Chapter 88: We had a fucking deal!.

Then she speaks again.

"I miss his big dick so much."

I go completely still.

For a second, I genuinely wonder whether I heard her correctly.

Then she sighs dreamily.

"I swear, nobody compares to him."

That’s it.

Absolutely not.

I have endured enough tonight and now I’m being held hostage by a woman reminiscing about my husband’s penis.

I refuse.

I unlock the stall and push the door open.

Both women turn.

Their expressions are priceless and I savor it.

The first woman, dressed in a gorgeous black gown, goes so still that she looks as though someone has pressed pause on her entire existence.

The second woman nearly drops the lipstick in her hand.

I smile.

The sort of smile that makes people reconsider every decision that brought them into the same room as me.

"Please," I say sweetly. "Don’t stop on my account."

When neither of them speaks for a while.

I step out of the stall, close the door behind me, and walk toward the mirror.

I can feel their eyes following me.

Good.

Let them look.

I stop in front of the mirror and inspect my reflection. My lipstick needs a little attention, so I pull out my lip gloss and apply it carefully, then press my lips together.

Perfect.

Only then do I turn toward them.

"Maybe next time, before you gossip about someone, check to see if you’re alone first."

The woman in black opens her mouth, Closes it then opens it again but nothing comes out.

I tilt my head.

"Cat got your tongue?"

Her cheeks flush bright red.

"You were eavesdropping!"

I laugh.

"Oh, sweetheart. You were practically announcing your sex life to the entire building. I hardly had to try."

Her eyes flash.

"You have no right to talk to me like that!"

I raise an eyebrow.

"Really? Because I’m fairly certain I have every right to respond when I walk into a bathroom and hear a stranger discussing my marriage and my husband."

Her mouth falls open while the second woman looks like she’d rather crawl into the nearest sink and drown herself.

I glance between them.

"Although, I must admit, I admire your confidence. It takes a special kind of woman to hear that a man is married and still convince herself he’s secretly in love with her."

"Lysander and I have history," the woman snaps.

"Congratulations."

"He loved me."

"Then perhaps you should ask him why he married me instead."

Her face hardens.

"You think you’re better than me?"

"No."

I smile.

"I think you’re embarrassing yourself."

The silence that follows is delicious.

I pick up my clutch, turn toward the door, and take two steps before another thought occurs to me.

I stop.

Then I turn back toward the woman standing beside the mirror.

Her lipstick is smudged at the corner of her mouth.

My smile widens.

"Oh, and one more thing."

She glares at me.

"What?"

I gesture toward her lips.

"Your lipstick is smudged."

Her hand flies to her mouth.

I let my gaze travel over her face before returning to her eyes.

"Got that from sucking my husband’s cock?slut.

Her face drains of color.

The second woman makes a strangled noise.

I give them both a bright, perfectly polite smile.

"Have a lovely evening, ladies."

Then I walk out of the bathroom, leaving them behind with their mouths hanging open and my heels clicking confidently against the marble floor.

For the first time tonight, I feel genuinely satisfied.

Let her have the memories, let her have the fantasies, let her spend the rest of the evening convincing herself that Lysander married me to make her jealous.

I have no intention of competing with a woman who apparently thinks she can claim a married man simply because she once shared his bed.

I would have to care first and I most definitely do not.

I adjust the back of my dress and lift my chin.

Now, where were my drinks? Because after that conversation, I need another one....maybe two.

—————-

Lysander’s POV

I am in the middle of discussing business with Minister Alvarez when someone grabs my shoulder.

Hard.

The pressure is deliberate, fingers digging into the muscle as though whoever is behind me intends to leave bruises.

My jaw tightens.

I hate being touched without permission.

I slowly turn my head, already deciding how many fingers I am willing to break tonight.

Then I see him.

Cassian Luciano.

The bastard gives me an eerie smile.

Oh, for fuck’s sake.

This man has the sort of smile that makes you check whether your doors are locked before going to bed. There is something deeply unsettling about the way he looks at people, as though he is constantly imagining all the different ways he could kill them.

He gives off Psychopath vibes....definitely psychopath vibes.

I have met men who kill for money, men who kill for power, and men who kill because they enjoy watching another human being beg for mercy.

Cassian looks like the kind who might do all three before breakfast and still have the appetite for lunch.

The man standing beside me, Minister Alvarez, clears his throat.

"Mr. Luciano. What a pleasant surprise."

Cassian doesn’t even look at him. His attention remains fixed on me for a moment before he turns his head toward the minister.

"Let me just borrow my brother-in-law for a second."

He doesn’t wait for a response.

Of course he fucking doesn’t.

His hand closes around my upper arm, and he starts pulling me away from the conversation as though I am some unruly child he needs to drag out of a classroom.

My temper flares and I wrench my arm out of his grasp.

"Don’t drag me around like a petulant child. I can fucking walk."

His smile widens.

"Can you? That’s reassuring."

I stare at him and he stares right back.

Then he turns and walks toward a corridor leading away from the main ballroom.

I consider telling him to go fuck himself.

Unfortunately, I have business with the minister, and causing a scene in front of hundreds of politicians, businessmen, and made men representatives is the last thing I need tonight.

Besides, I am curious.

Cassian Luciano has barely acknowledged my existence since Nerissa married me. He has certainly never approached me with that particular expression on his face.

Whatever this is about, I suspect it has something to do with my wife and if it does, I would rather hear him out than have him shouting across a ballroom.

I follow him.

The corridor grows quieter with every step as the music from the ballroom fades into a distant murmur, replaced by the soft hum of the air conditioning and the occasional clink of glasses from a nearby service entrance.

Cassian stops near a narrow hallway beside a set of closed doors.

I stop a few feet away from him.

"All right," I say impatiently. "What the fuck is going on?"

He turns and punches me straight in the abdomen.

The blow lands hard enough to force the air from my lungs and i stagger half a step, a sharp breath escaping through my teeth as I press a hand against my stomach. It feels like the punch let a few of the stitches I just got loose.

I genuinely cannot believe what just happened, then the pain catches up.

I wheeze, straighten slowly, and look at the man standing in front of me.

"What the fuck is wrong with you?"

Cassian’s expression is murderous.

"We had a deal."

I frown.

"What?"

"We had a fucking deal, Lysander, and you backed out of it!"

I stare at him, trying to decide whether he has finally lost whatever remains of his sanity.

"What the hell are you talking about?"

His eyes flash.

"I saw Rissa."

He takes a step toward me, his hands curling into fists.

"You dare put your freaking hands on my sister!"

Now I understand.

The bruise, I think he saw the marks on Nerissa’s neck.

Or maybe Nerissa told me I’m responsible for it?

It has to be reason Cassian Luciano has decided to ambush me at a minister’s birthday party like a lunatic with a death wish.

My jaw tightens.

"Is that what this is about?"

"Don’t you fucking dare act as though you don’t know what I’m talking about!"

He moves to punch me again but this time, I am expecting it.

I catch his fist before it reaches me, twist his wrist just enough to stop his momentum, and shove him backward.

He barely stumbles.

Interesting.

I had expected him to be fast, I hadn’t expected him to be quite that fast.

Cassian recovers almost immediately and swings at me with his other hand.

I block the blow and strike him in the abdomen.

He grunts, but instead of backing away, he comes at me again.

Stubborn bastard.

I catch his shoulder and push him against the wall.

"Are you finished?"

"Fuck you."

"Charming...very charming but I’ll pass, I don’t swing the other way. Fortunately."