Chapter 5

“Get the hell out!” Cassandra screamed, her face red with shame as she hurried to her feet.

The towel, a short, flimsy one she had owned since she was a teenager, barely covered her. It wasn’t like she had expected her host would burst into her room while she searched for her miss

ing earring.

Like the jackass he was, Keith stormed out of her room without so much as an apology. Heck, she was sure she had seen the look of disgust on his face before he turned.

“Bastard!” She spat, feeling so fucking angry, she ran after him. “Get the hell back here!”

Keith groaned when he heard her voice and picked up the pace. He had to get out of there! She was probably about to have his head, and even though she couldn’t, he would rather not face her.

Not with the huge hard-on he was sporting.

“Stop right there, Andino, or I’ll fucking scream!” She yelled, running toward him.

“Stay the hell away from me!” He yelled in response, and that seemed to stop her for a moment.

Cassandra had been right. He was disgusted by her. She hadn’t imagined it. She blinked back the te

ars that threatened to fall and turned around. She hadn’t been thinking, running after him in a stupid flimsy towel. He could shove his fucking apology up his ass.

Refusing to look back, Keith took in a breath of relief. He could not have controlled himself if she had caught up with him. His curiosity would have gotten the best of him.

Curiosity or lust? His mind wandered, and he groaned, feeling his cock pulse with life after a fucking long time. Running a hand through his hair, he tried to calm his raging mind.

“I am calm. I am serene,” he whispered, closing his eyes and taking deep breaths. “I want to rip that fucking towel off and- No!”

Dark eyes flashing with anger, he stormed off to his room. “She has to go,” he roared in a terrifying voice that shook the foundations of the mansion. “She has to fucking go!”

***

When darkness fell, Cassandra curled up on her bed, her eyes wet and swollen from all her crying. It seemed silly. There she was, in the most beautiful room she had ever seen, and she felt sad.

The look on Keith’s face that evening had brought memories Cassandra thought she had buried far, far in the depths of the earth. Growing up, she had been a skinny little twig bullied and mocked by all her classmates until she clocked sixteen.

Somehow, all the curves she hadn’t known a woman could possess erupted. At first, it was terrific. She got the attention she felt she deserved and a fantastic boyfriend.

“So fucking amazing, he shagged my co-worker,” she spat snidely.

When she asked the bastard why he cheated on her, he claimed she was fat and ugly.

Fat and ugly.

She scoffed despite the lone tear that slipped down her cheeks. “Jackass. If Aria were here, she’d have my butt for crying over that idiot.”

In her defense, she hadn’t thought about him for a long time. Seeing the repulsion on 

Andino’s face had reopened deep old wounds.

“He’s a fucking jackass, too,” she whispered. “They’re both idiots, and I shouldn’t care what they think.”

A knock on her door made her sit up. “Who’s there?!”

“Dalton,” the butler replied with as much disdain as he racked up from his old gout.

“Go away, Dalton,” she yelled, falling flat on her bed. “I don’t need you making me feel even more 

sour.”

Dalton, however, was relentless. “You must open up, Miss Wilson. Master sent me-”

“You and your master can both eat shit!” She yelled frantically, tossing a pillow at the closed door.

Dalton’s footsteps receded, and she sighed in relief. Exhausted by the day’s events, she lay in bed, tired, waiting for sleep that she knew would never come.

***

Keith sat in his study,

 his hands clasped together as he awaited for Dalton to return. Did she like the flowers he had sent? He rubbed his forehead. What if she didn’t even like flowers? He chuckled and decided he was going crazy.

“Of course, she likes flowers. All women like flowers,” he assured himself.

“You’re in the flowering stage now?” His brother’s voice reached his ears, and he groaned.

“Two times in one day, Thanatos. I had barely set eyes on you for a year!”

Though he couldn’t see him, Keith knew his brother was grinning like some m**h ad***t.

“You didn’t have interesting guests all year,” Thanatos jabbed. “What’s this about flowers-”

“They’re poppies, okay? If she has them in her room, they’ll help her sleep,” he explained, folding his arms as he tried to figure out which of the shadows his brother was hiding.

“Ah,” Thanatos mumbled, having the right to sound disappointed. “And here I thought you were wooing her.”

Keith scoffed and turned his nose in the air. “And why would I do that? Don’t be absurd.”

“You sure?” Thanatos asked. “So she’s a free bird, yes?”

“Yes,” Keith mumbled, then frowned. “Wait, what?”

“I guess it’s time to introduce myself then,” Thanatos declared, and Keith lunged to his feet.

“Don’t you dare!” He bellowed. “Don’t you dare approach her, Thanatos!”

But his brother was gone. Growling, he tossed the papers on his desk to the floor. Why the hell was he worked up over her? She was his... His patient. Thanatos could toss her up a wall and have his way with her, and he wouldn’t care.

He would not care.

“Master?” Dalton called, stepping into the study with wary eyes.

Keith pinched his nose. “Why are you back with the flowers?”

Dalton shrugged. “She refused them.”

“Of course she did,” he laughed dryly, tossing his head back tiredly. “I am so tired, Dalton. Have I ever been so tired?”

“No,” a woman replied. “Not in a long while, Hypnos.”