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A tight-lipped smile lights his face, but it doesn’t escape me that it doesn’t really touch his eyes. Casper has never been a big smiler or talker. He’s the quiet person that takes everything in. Doesn’t miss a beat or a glance.
His nod is enough to tell me something is bothering him, but he can’t bring himself to say it.
Lifting the lid of the piano, he murmurs, “She didn’t win. He got butchered to death.”
“I did the right thing for me and my husband.”
A dark chuckle leaves him as he stands, and I carry on playing, changing the song because he’s ruined it with his remark. That part of the movie is the worst, I hate that the good guy has to sacrifice himself for his cause. There’s no justice in it, and it plays on every one of my fears.
Sometimes, I hate Casper and his ability to make a simple statement more impactful than a shakedown from Dad or Emily.
What’s worse is that I can feel him watching his words sink in. I try to ignore it, but the longer I sit, concentrating on my fingers so they don’t trip over themselves, the more my anxiety knots me up inside. My heart goes into overdrive, beating itself raw until I can’t take the pain anymore.
Christopher
The pool table is lined with the copies Arabella made. Leo is still fuming, and I can’t blame him, but at the same time I need him to forget about that part of the story and focus on what connects all the information.
Looking up at me, he’s beyond baffled. I’m not sure whether he’s actually seeing anything in front of him. Leaning over the edge of the table, he practically pours himself over the notes he and Freddie have added.
The two of them have been poring over all the information we have night and day, and it makes me feel guilty for not being more on it like them. A part of me feels like I’ve let them down because my focus has been on Arabella. But I can’t find it in me to be sorry for it. I can’t change any of the things that have happened. Everything in front of us is history, where she is my present and future.
Studying the notes in Leo’s neat handwriting, I can’t seem to forget the conversation we had the other night. He genuinely believes Charles has a role to play in all this, but it doesn’t make sense. He has no reasons to sell himself out. Besides, Fleur would’ve picked up on something, and she would say something. Leo’s right about that for sure—Fleur is too loyal to Cassie to ever keep something like this from us. Especially after the whole kidnapping thing…
You never thought she would keep secrets from you either. The voice in my head taunts me low and leading as my focus strays to the piano.
It’s gone exceptionally quiet as Arabella stares out of the window, a grimace pinching her face.
That was different, I bite back at my thoughts.
Trust is becoming a luxury that’s fast becoming scarce. Even so, I would trust my wife one hundred percent with everything. Fleur on the other hand—
“What’re you thinking?” Casper grumbles, standing beside me at the pool table, his stare darting to where mine is fixed.
His dark eyes are glossy with questions, and as he leans over the side of the table, his lean bulk bulges sideways. Everything about him is stealthy. From his attention to detail to his calculated actions.
Freddie likes to call him Deadshot because his skill set makes him kind of an anti-hero. But get on his wrong side and he’ll go supervillain on your arse without a second glance. He doesn’t disarm. When he shoots, he kills.
“What’s eating at you?” he repeats, this time levelling me with his narrowed gaze.
With a sigh, I drop my focus to the table and the papers. “Sometimes I don’t know who to trust anymore.”
“No one.”
“Not even you?” Looking up, I find him staring me out. Something about the way he doesn’t flinch or blink is really unsettling.
“What the fuck, man?” Taking a step forward, I straighten to my full height. He’s only a couple of inches taller than my six foot four, but when he has that cold, intent glint in his eyes, it makes him seem a lot bigger. “You’re meant to assure me you have my back.”
“I have your back,” he states plainly. “I’m not going to keep reassuring you of it. If you don’t trust me by now, then you never will. Same goes for them.” He nods at Leo and Freddie.
“I do trust you.” It’s a snarl, but it’s true. I trust Casper with my life, and the lives of every person I care about.
“Then who don’t you trust?”
“I don’t know. Leo and I had this conversation about his thing with Charles, and since then…I don’t know, I can’t help but think that the only one of us who hasn’t been touched by any of this is…”
“Is?”
“It’s not that I don’t trust her.” The way he raises his brow gives me pause.
