Page 29 of Neptune

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CASSIE

A sigh leaves my lips as Quartz Magazine's makeup artist finishes touching up my makeup. Today, I'm doing a cover photoshoot for them in their studio in New York.

Oscar and Peter have told me about this plan—they talked about this when they threw me the birthday surprise party.

However, right now, while I'm sitting in front of the set, my mind isn't filled with this photoshoot—it's filled with what happened with Luke yesterday when we played hide and seek with Aiden.

I just can't stop thinking about it. I can't believe that I kissed him back. It's crazy. The kiss has been consuming all of my senses—I can even still taste his lips on mine now.

His lips are so soft...

Abruptly, I shake my head in disbelief. Shit. What the hell am I thinking about? Pull yourself together, Cassie.

I have to focus my mind on this photoshoot. Yes, I think that I can be professional, like usual. I just have to nail the shoot and the interview that I have to do later once they finish taking my pictures.

"Hey, Jude. It's good to see you again."

Someone's voice snaps me out of my thoughts in an instant. I snap my head around, and my eyes widen when I see someone I didn't expect.

Jude Scott.

He arrives on the set, greeting some staff members. He still hasn't turned to see me yet, though. I wonder if he knows that I'm having a photoshoot here.

What is he doing here? I don't remember anybody telling me that Jude was coming to this studio today.

The makeup artist who just glowed me up, Celine, seems to notice the shock skating all over my face. She looks at me with wonder.

"I see that you haven't been made aware that Jude is going to work with us too today. Forgive us for not telling you in advance, Cassie. We're actually writing an article about him, which will be in the next edition of our magazine, and it's gonna be ten pages. It's crazy, isn't it?" She laughs.

If she thinks that’scrazy, I don't know what she would think of my mind right now. Fate seems to like the idea of bringing Jude and me together.

But then again, we're working in the same industry, so there's always a high chance that we'll encounter each other again.

"He's not supposed to do the photoshoot and interview today, and that's why we didn't mention this to you before," Celine says, feeding me with more information.

"But Jude told us that he'd be busy next week, so he opted for an earlier schedule, which is today.

It was a bit rushed for us, but we managed to get everything prepared for him.

The sooner it's done, the better, isn't it? "

I still don't respond to her words, my eyes locked on Jude. He notices my existence and stares at me with a knowing look, a small smile tugging at his lips.

"But I heard that you and him are on good terms now, so it shouldn't be any problem, right?" Celine asks, slight doubt in her voice.

Quickly, I shoot her a reassuring smile. Right. I have to be professional. I can't let anybody know what really happened between us. I can't make things suspicious. It will only waste all the acting that we've done.

"Of course," I say in a cheerful tone. "I just didn't expect this coincidence. It's good to have him here too. "

Celine smiles before excusing herself to speak with the stylist, and that's when I take out my phone.

I have to text Luke. If he finds out about this from someone else before I tell him, God knows what he'll do. I don't want to replay what happened during Jamie Cohen's car ride.

This is frustrating. Why does Luke have to be so triggered?

I type the message to Luke as fast as I can.

Me : Jude is here. He's doing another photoshoot and interview. But everything's good. No need to worry.

I take a deep breath. This should be enough, right? What else do I need to say to him?

But then I decide to shoot another text.

Me : You believe me, don't you?

Glancing at my wristwatch, I notice that it's almost evening, but there's a high chance that Luke is working overtime—he might not see my message right away because he might still be busy.

Surprisingly, his reply comes.

Luke : I'll pick you up.

???

While I'm doing my cover photoshoot, I can feel Jude's intense gaze on me as he watches in front of the set, but then the staff pull him away for an interview.

After that, while I do my interview, Jude does his photoshoot for the article. In short, we don't have any spare time to hang out.

It's a relief that my photoshoot and interview with the magazine are done pretty well and go smoothly. After finishing all the activities, I sit in the dressing room, staring into the mirror, a soft smile touching my lips as I flip my hair to one side .

Now, I just have to wait for Luke to arrive.

The sound of the door being opened startles me, and when I snap my head toward it, my eyes widen in shock.

It's Jude.

What is he doing here? He's supposed to be in the other dressing room, not here. I regret that I let Mike wait outside the studio because we're now alone in this room.

And I'm not ready to face Jude's unexpected bold move.

Jude closes the door and strides toward me. I stand up from the dresser bench.

"Jude, what are you doing here?" I ask, but my voice isn't bitter—I still maintain a friendly tone.

He scoffs. "Can't I see you again?" he throws me a rhetorical question. "We didn't have a chance to hang out earlier, even when we were with Jamie."

I just stare at him, not knowing how to respond to his words.

"You seem to be just fine with that, though," he says, and I can hear slight pain in his voice. "You act like we're strangers."

I'm at a loss for words. I can't say that he's wrong, though. I do act like we're strangers. But then, we did break up in a bad way, and I wish that he would appreciate my decision to keep my distance from him after what he has done to me. After all his lies. His betrayal.

Still not hearing anything from me, he scoffs again.

"Is it about that man? Is it about Luke?" There's anger in his voice. "He seems like an over-possessive husband."

"He is," I finally say, telling the truth, letting Jude know what's waiting for him if he dares to cross the line.

"So we can't be friends anymore?" he asks, searching my eyes as if trying to read my feelings.

"Why do you even care about that, Jude?" I ask. "You clearly didn't even care if we were together when you cheated on me." I hate to bring this up again, but he keeps pushing me.

His jaw tightens. "Don't say that. "

I frown. What is he trying to say?

"For now, I believe that we should only see each other in a professional way," I say.

"Fuck with that," he bites out, surprising me.

"Why are you like this?" I'm starting to lose my patience. "What do you want from me, Jude?"

Why can't he just leave me alone? I don't want to go through another drama. After what he has done to me, I deserve to be a thousand miles away from him.

His eyes pierce me, his fists clenched tight at his sides. "You asked me what I want, Cassie?" he hisses.

I stare at him blankly, clueless.

"Right now, I fucking want to kiss you. I want to make you mine again." And with that said, he cups my cheeks harshly and smacks his lips against mine, muffling my scream.

My eyes squeeze shut as I try to break away, but he's too strong for me to overpower. He shoves his tongue into my mouth, trying to give me a tantalizing kiss that was once able to make my knees go weak and make me fall for him all over again.

But right now, I can barely feel that. Right now, all I can think about is the kiss with my husband yesterday and that I'm being kissed by another man now.

It feels so wrong.

Jude is crazy. He knows that I'm someone's wife now—he doesn't even know about the fake marriage contract—but he's still doing this to me.

Is he the kind person who wouldn't think twice before ruining someone's marriage?

I grab his cheeks, trying to push his face away from me, but to no avail.

Then the door is banged open, and a voice booms, " What the fuck are you two doing here ?"

Jude and I automatically pull away, and my eyes widen in horror as I see Luke standing in the doorway, seething with rage .

I'm shaking when Luke storms at us, fire in his eyes. The next thing I know, he pulls Jude by the collar and punches him in the face, making him fall to the ground, while a small scream leaves my mouth.

Jude groans in pain, wiping blood from the corner of his mouth as he tries to sit up. His manager won't like that. Jude is a celebrity, and a bruise on his face has so many consequences.

Luke pants, his fist shaking because of his anger. "Fucking bastard." There's so much venom in his voice.

To my horror, Jude scoffs, shooting Luke a glare, and that's when Luke lunges at him again. But before everything can get worse—and more importantly, before anybody can barge inside to see all this mess and turn it into the next headline—I grab Luke's arm.

"Luke, stop," I cry.

Luke snaps his head toward me, and I feel my heart stop. There's so much fury and pain in his eyes, piercing right through me.

His jaw tightens before he walks out of the room. I don't even spare a glance back at Jude as we stride toward the exit of the studio, passing some staff who stare at us with wonder.

Quickly, I compose myself and throw them a half-smile.

I pray to God that everything will be fine.

This magazine company has been maintaining a good relationship with both Jude's and my record labels, so even if they figure out what happened just now, I hope that they will think twice before spreading it.

When we step out of the building, the night has fallen. I see Mike sitting on a bench with a cup of coffee in his hand.

He spots us, and his expression turns alert. He strides toward us, but I signal him to stop.

"It's okay, Mike," I say.

The cool night air blows against my skin, soothing, but I don't think that anything can calm my heart now, except Luke.