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Cassidy was on the motorway heading west out of the city within minutes of exiting the building’s underground car park. Sunday evening traffic was non-existent, and the trip to her childhood home went quickly.
*****
Her parents had gone to bed, but Cassidy couldn’t sleep. She lay in her bedroom, staring at the ceiling fan as it spun in lazy circles in the shadowy light. Her posters of the boy bands she loved were long gone—her parents turning the room into a guest bedroom when she’d moved out. Even though the room was completely different now, it was still home.
Cassidy’s phone sat beside her, mocking her. Logically, she knew her boss wouldn’t take her back, but she still found herself hoping. Any hope she had, though, was outweighed with guilt and fear. She’d walked away from Jacob to save herself, but who did he have to turn to? His father? He hadn’t spoken to his mother since he was a child, and he didn’t have any siblings. Could he confide in his friends? Was there anyone in his corner? Or had she left him alone? The world didn’t revolve around her—she wasn’t that egotistical to think she’d become the centre of his universe—but they’d developed something special between them. A connection. Something deeper than a fuck and run. He’d crawled under her skin without Cassidy even realizing it. It hadn’t taken long, but Cassidy had become hopelessly addicted to him. Was she that for him?
The distance she’d enforced was torturous, but there was no going back. It was over. The knowledge eviscerated her. She ached, an emptiness yawning inside her chest like a gaping wound. But it wasn’t just that she wouldn’t see him again. Knowing that Jacob could be alone, that he might be sitting around his apartment without anyone there to hold his hand or console him like her family had done for her, broke Cassidy. She wanted to be that person for him. But it was impossible. She’d been the one to end it, not him, and she knew he’d respect her decision too. He wouldn’t call her. Neither would Phoenix. But it didn’t diminish the desire to speak with them. She didn’t have Phoenix’s number and never would—given his comments to the police—but Jake’s was burning a hole in her pocket. Tempting her to dial him. Getting in contact with him though would only lead Jake on and hurt her. But she couldn’t walk away either, not until she knew he was okay.
“Bugger it,” she murmured, calling him before she could second guess herself.
Jake picked up on the second ring. “Cass, hey, it’s good to hear from you.” His voice was warm, if not a bit hesitant, and she couldn’t help the smile that tilted her lips. She was happy for the first time since she’d left. But the knowledge of what she had to tell him would crush that. She wanted to hold on and bask in the sensation just for another moment.
She blew out a breath. “Can we talk?”
“Yeah. Yeah, of course,” he murmured.
“I’m leaving Sydney for a bit. I’m taking some time and going up to the Gold Coast.”
The line was quiet for a moment, then he cleared his throat. “Yeah? When are you going?” His voice was higher than normal, as if he was forcing a bubbly answer.
She sighed. “Tomorrow morning at eleven.”
Silence again. “I’m glad you were able to get the time off.”
A bitter laugh escaped her lips. “Yeah, I don’t have to worry about that. My boss told me not to bother coming back. I apparently lost the agency four clients in one day.”
“Fuck. My father—”
“Pretty much what I guessed. Anyway, yeah…”
“Cass, can we work through this? Is there any way to save what we have?”
This time she was quiet. Confusion reigned supreme. She wanted—did she ever—but she was scared too. Of hurting him as much as herself. A couple of months earlier she’d hated him. She’d wanted to inflict physical pain on him. But things had changed. Knowing she was responsible for the rawness in his voice, the vulnerability interlaced with pain decimated her. What should she do? Self-preservation was a powerful instinct, but Cassidy was protective of Jacob too. She was fighting the desire to give him everything he needed, to be a safe spot for him to land, with her own fears. She’d been reticent about a relationship, because ultimately it would mean sacrificing her career, but even though she wished she had her job back, the thought taking up the most room in her head was what Jacob needed. And that terrified her the most. Her heart screamed at her to be brave, but her head demanded she run. That she protect herself. But speaking the words out loud was like swallowing glass, slicing her open from inside out. “I’m sorry, Jake. I can’t. I’ve lost everything—”
“You could still have me,” he whispered. His words wrapped around her like a blanket, but Cassidy fought to free herself. To shield herself. He was an incredible man, but his father was someone she never wanted to cross paths with again.
It was time to sever the tie. Permanently.
Squeezing her eyes closed and summoning all her strength, she ground out, “I don’t want you.” The lie was bitter on her tongue. “Goodbye, Jake.”
Ten
Jacob
A
mix of white-hot fury at his father and panic at the knowledge he had to let Cassidy go stole over Jake. Hearing her say she didn’t want him and was leaving gutted him. It was as if she’d taken an axe to his chest and carved out his heart before stomping on it. He knew she wasn’t trying to be cold—he’d seen that defence mechanism being used before where his father was concerned. She was trying to protect herself.
His father had done this to him. To them. Cassidy and Phoenix were caught up in the fallout. They didn’t deserve any of the mess that had landed in their laps or to be humiliated in the way they had been, and Jake would be damned if he didn’t try to fix it.
A plan formed in his mind.
Eleven a.m. Surely there weren’t too many flights for the Gold Coast leaving then. Jake looked them up. Four flights, two with the same airline, one three times the price of the others and another with the discount carrier. He made a note of the details, looking up the terminals to see how far apart they were. Three of them were close, but the fourth was too far away to run between. If Cassidy had picked that flight, Jake would miss her. But the others? He could talk to her one more time.
Jake paced, wondering whether what he was about to do was insanity or genius. Stalker-like or romantic. He didn’t want Cassidy to think the former, but he couldn’t just let her leave. Once she left—once the agency got around to cancelling her mobile phone—he would have no way of contacting her again.
He sucked in a breath and wiped his palms on his shorts. His mind was made up.
