CASSIA
Mistress.
Hearing him say it so casually made my stomach twist in disgust.
I couldn't even bring myself to say such a distasteful word, yet he had spoken it without hesitation. The look in his eyes made it clear he expected me to accept it. To simply agree and become his damned mistress.
Kairos kept staring at me, one brow raised, waiting.
"Kairos would never say something like that to me," I said. "Not to someone he claims to see as a sister."
The corner of his lips curved into a humorless smile.
"A sister?" he echoed softly, his gaze drifting slowly over my body. I was suddenly grateful I was still wearing the joggers and shirt from yesterday.
I didn't even want to imagine what would happen if more of my skin had been exposed under that look.
"Do you think of me as a brother?" he asked again.
The truth? No.
Not once had I ever thought of him that way. Not after I'd grown old enough to understand what it meant to want someone.
Not after I'd realized what I felt for him and even touched myself at the thought of him.
"Would you still call me a brother if I bent you over that lounger…" he paused, pointing toward the chair by the door.
My throat tightened.
My gaze followed the direction of his finger, landing on the chair. For a moment my mind betrayed me, conjuring images of exactly what he had described.
I forced myself to look back at him.
"No," he said dryly. "You clearly don't see me as one."
"It doesn't matter," I replied, forcing my voice to remain steady. "I can't be your mistress, and you can't force me to become one."
I continued before he could interrupt. "You have a fiancée, for God's sake. What the hell are you thinking? And why would you even want me?"
So he could cheat on her.
The thought made my stomach churn again as the image of him and Lily together flashed through my mind. The anger I had been trying to suppress rose once more.
"Why not?" Kairos replied calmly. "Some people are meant to be wives, while others are meant to be… playthings."
He watched me closely as he spoke. My heart clenched at the meaning behind his words.
So that was it. I was only good enough to be his plaything. Nothing more.
The realization was humiliating. Even after all the dismissive things he had said to me, even after the clear lack of interest he'd shown before… I was still the one standing here, still pushing.
At this point, I was convinced I must be suffering from some kind of syndrome.
Kairos pulled a pen from his pocket and pushed the document toward me again.
"Sign it."
"No," I said firmly. "That woman you were fucking in your office a few minutes ago, ask her to be your mistress instead. I'm sure she'd be more than willing." I shot back, my anger finally boiling over.
"Are you jealous, sweetheart?" he chuckled darkly.
"I am not your sweetheart," I scowled.
"Oh?" he murmured, amusement flickering in his eyes. "Jealousy doesn't look good on you, Cassy."
I hated the way he was teasing me while I was being completely serious.
It wasn't a joke.
He had shoved a damned contract in my face, asking me to sign it. Asking me to become something no reputable woman of my standing would ever accept. Something my father would have screamed bloody murder about if he were still alive.
"I'm willing to give you the entire day to read it," Kairos continued in a cool voice. "It doesn't look like you have. Otherwise, you wouldn't be asking why I'm doing this."
Of course he knew I hadn't opened it.
I didn't want to. The title on the front page had been enough for me to make up my mind.
"Baby!" The shrill voice sliced through my thoughts.
My jaw tightened as I turned.
Lily was walking toward us, swaying her hips as if she owned the place.
I glanced back at Kairos. His eyes lit up immediately, as though he hadn't just been with her minutes ago. Then he started walking toward her.
Just like that. Like I didn't matter. It stung more than I wanted to admit.
Once upon a time, we had been best friends and he would never have ignored me like this. Before his so-called death. Before everything changed.
Now I couldn't even tell what he truly thought of me anymore. No.
That wasn't true. I knew exactly what he thought.
A mistress.
The contract in my hand was proof enough.
I stared at his retreating back and let out a shaky breath. When I spoke, I forced my voice to remain calm, even though every part of me wanted to scream at him to take back every cruel word he had thrown at me in the last twenty-four hours.
"I don't know who you are," I said quietly. "But the Kairos I knew…"
"The Kairos you knew is dead," he cut me off coldly.
He turned fully toward me, his eyes burning as they locked onto mine.
I flinched at the intensity of that stare, my heart beginning to pound. He stalked closer until he was standing right in front of me, towering over me. His lip curled into a snarl.
"You should be grateful I'm even considering you, Leonardo Marcelli's daughter, as my mistress," he said carelessly. "Do you know how many women would kill for that position?"
Tears blurred my vision. I bit down hard on my lower lip.
"I never asked to be that," I said, my voice trembling with anger and pain. "I didn't ask to be bought, and I definitely don't want to live under your mercy!"
Years of grief I had buried for him surged to the surface all at once.
"Am I interrupting something?" Lily asked lightly.
"Yes!" I snapped.
"No," Kairos said at the same time.
"Okay," Lily replied easily as she moved closer to him.
She slipped her arms around his waist, and he returned the embrace without hesitation, his hand settling comfortably on her ass.
Jealousy crashed through me as I watched his fingers move against her.
She looked up at him with a dazzling smile. He smiled back. It was a real one.
Not the cold, dismissive expressions he had been giving me since I arrived. I turned away, unable to watch them any longer.
"You should read it," Kairos said behind me.
I stopped and glanced over my shoulder, shooting him a withering look.
He looked unbothered, smiling faintly. "You have an option," he added.
"What?" I asked before I could stop myself.
The moment the word left my mouth, I regretted it. His answer came almost immediately.