Chapter 53 Chapter 53

Chapter 53 Chapter 53
CASSIAN'S POV

The gala was everything I hated.

Crystal chandeliers. Champagne towers. String quartets playing classical music that no one actually listened to. Women in designer gowns. Men in tailored suits. Fake smiles. Empty laughter. The whole room smelled like expensive perfume and desperation.

I stood near the bar with a glass of whiskey in my hand. I had not touched it. I did not want it. I wanted to leave. I wanted to go back to my sterile apartment and take two more sleeping pills and forget this night ever happened.

But my father had made it clear. This was part of the job. I had to be here. I had to smile. I had to pretend.

So I stood near the bar and watched the crowd. The faces blurred together. The names meant nothing. I nodded when I was supposed to nod. Smiled when I was supposed to smile. Said all the right things.

Inside, I was hollow.

The room was loud. Voices overlapping. Glasses clinking. Laughter that sounded like breaking glass. I looked at my watch. Only an hour had passed. It felt like an eternity.

I poured another whiskey. Did not drink it. Just held it. The ice melted. The amber liquid swirled. I watched it like it was the most interesting thing in the world.

Because if I looked up, I might see him.

I had been avoiding the thought all night. Pushing it to the back of my mind. Pretending it did not exist. But he was here. Somewhere in this room. I had seen the invitation list. Dominic Costello. His name was on it. Right next to his wife's.

I closed my eyes. Took a breath. Told myself it did not matter. Seven years. He was married. He had a wife. He had moved on. I had moved on. I was fine. I was fine. I was fine.

I opened my eyes.

The crowd parted. Like the sea. Like it was rehearsed. Like the universe was cruel and wanted me to see this.

And then I saw him.

Dominic.

He walked through the doors like he owned the place. Like he owned the world. His suit was black. Perfectly fitted. His hair was styled. His jaw was sharp. He looked older. Harder. More dangerous.

Time stopped.

The noise faded. The lights dimmed. The whole room disappeared. There was only him.

His eyes scanned the crowd. They moved past me. Then back. Then stopped.

Our eyes met.

The world tilted.

I could not breathe. My heart stopped. Then started again. Faster. Harder. Painful.

He did not look away.

Neither did I.

Seven years. Seven years of distance. Seven years of pretending. Seven years of running. And now we were in the same room, looking at each other, and it felt like no time had passed at all.

His expression was unreadable. No smile. No smirk. Just his dark eyes fixed on mine. Boring into me. Seeing everything I had tried to hide.

I wanted to look away. I could not.

Then a woman stepped up beside him. Her hand slipped into his. She was beautiful. Dark hair. Dark eyes. A diamond on her finger that caught the light and threw it across the room. She was wearing a red dress that clung to her body like it had been painted on.

His wife.

Dominic looked down at her. Smiled. Said something. She laughed. The sound was like a knife in my chest.

He had moved on. He had married. He had a life. A real life. A life that did not include me.

My hand was shaking. The whiskey sloshed over the rim of my glass. I set it down. My fingers were cold. My heart was racing.

I looked away. Looked at the floor. Looked at the ceiling. Looked anywhere but at them.

But I could not help it. My eyes kept drifting back. Kept finding him. Kept watching the way he leaned into her. The way he whispered something in her ear. The way she smiled and touched his chest.

I wanted to throw up.

I drank the whiskey. Poured another. Drank that too.

The alcohol burned. I welcomed it. I wanted to feel something other than this. This ache. This anger. This endless, crushing pain.

People came up to me. Congratulated me on my new position. Asked about London. Asked about my brother. Asked about my plans. I answered them. I smiled. I nodded. I said all the right things.

I kept drinking.

Dominic was across the room. He was talking to someone. A businessman. An investor. He was smiling. Laughing. Completely unfazed. Like our eyes had not just met across a crowded room. Like I did not exist.

His wife was still at his side. She was beautiful. She was poised. She was everything I was not.

My chest burned. My hands shook. The anger was hot and sharp and consuming.

I drank more.

The night wore on. The music played. The champagne flowed. I stopped counting the whiskey. The room was spinning. The faces were blurring. The lights were too bright. I leaned against the bar. Tried to steady myself.

A hand landed on my shoulder.

I turned.

Dominic was standing behind me. His eyes were dark. His smile was cold.

"Cassian Vane," he said. "It has been a while."

I stared at him. My mouth was dry. My heart was pounding.

"Dominic," I said. My voice was slurred. I hated how weak it sounded.

He looked me up and down. His eyes lingered on my face. On my glasses. On the whiskey in my hand.

"You look terrible," he said.

"Thank you."

"I mean it. You look like you have not slept in years."

"I have not."

He laughed. A cold sound. Nothing like the laugh I remembered.

"Still the same pathetic Cassian," he said. "Still drinking yourself into oblivion. Still running away from your problems."

My grip tightened on the glass. My knuckles went white.

"I am not running from anything."

"Really? Then why are you standing here, drunk and alone, while I am across the room with my beautiful wife?"

I looked at her. She was talking to someone. A man in a grey suit. She was laughing. She did not look at me. She did not know I existed.

"Your wife," I said. The words tasted like poison.

"Yes. My wife." He smiled. That infuriating smile. "She is beautiful, is not she?"

"She is... something."

"She is everything. She is loyal. She is devoted. She loves me."

I looked at him. At his cold eyes. At his mocking smile.

"Does she know?" I asked.

"Know what?"

"About us. About what you did to me. About the plan."

His smile faltered. Just for a second. Then it was back.

"She knows everything," he said. "She knows who you are. She knows what you meant to me. She knows that you were nothing but a game."

A game.

The word hit me like a punch to the chest.

I set down the glass. My hand was shaking.

"You are a monster," I said.

"I am the monster you made me."

"I did not make you anything. You were always broken. You just hid it well."

His jaw tightened. His eyes flashed.

"Look who is talking," he said. "The perfect son. The heir to the empire. The man who could not even love someone without destroying them."

"I loved you."

The words came out before I could stop them. They hung in the air between us. Broken. Desperate.

"I loved you," I said again. "And you used me. You used me and then you threw me away. You married someone else. You destroyed me."

Dominic was quiet for a moment. His face was unreadable.

"Cassian," he said.

"Do not say my name."

"I need to tell you something."

"I do not want to hear it."

"Cassian."

"I said no."

I turned. Walked away. Pushed through the crowd. The room was spinning. The faces were blurring. I needed air. I needed to breathe.

I found a balcony. Dark. Quiet. The city lights spread out below me. The air was cold on my face.

I leaned against the railing. Closed my eyes. Tried to breathe.

The door opened behind me.

I did not turn around. I knew who it was.

"Go away, Dominic."

"I am not going anywhere."

"Then I will leave."

I turned to walk past him. He blocked my path. His body was close. Too close. I could smell his cologne. The same cologne. The one he had worn seven years ago.

"Move," I said.

"No."

"Dominic. Move."

"Or what? You will hit me?"

I looked at him. His eyes were dark. His smile was cruel.

"You are pathetic," he said. "Look at you. Drunk. Weak. Falling apart because you saw me with someone else."

"Shut up."

"You never got over me, did you? Seven years and you are still the same broken little boy who kissed me in a study and ran away."

I hit him.

My fist connected with his jaw. The impact shot up my arm. His head snapped to the side.

He did not fall. He did not stumble. He just turned back to me. His hand was on his jaw. His eyes were bright.

"Finally," he muttered.

I did not understand. I did not have time to understand.

He grabbed me. Pushed me against the pillar. The cold stone bit into my back. His body pressed against mine. His mouth was on my mouth.

He kissed me.

It was not a gentle kiss. It was not a soft kiss. It was animalistic. Brutal. His teeth bit my lip. His tongue forced its way into my mouth. His hands were in my hair, pulling, gripping, holding me in place.

I fought him. I pushed against his chest. I turned my face away. I tried to escape.

He followed. His mouth was on my neck. Biting. Sucking. Leaving marks. His hands were on my hips, pressing me harder against the pillar.

"Stop," I said. My voice was weak. Broken.

"I cannot," he said against my skin.

"Dominic."

"I cannot stop. I have tried. For seven years, I have tried."

I pushed him again. He did not move.

"Stop," I said again.

"Make me."

I looked at him. His eyes were wild. His lips were red. His hair was falling across his forehead.

"You are married," I said.

"I do not care."

"You have a wife."

"I do not care."

"She is standing inside. She is looking for you."

"Let her look."

I stared at him. At the man who had destroyed me. At the man who had married someone else. At the man who was kissing me like I was the only person in the world.

I wanted to push him away. I wanted to run. I wanted to forget this ever happened.

But I could not move.

I heard footsteps. High heels clicking on the floor inside. A woman's voice. Calling his name.

Dominic's wife. She was coming. She was looking for him.

Something inside me snapped.

I grabbed his face. Wrapped my hand in his perfectly styled hair. Pulled him close. Kissed him. Hard. Desperate. Animalistic.

He made a sound. Surprise. Then pleasure. His hands tightened on my hips. His tongue pushed into my mouth.

I kissed him like I was drowning. Like he was air. Like I had been waiting seven years for this moment.

And I had.

I had waited seven years. Seven years of hating him. Seven years of loving him. Seven years of pretending I did not care.

I kissed him until I could not breathe. Until I could not think. Until I could not remember why I was supposed to stop.

His wife was standing in the doorway.

I saw her out of the corner of my eye. Her red dress. Her dark hair. Her wide eyes. Her open mouth.

She was looking at us.

I looked at her.

Dominic's lips were still on mine.

I did not stop kissing him.