Page 4 of His Aries Heiress (BLP Signs of Love #21)

An Aries will choose to suffer silently. Her pride is her armor, not a flimsy mask.

Cassydie fought the urge to screech as she stretched her arms high to the heavens.

Driving for eighteen hours had her feeling stiff as a board.

She looked around the deserted McDonald’s parking lot, and her stomach growled.

The last time she ate was six hours ago, and that was an orange she grabbed from her apartment.

All of the nonperishable food was gone, since there hadn’t been much in the first place.

She only had forty dollars left to her name and half a tank of gas, but at least she had made it to Ellwood.

Her stomach rumbled again, and she chewed on her lip as she inhaled that classic smell of fresh McDonald’s fries.

“Fuck it,” she mumbled before closing her car door and using her key to lock it.

She moved her stiff limbs toward the front door of the McDonald’s while she thought about her next steps.

It was early in the morning, and the sun was slowly rising.

A yawn escaped from her as she opened the door.

Her plan was to eat and then get some sleep in her car for a few hours before going to the hospital to see if she could find any more information on Gregory.

A tired smile graced her thick pink lips as she approached the counter.

It was then she realized how much of a mess she must have looked.

She knew she probably had bags under her eyes.

Her hair was in desperate need of some love, and she definitely needed a shower.

Those were all things her impulsive behavior didn’t think of when she up and left Philly.

She sighed before addressing the woman behind the counter. “Good morning. Can I please get a number one with orange juice?”

“Will that be all?” she asked as she tapped away on the screen in front of her.

Cassydie’s stomach chose that moment to growl loudly. Her skin flushed red. She definitely wanted to order more food, but she couldn’t afford it.

“Yes, thank you,” Cassydie said, quickly pulling her wallet out of her hoodie and paying for her food.

The worker gave her sympathetic eyes, and Cassydie hated it, but she also realized she might be able to work it to her advantage.

She didn’t need any handouts, but she could use a job.

Working at McDonald’s while having a bachelor’s degree and a significant amount of grad school completed sounded insane, but she knew she couldn’t survive on the small amount of money she had to her name.

Swallowing her pride, she placed another smile on her face and asked, “Are you guys hiring?”

The worker smiled. “We are. You can go right online and find this location to apply. What’s your name? I can have my hiring manager keep an eye out for you.”

Relief flooded Cassydie. This was all she needed to do. Apply for jobs and get on her feet. Outside of that, she could search for her birth family. Baby steps would lead to the bigger picture. “My name is Cassydie. I really appreciate that.”

Cassydie stepped away from the counter and leaned against a nearby table as she fought the sleep tugging at her. When her food was ready, she grabbed it with a smile and murmured a “Thank you” to the worker before trudging out of the restaurant.

A slight breeze picked up, which caused Cassydie to shiver. As she moved closer to her car, she noticed a figure crouched down next to the driver’s side door. Her brows furrowed as she picked up her pace.

“Hey,” Cassydie called out. She noticed it was a woman who looked to be around her age.

She also looked like life hit her just as hard as it hit Cassydie.

As the woman straightened, Cassydie noticed how her clothes hung off her, and her hair looked like it hadn’t been done in weeks.

She knew the feeling all too well, and she wanted to empathize with the woman but knew she needed to be cautious.

She was in a new city and exhausted. The woman could definitely get the best of her if she didn’t stay on her toes. “You looking for something?”

Cassydie stepped closer to her car. The woman stepped back. “This you?”

Her voice was buttery smooth and rich, and Cassydie couldn’t help but notice how pretty she was. Her light eyes flashed with frustration as her pouty pink lips tucked into her mouth.

Slowly, Cassydie nodded. “Yeah.”

The woman eyed her for a second before muttering, “Shit.”

She turned to walk away, and Cassydie’s brows dipped. She wanted to know what the woman was doing next to her car, but that question didn’t slip out. Instead, she asked, “You want something to eat from inside?”

The woman stopped, and her shoulders tensed before she slowly turned to face Cassydie again. Her eyes flickered to the bag in Cassydie’s hand before she met her eyes again. She wasn’t fooling Cassydie. The woman was hungry as hell, just like her.

“Thanks, but I don’t do handouts.”

The woman turned to walk away again, and this time, Cassydie let her. She didn’t have any extra money to give away anyway.

Once she was back in her car, she decided to drive somewhere else. If a suspicious woman was capable of creeping around her car in this parking lot, she didn’t feel comfortable enough falling asleep there. Besides, it would likely get busier in just an hour or so.

She cranked her car up and drove aimlessly for fifteen minutes while she ate.

She was excited to see the McDonald’s employee added an extra sandwich and hash brown into her bag.

She thanked God for small blessings. Just as she finished eating, she stumbled upon a pretty view of the ocean.

It was deserted, too, and the sounds of the waves were about to knock her right out.

After she parked, she reached into her packed back seat and grabbed the oversized blanket Cierra had given her when they were eighteen and going off to separate college dorms. The blanket had all their best memories from childhood, and she’d been sleeping with it since her birthday.

Tears filled her eyes as exhaustion tugged at her, ultimately winning the war.

Her last thought was of her parents and Cierra, and she knew they would look over her as she drifted off.

The vibrations of her phone woke Cassydie, and she tugged the blanket off her head where it blocked out the sun.

With one eye open, she grabbed her phone and noticed she’d only been sleeping for two hours.

Her finger lazily slid across the screen before she could register that it was Austin calling.

“Hello?” she asked in a groggy tone.

“I woke you?” Austin asked in his cool vibrato.

Her nose scrunched up as she slowly opened her other eye. “Why are you calling me? I thought our business was done.”

“It is, but one of my contacts from United Hospital in Ellwood reached out. They let me know that your bio dad is in the hospital there, and it ain’t lookin’ so good.”

Cassydie tensed up as she let his words sink in. “Did they say anything else?”

“Nope. But how about this? You come spend a night with me, and I can do some more diggin?—”

Cassydie hung the phone up and blocked his number. The fool didn’t even know she was no longer in Philadelphia, and he definitely didn’t know when to take a hint. Whatever else she needed regarding finding her biological family, she would handle on her own.

The exhaustion she felt took a back seat to her anxiety as she started her car and tapped on her phone to pull up her GPS. Once United Hospital was selected as the route, she put her car in drive and took off.

Her thoughts swirled through her mind as she drove.

This couldn’t be happening again. God had to be playing some sick joke on her.

Her entire life was in shambles, and this man she had never met was the only thing holding her together.

What if she was an only child with both her adopted family and her biological family?

What if this Gregory person was the only family in the world that she had left?

Tears brimmed her eyes, but she forced herself to focus on driving in this new city. She could cry later.

When she pulled up to the hospital, she quickly parked and got out of the car. Once inside the hospital, reality set in. She didn’t know this man she was about to ask the receptionist about. All she had was a name. What if they needed more? What if?—

“Ma’am? Can I help you?”

Cassydie ’s eyes snapped to the receptionist, and she knew she probably looked crazy as hell.

She had a tendency to create scenarios in her head and daydream heavily.

Her thoughts tugged at her to play along as a coping mechanism.

Daydreaming was easier because she could choose the narrative and self soothe.

Reality was hard because it was unpredictable.

She smiled tiredly and forced herself to stay in reality.

“Gregory Malone. Can you tell me what room he’s in?”

She tapped away on the keyboard before looking back up at Cassydie.

For a second, she thought the receptionist was going to ask for more information or deny her the information altogether.

Instead, she pointed a stiletto nail at the clipboard in front of her.

“Sign in and write your name on a nametag. He’s in the ICU. Third floor, room 3106.”

Cassydie breathed a sigh of relief as she quickly signed in and scribbled on her nametag before taking off toward the elevators.

It wasn’t until the elevator doors closed that she realized being inside this hospital triggered her.

Fresh tears threatened to fall, but she blinked rapidly and breathed deeply.

She wouldn’t allow her mind time to process how she felt.

That would only lead to a panic attack, and she was on a mission.

When the elevator doors opened again, she stepped timidly down the hall. She realized she had been born there, and a wave of awe hit her. She couldn’t believe this was where she was born and not at the hospital in Philly her parents told her.

She ignored her chaotic thoughts as she looked at the numbers on the rooms. She felt discouraged when she noticed three big men standing outside the door she needed to go into. As badly as she wanted to turn away, the urge to meet Gregory was stronger.

When she was about ten steps from the door, another man walked out of the room.

She stilled as she took him in. He loomed over the other men, and the vibe he gave off was much more dangerous.

It came off him in waves. His caramel skin was littered with tattoos peeking from underneath his clothes, and his locs were neat and tied back out of his face.

“They say he needs some testing done—” His deep voice cut off as his brooding eyes found tear-filled ones. Her emotions ran high as hell at that moment, and she didn’t know what to expect beyond that door. “The fuck are you?”

She blinked as she processed his rude tone and the words he spewed at her. Her eyes narrowed, and any notion she had of crying a second ago disappeared. “Cassydie. The fuck are you?”

Though she felt in her spirit that speaking to that particular man in that manner wasn’t wise, she didn’t back down. Not even when he took a menacing step toward her.

“Fuck you just say to me?”

Her eyes darted nervously to the side before she looked back at him and decided she didn’t have the time or patience for this. She sighed heavily, and in a nicer tone, she said, “My name is Cassydie. I’m looking for Gregory. Gregory Malone . . . I think . . . I think I’m his daughter.”