His Brother's Bride

Chapter six

As soon as the door squeaked open, Cassian tightened his hold on Isla's hand and pulled her into a small corner that was barely enough to contain both of them.

But then as quickly as he moved, he pushed away from her and went towards the door instead, meeting whoever was there half way before the door opened fully.

Isla's heart was beating fiercely behind her chest and she was sweating so profusely that she felt like she was about to convulse.

“Cassian.”

Isla's ear perked up at the sound of Adrian's voice... What was he doing down here?

Had he finally discovered them?

“Adrian,” was Cassian's smooth reply.

Isla scotted closer, placing her body in such a way that she could hear both sides of the conversation without trying too much.

“What the hell are you doing down here?” Adrian asked, suspicion lacing his tone.

“Could ask you the same, brother," Cassian muttered.

Isla could practically feel Adrian narrowing his eyes in that way that suggested that he was insanely suspicious of someone.

“This place is sealed off and forbidden to anyone and everyone for years," Adrian continued. “Kinda makes me wonder what led you to come down here tonight.”

Cassian scoffed, the sound tickling Isla's ear. It was weirdly satisfying in an eerie way. “You make it sound like y'all have got some dead bodies down here.” He paused for a minute and then added with a low voice, “Do you?”

Isla's heart skipped a beat as she pictured Adrian swinging a fist towards Cassian's face. Unable to contain her growing paranoia, she stepped out and took a small peek through the tiny slit on the door.

She frowned as she regarded the two brothers who were standing in some kind of a stare off, neither of them willing to back down.

Adrian then took a small step forward, his forehead nearly bumping into Cassian's.

“What do you want, Cassian?" He asked, his voice dangerously low. “What is your motive?"

Cassian appeared genuinely confused as he c****d his head to the side. “Motive?”

“Oh, don't play sly with me, brother!" Adrian spat. “You rarely come back home and when you do, it's actually to dig up some nonexistent s**t and cause trouble for the family.”

Isla's frown deepened. Never in all the years that she had known Adrian has she ever heard him curse so much. He had always been the controlled, level headed Calloway... But tonight—now, something seemed to be bothering him greatly.

Something or something.

As Isla pressed her head closer to the slit to be able to see more, she saw Cassian's shoulders tense in response for a brief moment before he sighed as if this was just Adrian crashing out like a petulant child.

He then reached out and patted Adrian's shoulder. “You should really ease up on the caffeine intake, brother. It's making you as paranoid as s**t and it's not a good look on our golden boy.”

Adrian's jaw clenched but he didn't say anything in response.

Cassian sighed again, straightened his suit and began to walk past Adrian when another question broke through the thick silence.

“Isla," Adrian uttered, his tone oddly curious that it made Isla's breath hitch in her throat.

He couldn't have... Right?

She watched and waited with bated breath as Adrian slowly turned to face Cassian who had stopped in his tracks to hear him out.

“What is going on between you two?” Adrian asked casually as he stuck his hands into his pockets.

Isla's heart squeezed in her chest just as a brief flash of emotion crossed Cassian's face but it was already gone before Isla could interpret it.

Cassian then turned to face Adrian again, his handsome face clear and devoid of any emotions. “What are you trying to play—”

Adrian immediately cut him off. “I have seen the way you look at her, Cassian," he muttered surly. “Tell me, are you interested in my fiancèe, brother."

The last word was dripping with so much malice and reeked of badly done trap.

Isla's gaze flew to Cassian's face, her eyes slightly wide with anticipation as she waited for his answer.

It was messed up and she knew that, but somewhere deep inside her she wondered and silently hoped that Cassian would finally acknowledge their secret love. Then, maybe...maybe she wouldn't have to push forward with this loveless marriage.

Cassian looked as if he was contemplating the question before he answered. “What exactly do you want me to say, Adrian? That I want to f**k your wife to be?”

The answer was reckless and unrefined but was exactly what Cassian would say in this situation.

That recklessness had always been his trademark.

Adrian let out a tiny growl, marched forward and grabbed the front lapels of Cassian's suit and pulled him forward.

Cassian threw out his hands in fake surrender. “Whoa, whoa, whoa. Easy there brother," he said with a chuckle.

Adrian didn't release his grip on his suit and leaned forward instead until he was practically breathing into Cassian's face. “You will watch the way you speak about Isla or else—”

It was now Cassian's turn to cut him off. “Or else what?" He taunted with a slight tilt of his head. A shadow flitted across his features, darkening his face as his gaze dropped to Adrian's hold on his suit jacket.

He reached out and brushed aside Adrian's hand with one single, violent swipe. “Keep your suspicions to yourself brother and if you can't deal with them, ask your fiancèe instead.”

And without another word, he turned and walked off leaving a trail of thick tense silence in his wake.

As soon as he left, Isla let out the breath that she never realized she was holding, her heart hammering in her chest. But however when she lifted her head up and looked through the slit again, her heart stopped beating entirely because Adrian was looking directly at her— or was it the door?

Biting back a terrified squeak, she ducked and quickly returned to the position where Cassian had left her before. She squeezed her eyes shut and waited for the humiliating moment when Adrian would open the door and find her here.

But that moment never came, instead the door was jammed close and the sound of Adrian's retreating footsteps filled the air.

As soon as Isla was sure that both brothers were not anywhere close, she slipped out and headed back to the main rooms.

But just as she stepped out into the hallway, an awfully familiar voice stopped her in her tracks.

“Well, well, well. If it's not my good friend, Isla Ravenwood.”