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Layth sent Cassie a sardonic look, then stood. “Judith, leave us.”
“This is her house,” Cassie snapped, standing up and moving to her Aunt’s side. “How dare you speak to her like that?”
Layth didn’t so much as acknowledge Cassie’s objection. “Your niece cannot run from this.”
Jude pressed her lips together. “He’s right you know. Whatever you decide, I am here for you one hundred percent. But running away isn’t going to solve a damn thing.” She stared at Layth over Cassie’s blonde head. “I will be next door if you need me.”
Layth nodded. The impatience he might have felt at being challenged was tempered by the fact that the other woman was obviously trying to act in Cassie’s best interests. That someone cared enough to do so improved his spirits somewhat.
When they were alone, he felt his grip on his mood shift slightly. “You do not run away from me, Cassandra.”
She whipped around, her own disposition in a state of rapid decline. “You do not get to dictate to me,” she responded with a cold rage. “Besides, I would have thought you’d be eager to have me out of your life now that your engagement is official.”
His brows knit together as he examined her carefully. “I saw the news this morning.”
Her heart was dropping. “You’re engaged to Arja.”
“Apparently,” he confirmed with a tight nod.
“Apparently?” She challenged. “Are you saying you’re not? That the papers are wrong?”
Layth’s expression was scornful. “I am saying that you have no right to disappear like some kind of juvenile instead of speaking to me as an adult.”
“Why not?” She pounded back. “We both said this was just sex. From the outset, neither expected more than this. So why prolong the goodbye?”
“Is this what you want?” He prompted with a quietness to his tone.
“Yes,” she said quickly. “I want you out of my life. I thought I could do this, but I was wrong.”
“Why?” He continued, moving closer to her with every statement.
“You know why! It’s too hard. I hate that you were with her yesterday. I hate that her lipstick was on your cheek. I hate that you have been spending your nights with me and your days contemplating marriage to these other women. I hate that you’ve been happy to fuck me, while never thinking me suitable for anything else.”
A muscle flexed in his jaw. “And so you run away in the middle of the night –,”
“It was morning,” she corrected, shivering from the strength of her emotions. “And what I do is none of your business anymore. You’re engaged. That’s what you came here for. So go. Marry Arja. Forget you ever knew me.”
“That is not possible.”
“Why not?” She demanded, hostility making her voice shrill. “Don’t pretend that you love me, Layth, or that you want to see me again. I kept you company while you found the right bride. That’s all this was.”
Eager to kick the boot in, and reckless from her emotionally overwrought state, she added, “Besides, I’m done with you. I told you I didn’t want anything serious. We’re done. It’s over.”
“And what next? You move onto the next man you meet in a bar? You find someone else who’ll get into a no-questions-asked sex session with you?”
His condescension made her stomach ache. “Yes.” She wasn’t going to be ashamed of her lifestyle. He’d changed her and she no longer wanted to live the way she had before meeting him, but Layth didn’t need to know that.
“Excellent. I am so pleased to know this is how you feel.” His black eyes glittered in his face. “It will make me feel far less guilt when I take our child from you.”
Cassie could see stars in her eyes. She pressed her fingers to the wall, but the support wasn’t enough. Her knees buckled, and the ground rose to meet her. The last thing she was aware of was Layth’s angry invective, and then his arms wrapping around her.
She was only unconscious for a few seconds. She blinked immediately and tried to push away from him, but he held her against his body. “Is that really what you want, Cassie? To go back to filling your nights and your bed with men who do not know you, and do not care for you?”
Her throat was raw. “It’s none of your business,” she whispered hauntingly.
“Our baby makes it very much my business.”
“We don’t even know there is a baby,” she groaned, pushing away from him properly.
