The Mistress’s Game

Chapter Two – The Line We Crossed

"You are awake"

Cassandra opened her eyes slowly. Her lashes shook a little as the soft gray light from the tall glass windows fell on her bare skin. It felt like it was judging her.

Ethan's voice moved through the room low and calm but there was something dangerous in it like a blade he didn't even need to use.

She moved a little, feeling the warmth of his sheets on her bare body. It felt like too much his scent was everywhere on the sheets in the air, on her skin, clean soap, soft cologne and something dark she couldn't name but it felt like him.It clung to her skin, in her hair and in every deep breath she took.

Her mind jumped back to last night when his hands gripped her waist like he would never let go and his mouth on hers taking all her breath like he owned it and she had let him.

"You should eat something," he said, his low voice cutting in steady and pulling her out of the memory but not out of the feeling.

She looked up and saw him standing by the bed already dressed in a white shirt with his sleeves rolled up and the collar loose like he had rushed it but still looked perfect.

He was holding two cups of coffee with his eyes locked on her like he was still touching her even when he wasn't.

"You make coffee for all your one-night guests?" she said, trying to sound light and not bothered.

He didn’t smile, he just set one cup on the nightstand beside her and said, "Only the ones I plan to see again."

Her throat went dry as her fingers curled into the sheet.

This was not how it was supposed to go, she planned to be the one in control, to touch him then walk away without looking back, not sit here under his gaze feeling like he had just turned everything around on her.

"I should go," she said, pulling the sheet tight around her like it could protect her from him as she swung her legs off the bed.

but Ethan stepped closer, his shadow falling over her his voice firm and low.

"No, Cassandra. You don’t get to just disappear."

Her head snapped up as her heart thudded too loudly "disappear we had a night, that's it" she said but it came out thinner than she wanted, like she was trying to convince herself more than him.

"no that was not just a night" his voice was low but sharp and his eyes locked on hers deep and searching like he could see every thought she tried to bury "you kissed me like you were falling apart"

She let out a small laugh as it sounded nervous even to her. She moved past him quickly to grab her dress like it was some kind of shield "you are reading too much into it".

But when she reached for her clutch on the dresser she saw a framed picture leaning slightly out of place. It was Ethan with a group of men in suits shaking hands with a governor she knew from the news. Governor Hinnberg, the same man whose political pressure put her dad in jail.

her stomach turned cold like ice water in her veins.

"Where did you get this?" she asked, trying to sound casual.

"It’s a partnership photo and why do you ask ?" Ethan said, stepping closer as his eyes were locked on her face reading every twitch, every flicker like he already knew what that photo meant to her.

"No reason" she lied, forcing a quick smile that hurt her cheeks. "I just didn’t know you were into politics."

he tilted his head slightly as his eyes never left hers, "You didn’t ask."

The weight of his stare made her step back. He’s connected to Hinnberg… my father’s enemy… God, what am I doing here?

Ethan reached out and moved a strand of hair from her cheek. His touch was soft but his voice was not. "Whatever it is you’re hiding, Cassandra… Don't lie to me about it."

Her chest tightened as her breath caught.

He was so close like he could see every piece of her that she didn't want anyone to see.

She forced out a thin and shaky laugh and slipped past him clutching her dress to her chest "you really think I am that interesting".

"You are more than interesting," he said, his voice dropping lower like it was meant only for her. "You’re dangerous."

her steps faltered with her hand tightening on the doorknob but she didn't look back she couldn't because if she did, she knew something inside her would break.

Later That Afternoon

The fancy cafe was calm as the air was thick with the smell of roasted coffee and soft chatter in the background machines humming quietly.

Cassandra sat at a corner table.

With sunglasses on her face and her fingers were around a glass of water. She didn't even want to because her stomach was too tight to drink it.

The man across from her smiled easily like he always did but his eyes were sharp cutting through her like he was looking for something she didn't want to show.

"You look nervous, Cass," Damian Hale said, his smile easy but his eyes sharp watching every twitch of her face.

She took off her sunglasses slowly. "You shouldn’t call me that, Not in public."

"Relax, No one here cares who you are."he said leaning back like he owned the room like he always did.

"You asked for this meeting, Damian. What do you want?" her voice was tight, her fingers curling on her lap under the table

he leaned his elbows on the table, his voice was low but sharp enough to cut through the soft hum of the café. "I hear you are getting close to Ethan." "And I know why."

Her fingers held the glass tight. "You don’t know anything."

"Please." He said softly as fingers held the glass tight. "You think Ethan is not watching you? He’s my cousin, Cass. He doesn’t trust anyone, not since what happened with his mother and yet, you slip into his life like a storm, and he lets you stay? That means he is already in too deep."

She looked at him with anger. "Say what you want”

Damian's smile stretched wider but his eyes stayed cold flat like glass. "I want to help you take him down"

Cassandra froze. "Why would you want that? He’s your family."

"Family’s complicated. Ethan thinks he’s better than the rest of us, always so damn clean, always so perfect. But I know things that could end him. You want revenge, I want him off his throne seems like fate, doesn’t it?"

Her heart beat faster. She came here to tell Damian to stay out of her way but now he was offering to work with her and she never thought about that before.

"What exactly are you offering?" she asked.

Damian leaned closer, his voice soft like he was telling her a secret she shouldn't hear. "Access, Information and when the time comes I will give you cover."

"And what do you get in return?"

He smiled slowly. "The satisfaction of watching Ethan fall apart… and maybe, Cassandra, watching you burn him from the inside out."

Her chest rose and fell faster, every instinct screaming that Damian was dangerous, more dangerous than Ethan in some ways. But this was what she wanted, wasn’t it?. To destroy Ethan Hale, the man who worked with the same people who put her dad in prison.

"Alright," she said finally, her voice steady. "I’m in."

damians grin got bigger like a wolf he reached across the table and put his hand on hers. "Good girl."

the way he said it made her stomach tight but she didn't pull away.

"This is just the beginning," he whispered, his eyes locking on hers, sharp and dark. "And trust me, Cassandra you’ll enjoy every second of it."

the moment she stood to leave her phone buzzed a message from ethan:

“Dinner: 8 PM. Don’t make me come find you.”

her breath caught. He knew she was gone and he knew she lied about where she was going.

Damian looked at her phone and smirked. "Looks like your little prince is already checking in."

She pushed the phone into her clutch and tried to hide her panic with a small smile. "I can handle him."

"Oh, I’m counting on it," Damian said as he stood up with her leaning too close as his breath warm on her ear. "Because when he finally figures out what you’re doing, I want to be there… to watch him destroy you, piece by piece."

Cassandra froze. "This is not about me."

"Isn't it?" he whispered close to her ear. "Be careful, Cassandra. Ethan may be dangerous… but I’m worse."

his fingers touched her lower back as he walked away leaving her still her heart beating fast she knew she had just crossed a line she could not go back from.