Christie. His heart skipped a bit.
Cassen's eyes clouded as he looked at the woman standing before him. The warmth he had been wearing on his face for too long cracked.
"What do you want, Christie?" he asked, the words scraping out through gritted teeth.
He'd never thought he would meet her this early.
"Hey hey, breathe in, breathe out. I'm not that bad." Christie replied, amusement curling around her voice like smoke.
She drifted into the room as if she owned it. Her gaze swept over the walls, lingering. Too long on the framed photo of Chloe on his desk. Longer still on the other pictures — the group shots of him with the other mer husbands, all of them laughing, arms slung over each other's shoulders. She tilted her head at each one before moving on, like she was collecting evidence.
"You don't want to hear me ask again." Cassen's anger peaked, sharp and brittle.
