The Corner Booth (7 page)

CHAPTER 9

Sean fanned himself dramatically, unable to believe what he heard over the telephone line. “I am telling you right now, Cass, I would have swooned right there. Complete face-plant right at his feet.”

“Oh, that would have been just lovely and very romantic.” Cassie chuckled. “And who uses the word swoon anymore?”

“I do. And the part about a lover causing a chill when you think about him is spot on! I just got a chill and other things just now. God, I bet he is good in bed.” Sean groaned at the thought.

“Ewww, too much information, Sean. Yeah, well, it was very sweet the rest of the evening, for sure. I have to admit, I certainly didn’t want to come home but I paid for it this morning with this hangover. Who could have known mimosas tasted so yummy?”

“Well worth the price.” Becoming serious, Sean had to ask. “Why didn’t you tell me, Cass?”

“Tell you what?”

“About you being raped. That is pretty intense.”

“We have never really spoken about my childhood and it is not a subject that ever lent an opportunity to talk about, Sean, in any aspect, but yes, it was intense. I decided a long time ago to accept it. There was nothing I could do to stop it when it happened. I could only move on after. When I came to Boston, that part of me stayed in Vermont.” Cassandra paused. “I am really embarrassed by the way I acted last night. It’s not like I have never been kissed after the assault. In fact, I enjoy kissing. Last night went too fast way too quickly, and I am not talking about the kiss, but about the conversation. It was technically only the second time we were together—because you can’t count seeing him at the pizzeria—and there I was, blabbing about my past. Makes me cringe just thinking about it. I am not sure what happened but I do know that I really don’t want to talk anymore about it, Sean.”

Realizing that he wasn’t going to get any more out of her on her past, Sean lightened his tone. “So, when are you going to see tall, dark, and handsome again?”

“I am not sure. He works—I work.” Silence hung heavy on the line. “Sean? Are you still there?”

“You left without a follow-up, didn’t you? Girl, have I not taught you better than that?”

Cassie chewed on her lip. “Honestly, we may have, but I think I was really drunk when I was dropped off.”

“That’s okay. All we need to do is come up with an excuse for you to call him…” Sean hesitated. “Cass, please tell me you got his number.”

“You are stressing me out and the baby just fell. I’ve got to go.” Cassie quickly hung up the phone and rushed to scoop up the three-year-old in a hug. She checked to see whether a miracle Band-Aid was in order. Finding nothing wrong that a kiss couldn’t fix, Cassie started to fold the laundry as she thought about the remainder of her and Sakis’s evening together. After leaving his bedroom, they both seemed to have made a silent agreement not to discuss further what happened. For Cassie, it was a relief, as she hadn’t really wanted to go into details of her past on the first date. After a very American dinner of roast beef and red bliss potatoes, they ended up outside on the back patio. He was the consummate host and shared stories of his childhood back in Greece. She had lost track of how many mimosas she had early in the evening, only that her glass never went empty. As the evening neared an end, he stood and pulled her up with him. They spent the rest of their time together dancing. Several times, he had leaned in to kiss her, never allowing it to go too far, his mouth soft and gentle. Sakis made it easy for her to like him, and she came to hate when he pulled away from her. For Cassie, the night was magic and very romantic. Her feet floated across the patio as he twirled her around. It almost allowed her to forget the issue in the bedroom.

Cassie barely remembered the drive home with Stephanous. She did remember Sakis laughing at her over something she said as he placed the seat belt around her waist. Sakis had then said something to Stephanous, who laughed aloud before he drove off. Ensuring she made it to the front door and in the house, Stephanous did not leave until the lights had gone out on the third floor. From there, Cassie remembered nothing.

_______

The Boston skyline was beautiful from Sakis’s office. Not a cloud was in the sky as birds flew between the tall, stately buildings. Sakis saw none of this. His mind had been on Cassandra since he woke up that morning. He spun in the chair as he tossed the pen onto the pile of papers he was supposed to have been signing. Hell, ever since their conversation in his bedroom, she had been on his mind. He wanted more information about her past; specifically the one who had hurt her. The one who stole her innocence away before she had the right to choose who her lover would be.

Visions of his sister’s beautiful face flashed across his mind. She had not only been the apple of their father’s eye, but she had him completely wrapped around her finger. It had been a long time since he had thought of Victoria. The pain felt fresh and new with the memory. At one time, they were the closest any brother and sister could be—they were only a year apart—until someone had taken her innocence also. One day, she was running in the streets, playing soccer with him in Athens, and the next, afraid of her own shadow. Victoria had never recovered completely. He admired Cassandra that she was able to move past her pain. He wished that Victoria could have done the same instead of taking her own life.

A soft knock sounded at the door to his office. Sakis allowed several moments to pass to collect his train of thought before he acknowledged the visitor.

Stephanous took a seat in one of the two leather chairs placed in front of his desk. Casually lighting a cigarette, Stephan said nothing. Sakis looked tired. He had arrived back at the mansion to find them dancing to soft jazz on the back patio and even though the evening seemed to have ended on a light note, something had definitely happened between the two of them while he was gone. Sakis was distracted and Cassie was very drunk. Stephan was curious to see whether last night had anything to do with why he was awakened so early by the secretary, informing him that he was being called in to Sakis’s office. Stephan’s day did not usually start until the afternoon because his evenings always ran so late. But when called, he was always available.

“I need you to find out whatever you can on Cassandra. Nothing is too small of a detail. I want to know everything.”

“Are there any surprises you want to share with me?” Stephanous asked curiously.

“I believe her childhood was less than privileged, and as we both know, when you come from that background, sometimes you are taken advantage of.” Sakis could not believe the difficulty he was having at discussing what Cassandra had shared with him.

Stephanous tossed a thick yellow envelope on the desk, his tone brusque as he leaned forward in his chair. “Sakis, I have already pulled together the information on Cassandra and have read the file myself. There is nothing that jumps out at me.”

Sakis gave his bodyguard a hard look. “That was faster than usual.” Sakis quickly skimmed the pages, and there were a lot of them. There was never any mention of an assault, even during the period of time she met with a therapist. It did not make sense to him. As he recalled the evening, he never felt that the story was contrived or made up. His distrust of people rose to the surface and instinct kicked in.

“You have never brought a woman you picked up at a club to your home before either. The moment you stepped out of the normal day-to-day routine, I chose to err on the side of caution. To be quite frank, when you stopped her at Tony’s, I started pulling everything together on her, just in case.”

Sakis chuckled wryly. “Am I that predictable—was I that obvious even then?”

Shrugging, Stephanous didn’t back down. “It was out of the norm for you and no, you are not obvious in any way. It is just that I have been doing this job for a while now. What is it you are looking for, Sakis?”

Frustrated, Sakis stared at his longtime friend. “I am looking for evidence of an assault on her. I do not have a time frame or a name, and as you have said, there is nothing in here to allude that an assault even happened. Cassandra did not strike me as the type to lie, yet we have been down this path before with a deceitful woman, have we not?”

Stephanous leaned back slowly as he thought of Sakis’s last love interest. He still felt she was a plant, but couldn’t confirm it. Rebecca was never someone that he considered long-term, but the fact that Sakis saw her longer than anyone forced him to keep her close. She was an idiot as far as he was concerned and was relieved when Sakis broke it off.

Refusing to show his shock at what he was hearing now, he wondered what had happened that they were led to that conversation so quickly. So that was it. That was her secret. He believed what he was hearing. He liked Cassandra, even more so after reading her file. Of all the women who had passed through Sakis’s life, there was no way that girl would lie about something that serious. There was no reason for her to do that. No ulterior motive. Nothing to gain. He felt the need to defend her.

“I doubt very much Cassandra is lying, Sakis. What it does tell me is that she is very good at keeping things close to herself. From your standpoint, depending on how far you are going to allow…” Stephanous fought to find the right words, “this friendship to proceed, her ability to keep secrets would be a good thing. Either way, whatever her reasoning is, right or wrong, it is important to her. Maybe you should ask her directly.” Stephanous smiled broadly. “The one thing I do know about little Miss Cassandra is that she has no problem speaking her mind when it suits her and if she doesn’t want to share, she certainly won’t.”

Sakis turned back to stare out the window. Stephanous was right in every way. Not once had he allowed a woman who he was sleeping with or planned to sleep with into his private domain. He liked to keep distance at all times, and his home had become a sanctuary. Having Cassandra there brought to light that even sanctuaries can become like a prison. So, why was she so different and how far was he willing to take this relationship? He thought of Victoria and the waste of a lifetime.

“You are thinking of Victoria,” Stephanous stated softly.

“I am.”

“Her assault
was
avenged, Sakis,” Stephanous replied.

Sakis turned cold eyes to Stephanous, who was very familiar with that look. “It was, albeit too late to give my sister peace of mind or prevent my mother dying of a broken heart. I believe Cassandra should have what my sister never did.”

Nodding as he rose, Stephanous walked to the door. “I will dig harder into the people in her life back then. If it happened once, I am sure it happened to others. Men like that do not stop. I will start with the time that she started seeing a therapist. I will let you know.”

“Good, thank you. And Stephan, while you are at it, find out all you can on the two officers who showed up at Tony’s the other night.”

“Already working on that, Sakis,” Stephan replied.

Sakis picked up his pen, finally ready to work. “And that is why you are indispensable to me.”

CHAPTER 10

It had been so long since Cassandra felt such anger flood through her. Now, she stood staring at the woman not even two feet away and all she wanted to do was lean over and pull out Jennifer’s perfectly coiffed hair, smear the impeccable makeup, and rip the designer clothes. Today had been the worst of days and she was beyond exhausted. Her normal eight a.m. start arrived earlier with screaming coming from the floor below her at three in the morning. Chloe screamed her name over and over; she ran downstairs, half asleep, and was immediately faced with Jennifer and Mason having a huge fight, while the baby cried in her bed, covered in vomit. Cassandra knelt next to Chloe, who wrapped her chubby arms around her head. Her tiny body felt as if it were on fire. Streams of mucus ran from the baby’s nose, which she proceeded to wipe against the side of Cassandra’s neck. Cooing to the small child, she gasped as Jennifer reached to pull Chloe from her arms. Screaming loudly in fright, the baby clung even tighter and dug into her skin.

“She is my child, and I will take care of her. Give me my baby!” Jennifer yelled wildly.

With Chloe clutched tighter to her chest, Cassandra watched as Mason grabbed his wife roughly and pulled her away from the two figures now cowering on the floor.

“Cassandra, take Chloe to the bathroom and get her some medicine. I think she has a fever.” When he turned to his wife, Mason yelled, “Please! Jennifer, she wants Cassie. She is sick.”

“She has brainwashed my kids!”

Mason sighed heavily. “No, you have left her in charge so much that Chloe looks for Cassie. Maybe a few more hours with your children during the day instead of the country club would help.”

Cassandra flinched at the loud crack as Jennifer slapped her husband across the face.

“Fuck you, Mason. What are you saying? I am not a good mother? I never hear you complaining when people tell you what a great wife I am or when you are complimented on your beautiful wife. What, you would prefer me to look as dowdy and frumpy as Cassie?”

Mason stared, shocked at Jennifer. “Lower your voice. For fuck sake’s, Jenn—she can hear you.”

“I really don’t care.” But Cassandra did notice that Jennifer lowered her voice. “I can’t be everything and do everything. I am trying my best.” Jennifer’s tone had become whiny and girly.

Mason seemed to be caving and Cassandra could picture Jennifer rubbing herself up against her husband. She had watched the tactic so many times over the past few months. Every time she did, she felt as if she were going to vomit. She hoped that she never had a toxic relationship like these two. As she wiped the baby’s face with a cool cloth, she was relieved to see Chloe had calmed down enough for her to be able to take some medicine, and opened her little mouth like a tiny bird.

As she hugged her tightly to her chest, Cassandra whispered in her ear. “You are such a sweet thing, baby girl.”

“Are Mommy and Daddy going to make you leave, Cassie?” a small voice asked from the bathroom doorway. Startled, Cassandra looked up and found herself looking into dark blue eyes that were now swimming in tears.

“Oh, little man. Come here.” David ran into Cassandra’s arms and settled in her lap as they all sat on the bathmat. “No one ever knows what is going to happen from one moment to the next, do they? But, I promise you this, David: no matter what happens, you can always know that I love you both.”

“Mommy said some pretty mean things about you.”

“Yes she did, but sometimes, you say things to Chloe when you are angry, don’t you?” The small head nodded slowly, and Cassandra smiled. “But I know that you don’t really mean everything you say. That is the same as what has happened tonight. Chloe is unwell and your mommy wanted to make her better.”

“But you fix boo-boos the best, Cassie,” the little boy stated in a matter-of-fact tone, as Chloe nodded in agreement. Tears filled her eyes at his words. She knew, no matter her feelings towards the couple in the other room, they were still the parents and she could not bring herself to speak ill of them. “Well, that is because I am a nanny, silly.”

“You mean like Mary Poppins?” Cassie had shown them the movie just yesterday.

Cassandra laughed and kissed the top of David’s head. “That is exactly it. Just like Mary Poppins.”

The house had gone silent. Cassie frowned, unable to hear Mason and Jennifer anymore. She tiptoed into the hallway with a child on either hip. Her arms strained from the exertion. Moaning came from the other end of the hallway where the parents’ suite was located. As obscenities screamed in her head, she smiled down at the two sleepy heads that now rested on her shoulders. She hoped that the vomit she smelled on Chloe hadn’t landed on the bed, but on the rug in the child’s room. As she took stock of the blankets, she knew she was out of luck. With a sigh, she put David back to bed, thankful he went easily as she ran bath water for Chloe. She didn’t have the heart to make the child sleep with hair covered in vomit and reeking the way she did; otherwise, she would have brought her upstairs to her bed. After she had changed the sheets on the tiny bed, she got Chloe settled; Cassie stared at the tiny clock on the wall. Her workday had started and there was no time to go back to sleep. Tears filled her eyes; feeling sorry for herself, she headed downstairs to attack the day’s laundry, and the normal list that Jennifer gave her every morning.

Now, five minutes to eight at night, she was running behind putting the kids to bed and, feeling like Cinderella—with her hair up in an unsightly bun, laundry basket on one hip, and a still sick Chloe on the other—her employer decided that
this
was the time to ask why she hadn’t washed the handprints that ran down the wall on the staircase. This woman couldn’t be serious right now. When she heard the key at the front door, she wondered at Mason’s mood, and whether or not tonight would be a night he would stick up for her or side with his wife. The man looked incredibly tired himself as he took in the two women who stood in the foyer. As tired as she was, Cassandra fought back the smile that hovered on her lips; she could tell that Mason wished he was anywhere else but home right now.

“Ladies. Is there a problem?”

“I can’t deal with Cassandra’s laziness anymore. She didn’t even get halfway through the list I gave her this morning and the kids are still awake, and we had such a wonderful night planned, honey.” Cassandra cringed at hearing the baby tone again in Jennifer’s voice.

Mason looked at his nanny’s tired posture before he walked over to take Chloe from her arms. “Has she been sick all day, Cassie?”

“Yes, Mason. She threw up half of today, but she is much better and the vomiting seems to have stopped.”

After he handed the baby to Jennifer, Mason removed the basket from her hands. “Go get some rest.”

Jennifer started to protest but snapped her mouth shut at the look that Mason shot her. She was almost to her room when she heard the shouting begin. Not wanting to hear any more, Cassie quickly grabbed some clean clothes and ran to take a shower and get dressed quickly. Darting out the front door before anyone saw her, she exhaled in relief as she left the house behind her.