Page 35

“For what it’s worth though,” she continues. “I don’t think anyone should ever be in a situation where they have to question the legitimacy of their existence. I’m almost sorry you had to go through that.”

“Almost?” I ask with a raised eyebrow.

“Don’t make me take it,” she says.

Those words leave me momentarily speechless. Because it’s almost like she understands acutely how I felt all those years ago. Most people tried to play it off, told me not to care so much about what people had to say. But they never understood. I never cared about them or their ridiculous opinions. I cared about me.

Cassandra clears her throat. I think she can tell how much the comment affected me.

“So… when’s your birthday?”

A surprised laugh escapes me at the complete 180 change in conversation. She looks a little surprised by the laugh.

I’m not a robot, sweetheart. I can laugh.

“May 26th. Yours?” I ask, despite knowing.

“August 8th. You’re a Gemini,” she announces with a smile, “I’m not sure Gemini’s and Leo’s are a good match.”

“Don’t worry, sweetheart. I don’t believe in that Astrology bullshit.”

“Well I don’t either. But it’s nice. Provides some added understanding, while a little irrational, about why we are the way we are. It’s kind of like having faith in God I suppose.

My lips tilt up in a smile. “Do you have faith in God,bella?”

I shrug. “I’m not sure. Maybe. I mean, something has to have been guiding my life all these years. Maybe it’s fate or coincidence. Maybe things just happen, I don’t know.”

“Do you think that something guided you to me then?” I ask curiously. “Maybe you were always meant to be mine.”

She pauses at that, blinks like she’s trying to understand something she practically proposed herself. I watch her cheeks heat, flushing in a way that makes her all the more beautiful. Then she exhales a soft breath before rolling her eyes.

“Don’t be delusional, Luciano”

I smirk, “It was a simple question, sweetheart.”

“Change the subject,” she mutters. “Ask me something else.”

“Alright,” I concede. “What are your interests? Your hobbies? Despite all my surveillance of you in the past couple of years, I could never figure it out. Do you like to read? Draw? Are you secretly an artist, a dancer?”

She smiles, although it’s a sort of sad smile. It hurts a little to look at it and I realize I took her challenge earlier seriously. It doesn’t matter how long it takes. I’ll figure out a way to make her smile genuinely in front of me.

I’ll make her happy.

“My life was pretty normal before all this. After I graduated from college, I started working for my dad’s company. It was pretty easy. I studied business management in college because I knew I’d end up inheriting Solis Holdings eventually. I started working, I climbed up the ladder pretty quickly. People will tell you that it’s because of nepotism, but that’s bullshit,” she says, pointing a finger at me.

“I have no doubt,” I say, smiling.

“Anyway, yeah. Working at the company was fairly ordinary. I went there every day. I did my job and then I went home. I hung out with my friends, I went to parties. All normal, ordinary things.”

She has this faraway look in her eyes. Lost, all too familiar.

“To answer your question, I’ve never really had anything I’ve been passionate about to be honest. Before all this, I think the most interesting thing about me was that I lost my mum to cancer. Now I’m going to be a mob boss’s wife,” she says on a disbelieving laugh.

“You were anything but ordinary, Cassandra,” I say softly, “Even before all this.”

She’s silent for a couple of seconds.

“Cassie,” she breathes.