peered up at her as though she were an angel sent just for him. “I’m damaged goods, Otis. I have issues, and I won’t be able to hide them behind my mask anymore if you make me lower it. I need a little bit of time and a lot of patience.”
“I’ll give you everything you need, I promise. It will be my life’s work to make you happy and help you forget your past, Cassie. I want you to be mine, forever,” Otis said, leaning closer to her so their lips were just inches apart. “You don’t have to answer me right away. I’ll be patient with you for as long as you need. But if you want more, then show me now, kiss me, and I’m all yours. I’ll always be yours.”
She closed the gap without thinking it through, her instinct taking over as she placed her lips on his. This was exactly what she wanted, and Otis was the type of person she needed in her life. She wanted to be taken care of and loved, respected and treated like a queen. Cassie knew she didn’t love him, but hoped one day she would, and that was more than enough to begin with. Their lips parted and their tongues delved into one another’s mouths effortlessly. Their kiss was sensuous yet soft, full of need and passion, but also full of promise. She had finally found it. Cassie was sure this was the beginning of something special, something real, and she endeavored to keep it safe.
Chapter 9
From that moment on, Cassie’s affections belonged solely to Otis. She agreed to give herself over to him exclusively and knew from now on she would only ever find herself at parties or functions to accompany him. Delilah locked down her contract after a hefty payment from her beau, and she finally found herself at his home the following week, the two of them alone for the first time. They had already agreed they would take things slowly, and Otis had promised not to proposition her.
“Make yourself comfortable, and I’ll grab us a glass of wine,” Otis said, directing Cassie toward the lounge, and she took a seat in the large, comfy sofa that overlooked the impressive city. He soon joined her, handing Cassie a glass of expensive red wine, and she forced herself to seem impressed when he watched her take a sip. No matter how many times she said she preferred white wine, he still insisted on serving her red, a point that aggravated her, but she never let it show. The pair chatted for a while, Otis telling her about his upcoming session with his band to record some of the new tracks he had written, the tracks about her, and she smiled sweetly, hanging on his every word. Cassie knew they were still playing their roles, that this was not real yet, but she enjoyed the time with him anyway, allowing Otis to hold her hand and even kiss her gently for a while before she excused herself and used the bathroom.
On her way back to the living room, a knock at the front door startled her. It was a loud, booming knock, as unwelcome in this calm home as club music in a library. Instinctively, Cassie made her way toward it and looked through the peephole. She froze in shock when she saw three men on the other side of the door.
For a split second, part of her wondered if the men worked for Leo, thinking he might have sent them over to put a stop to her relationship with Otis. But then she reminded herself she had neither seen nor heard from Leo since that night in her apartment when she had finally told him no. He had backed off and had pursued her no more, a fact she was happy about, but at the same time she was also a little saddened. Cassie felt misled, as though he had lied about his goals of gaining her trust and accepting her troubled past. When push came to shove, Leo hadn’t fought for her, but Otis had. She would remind herself of that fact for as long as it took to feel the same way toward her rock star client as she had with the intimidating gangster.
Cassie continued to stare out into the corridor for a few seconds, wondering if she should go and get Otis, but then one of the men held up a badge as though knowing she was on the other side of the door. This man was not a drug-dealer henchman of Leo Solomon. This man was FBI, and for some reason he was intent on being let inside.
“We have a warrant for the arrest of Mr. Otis Simmons. Please open the door,” he said, his voice deep and rang with authority. Cassie immediately did as the man asked and stared wide eyed at the three men, each of whom pushed past her and went in search of their target. She followed, moving toward the living room. Otis was not there, so she led the men down the hall to his office, assuming he must have moved to the back of the apartment while she was in the bathroom. When she stepped over the threshold, a strong, rough hand wrapped around her neck, and Cassie felt cold steel press hard against her temple from the other side. Otis pressed his body into hers from behind, his breath ragged. He held her still, eager to use her as his leverage to get away from the police.
“Take one more step and I’ll blow her brains out,” he said, his voice harsh. The three men raised their hands, none of them having drawn a weapon, evidently hoping to negotiate with him before making a move.
Cassie was surprised with herself. Rather than breaking down, she remained perfectly calm. Each second that passed felt as if it were going in slow motion, and she allowed herself to move with Otis as he pulled her backward, distancing themselves from the agents. She took long, deep breaths, and her mind was alive. What shocked her most was that even with a gun pressed against her head, she was not afraid. If anything, she was excited and found her body tingling with heightened sensitivity.
“Are you going to kill me, Otis?” she whispered, her hands sliding behind her toward his hips, pushing back into him as she ran her fingers over the contours of his slim waist and down over his hipbones. “You said you loved me. I thought we had a deal, you and me?” Cassie pressed on, turning her head so she could look back at him.
“Yes, we did. Didn’t we?” he replied, pushing Cassie down with his free hand on her shoulder so she fell to her knees, still looking forward. “This is the only way to make you truly safe, to stop anyone hurting you ever again,” Otis added, and she heard the gun cock beside her temple.
Cassie gasped, her fear finally grasping her when the almighty sound of the shot came crashing through her ears. She immediately flinched and fell to the ground, but the shot was not for her. Another body hit the ground just behind her, and she realized what had happened. Otis had lifted it to his own temple in that split second and taken his own life.
She was glad she had not seen him do it, and that she didn’t have to look at his lifeless body. Cassie was content to bury her face in her hands and keep her eyes closed until well after one of the three FBI agents lifted her up in his arms and took her with him into the living room.
“You were very lucky, miss,” he whispered as he wiped her face with a tissue from a small packet in his pocket.
“What do you mean?” Cassie managed to ask. It felt like hours had passed, when in fact the backup hadn’t even arrived yet, so she knew it must have only been minutes. There were no sirens or officers ready to lock down the crime scene. There was still only her, the three agents, and now a very dead Otis.
“We came to arrest him on suspicion of multiple homicides. We were given an anonymous tip that led us to conclusive evidence that Mr. Simmons was responsible for the deaths of more than ten prostitutes from all over the US. He fell in love with every one of them, promised them the world, but then when they weren’t everything he had expected them to be, he turned on them. Whoever provided that tip, they saved your life today,” he told her, smiling down at Cassie with a w
arm expression and compassionate eyes.
In that moment she knew, or suspected she knew, exactly who her savior might be, and she immediately calmed down. Her tears stopped, and she composed herself quickly.
“Thank you. I need to call my people,” Cassie told him, indicating she was talking about her agency, and the man nodded. She chose not to correct him about his assumptions she was a prostitute, wondering to herself if that was exactly what she had become. Despite not actually having sex for money, Cassie now knew how quickly the experience changed from having fun at parties and enjoying the attention, to downright reveling in one man’s adoration of her. She had done everything she could to keep his affections on her. Any sane woman would have seen the signs early on, the control, the obsessive nature, and the desperation to have her as his own. Cassie knew she had rebounded from her dismissal of Leo’s proposal straight into Otis’s arms, and she had let herself believe it was all okay, that Otis was good for her, when evidently he was a more dangerous predator than Leo ever had been.
She was collected within minutes and taken home, Delilah arriving in person to speak on her behalf and assure the officers Cassie would provide a full statement in due course, but they had no reason to hold her. The agents agreed and let the two women leave.
“Hanna’s on her way. Do you want me to come up and stay with you?” Delilah asked as the car pulled up outside her dark apartment building.
“No, I’ll be fine. Thanks.” Cassie climbed out and made her way up in stunned silence. The events of the night replayed through her mind over and over again, but she was still not scared, just numb. She was also more determined than ever to keep men away, convincing herself she was happier without them, just as they were better off without her drama. But at the same time Cassie felt hornier than she had been in ages. She would’ve welcomed the proposition from a lover right now, or just some genuine affection, and suspected it was her subconscious need for comfort.
She made her way into her apartment and flicked on the lights, her eyes quickly drawn to the dining table before her where a bottle of chardonnay and a big bag of jellybeans sat waiting for her. Cassie laughed out loud, giggling almost maniacally as she pulled out a small note that sat beside her gifts and read it aloud.
“I tried to stay away, really I did. But how can I choose between pain and pleasure when you bring me both? How can I let you go when I cannot live in a world without you in it?
Yours patiently and honorably, Anonymous.”
Cassie read the note over and over, feeling her heart flutter in her chest as she realized all the thoughts she had been having about Leo Solomon and his affections for her had been right. He did care, he cared enough to let her go when she asked him to, but he also cared enough to keep her safe all the time since.
Harsh, forceful sobs began to claim her as the emotion finally flooded her system, the fear and anguish from the last few hours affecting her at last. Cassie fell to her knees, clutching the note to her chest as tears forced themselves out of her. When two powerful arms gripped her tight and enveloped her from behind, Cassie didn’t even flinch. She turned to face him and let herself fall deeper into Leo’s hold, and then unashamedly fell apart.
“I told you I couldn't stay away. Don’t ever ask me to leave you again, because next time I’m putting my foot down and saying no,” he whispered, wrapping his legs around Cassie while she curled into a ball. Her hands gripped his bicep, and Cassie knew she didn’t want him to let her go ever again. A wave of uncertainty swept over her, though.
“I’m not the girl for you, Leo,” she whispered, sobbing harder.
“Yes you are, and you just called me Leo, which tells me you’re mine at last,” he replied, reiterating the words she had said to him in his basement that night oh-so long ago.
Chapter 10
Leo held Cassie for a long time, seeming not to care about the uncomfortable floor beneath them or the tears and snot that now covered his t-shirt from her breakdown. She hoped he was glad to have stayed after taking her the silly gifts. Cassie couldn't bear the thought of having potentially been so broken all alone, and she was happy to hold on as long as he let her.
“How did you do it?” she eventually asked, lifting her head, but still not moving from Leo’s tight cocoon. “Did you know he was a murderer?”
“No, not at first,” he replied, stroking her hair. “I’ve been keeping tabs on you since the very first day we met, Cassie. I’m going to be honest about it, because you must surely have realized that already.”
“Yes, I had a feeling. But I wasn’t completely sure, until tonight,” she replied, grateful he hadn’t chosen to lie or cover up his intrusive protective methods.
“I was glad when you two met, at first. He seemed nice. He was taking you out to fancy restaurants and being a gentleman. I was crazy jealous, I’ll happily admit that. But I was trying to let you go, trying to forget about you, and if that was going to happen I had to know for sure he was going to be good to you.” Leo pulled Cassie’s chin up so her gaze met his. The pads of his thumbs began tracing the contours of her cheeks, sweeping across the dark circles under her eyes in a bid to wipe them clean.
“I hired a private investigator to look into his past. Otis had a string of relationships in his younger days that led nowhere, followed by a few shorter ones as he got older, nothing to report about. But then I learned his penchant for prostitutes went as far back as his late teens. He also happened to be playing gigs in cities where women were found beaten and murdered. When I took a really good look, it was all too much of a coincidence. I had a deeper delve, and lo and behold, he had not only beaten many women, but had also paid off one or two pimps as recompense for accidentally murdering their girls.”
“You’ve gotta be kidding?” she mumbled, shaking her head.
“I wish I was, love. He wanted to find the perfect girl, but each always turned out not quite good enough, and he would get violent. As soon as I was sure, I sent the information to the police anonymously. I knew he had paid for you exclusively, and he was progressing with his affections for you. I assumed he might turn, and you could be his next victim,” Leo said, his long explanation shocking Cassie to her core. “I obviously could not allow that, Cassie. I couldn't let him hurt the only thing I’ve ever truly cared for, the only woman I have ever loved,” Leo added, making her jump.
Cassie wiped her face on her sleeve. The tears had long since dried, but she was still puffy and had a headache from hell. She looked up into his handsome face, noticing how relaxed and innocent his features were after their tender time wrapped in each other’s tight grasps. Leo looked younger, more delicate now, and it was hard for her to picture him as the same intimidating man she had met at his party. His words sunk in, and she felt her resolve completely melt. He loved her. She remembered the words so clearly and couldn't help smiling.
Cassie leaned up and trailed soft kisses over his strong jaw up to his lips, climbing onto her knees so she was level with him and grabbing his stubble covered cheeks with her palms.
“You love me?” she asked as she pulled back, her hands resting on his shoulders before she slid them down to take his hands in hers.
“Yeah, I guess I do,” he replied, peering into Cassie’s eyes solemnly before gathering her up in his arms and carrying her toward her room. Once inside, Leo unzipped her dress and let it tumble to the floor.
She instantly clammed up, but he made no move toward her underwear, so she relaxed and stood watching him while he wandered over to her chest of drawers and pulled out a set of pajamas for her to climb into, helping her move her tired body as he went. Cassie smiled up at him, planting another kiss on his lips when she was changed, and he welcomed her affections, wrapping her tightly in his bear-like grip as he kissed her back fervently. Leo gathered her up and carried her over to the bed, placing her delicately on the duvet before retreating, a dark look of regret on his face.
“Don’t leave me, Leo, please. I couldn't bear it if you lef
t me alone in this bed tonight. I know I’m a mess and a tease, but…” She tailed off when she felt the tears welling at her eyes again.
“I’m not going anywhere, love,” he replied, smiling down at her. “I’m just going to ask Jamie if I can borrow some comfy clothes. I didn’t bring any PJs.”
“Are they back? I didn’t hear them come in. I thought Hanna would’ve come to check on me,” Cassie replied, feeling sad, but Leo’s face said it all, and she felt better for having looked up at his sheepish grin.
“Yeah, they were already here before you came back. I convinced them to let me take care of you. I needed you to know how much I would do to keep you safe, that I meant what I said.” He leaned down to plant a soft kiss on her forehead. She grinned back up at him, loving him this way. She knew it had taken her complete meltdown for his own layers of armor to come away, but she didn’t care. This was the Leo she needed to see. Cassie needed to know him this way in order to accept the everyday version of himself she knew would be back again soon, the hardened criminal who cared for no one and sat atop his throne bought and paid for by drug money.
She wanted to learn how he’d gotten there, and hoped one day he would tell her, but there were big changes they each needed to make for one another first, and she was determined to get it right.
Cassie followed Leo toward Hanna’s room, and he took her hand in his, the affectionate and protective gesture not lost on her one tiny bit. She knocked, giving it a few seconds before popping her head around the door, but hoping they’d been expecting to see her after knowing the terrible ordeal she had gone through.