CASSIAN
I sat across from Dante, his eyes hard as his soul.
Shoulders stooped, grey suit clinging to the remaining flesh on his bones, cigar lit between two fingers.
He coughed.
The kind that said the cancer was warning him to go slow or go low.
He wasn't going to do either.
He'd sent for me that same night after the ball, and for the first time, I'd kept him waiting.
I'd made it clear, in actions, that I would choose Ayla even over myself if I had to.
She wasn't just the mother of my child; she was the only woman in my life that made everything make sense.
She was the sunshine in my storm.
Fuck.
I sounded romantic.
I lifted two fingers without a word, and one of the guards stepped forward, refilling my glass of Nero D'Avola.
Against Dante's will, I'd requested it.
I lifted the glass to my lips and sipped, the gold ring on my finger glimmering through the glass.
Dante's gaze flicked directly to me, eyes hard and sharp.
It would take more than cancer to knock him off.
