Aiden Hale
I came back to reality. Standing in the bathroom, I was stunned with how I had gotten myself here.
Whatever we had moments ago, was just out of the heat of the moment.
No matter how good it felt, I knew that Cassian obviously saw me as an enemy.
Instantly, a flashback of Cassian's body on mine filled up my entire mind.
I could feel myself getting hard just from the thought of it.
I got out of the bathroom fully aware that the door remained locked but the penthouse was silent.
I searched the room for Cassian, where was he? Even though the first thought that should have lingered in my head was thoughts of escaping.
Still I stood there, scanning the room for Cassian.
I had given up, he was not here. That finally meant one thing: I could finally get away from all of this.
But what exactly was I running away from? Did I want to run?
I paused to ask myself that question?
As I rushed to wear my clothes I actually began to look around the penthouse and then it slowly began to dawn on me.
This was excessive. Why would someone want to have all this? I mean the space feels too large, too polished, too cold just like its owner. Cassian.
I studied the environment, that was when I was able to notice the security cameras positioned discreetly along the ceiling.
"Oh shit"
I couldn't help but murmur out of plain misery because what type of sick bastard does that? Oh, I forgot Cassian.
Not only did he force me against my will and take advantage of the situation to do what he did, even though I enjoyed every bit of it.
The sick bastard had recorded it, why? To use as leverage? Who does that? That was when I realized something even more sickening.
I was under constant surveillance. I paused and took a deep breath because the entire thought of it had somewhat increased my anxiety.
The cold reality that hit me was the fact that he was watching me as I stood there in the middle of his room. Stark naked.
He loved the view, he knew he was in absolute control and there was nothing I could do about it.
"Fuck you Cassian"
I whispered underneath my breath as I bit my lip.
I stood there still naked. Out of anger, I was giving him the view he wanted.
"You sick bastard"
After that shocking revelation throughout the entire day, I pieced together the events that led me to this confinement.
If I could remember clearly, I was simply doing my job. How did I end up here?
I recalled finding the sealed archive file buried under mislabeled records during a routine reorganization. It was carefully hidden. Whoever did that, did a fine job.
I paced up and down the room slowly, putting the puzzle together and trying my best to understand why and how I was in this situation.
Then it hit me. The file contained irregular financial transfers, signed under an alias linked to the original founder of Rourke Global.
I was so grateful that this piece of information was still very viable in my brain. Now what else could try to remember?
I remembered being confused by the date stamps and the abrupt disappearance of the named heir.
"Yes, the dates. There was something about them that didn't correspond and then I couldn't seem to find the heir. The next of kin on the document was blank. What could that have meant?"
I stood at the edge of the bed and that was when the recollections became sharper.
Instantly, it all came back to me. I remembered the final line of the file: a partial birth record with a missing surname.
Was that the key to all of this? The thought unsettled me.
I sat down on the bed out of frustration. When I noticed the door creak and open, I turned and it was Cassian.
He had returned from watching me like the sick pervert he actually is.
I pretended and ignored him. I wasn't going to give him the delight of accusing him of what I had just found out.
He sat down on the chair at the corner watching me.
From behind me I could feel his eyes shadowing me once more
"Sick fuck"
I murmured underneath my breath.
I walked and stood near the tall glass windows. Cassian remained silent for long minutes, analyzing me as if searching for some answers that only I held.
I maintained a careful distance, aware of the tension that could grow heavier each time Cassian was around me.
If only I knew this was what I was going to get myself into when I agreed to all of this weeks ago. I would have refused. But would I?
"Who sent you? I don't want silence. I want names?"
Cassian questioned me. When I heard the question my first remark was to giggle. The giggle grew into a deep laughter as I spoke.
"Really this was your way of interrogating me. Usually people start with personal history, job performance, and childhood records. Lemme guess you checked there and couldn't find anything"
I did it on purpose to make him furious as I noticed him tighten his fist.
"I ask you again. Who sent you? Who are you working with?"
His line of interrogation suggested that he suspected that I was connected to internal espionage.
Which made me smirk.
"Did your dad put you up to this? Since you can't be a man with your own balls?"
I attempted to get him agitated for the thrill of it. But the pressure of my tease revealed fragments of his own past trauma and his abandonment.
He didn't know that I knew. Yes, I knew all the unknown details surrounding his early childhood, and the years he spent in foster care before being unofficially adopted into a caretaker's household.
I knew everything about Cassian Rourke and how he came to be.
Cassian released his fist and removed a notebook from his pocket and started taking notes of these details, but instead of relaxing, he grew more rigid the more he wrote.
His suspicion seemed mixed with something else, an emotional conflict he could not mask and I saw through him.
That was something I could not lie that I enjoyed doing.
He walks closer to me creating a forced proximity which builds layers of tension.
I could feel the heat rising within me. I don't know why he made me feel this way.
"You have two options, either the easy way or the hard way"
He whispered close to my ears as his thick cologne masked the air around me.
I was stone hard. I couldn't put it together. What was going on with me? Especially as Cassian's watchfulness became more intense.
I was too aware of Cassian's presence, his controlled movements, and the silent power he carried.
Cassian's questions were direct but charged with something deeper. He had the same list for me. I could see it in his eyes.
Just then his phone rings and the moment is ruined. We break off from each other's gaze as he walks away to answer the call.
"Hello, hello, hello"
Cassian repeats but it seems the person on the other end of the phone is not responsive.
Then he looks at the phone and looks back at me wit
h a conflicted expression, creating a shift that marks the beginning of something that was far deeper than I could ever have imagined.