Pursued By My Mafia Husband

Chapter 5

Gemma

THREE YEARS LATER

Nausea swirls in my stomach. Tears sting the backs of my eyes. I grip the phone with shaking fingers and whisper, “Cassian, please…I know you hate me, but I need you…”

A tone blares in my ear, and a monotone woman’s voice says, “Customer currently unavailable. Please try again later.”

I close my eyes and breathe. Part of me feels like I’m still on that plane, falling out of the sky. Which, of course, my very first flight ever would almost kill me.

I’ve tried to convince Cassian to let me on one of the smuggling flight crews for years, and he never would. Just this morning, I found out from the flight crew boss that he was finally giving me a chance. Then my plane almost went down.

I shiver and tell myself again that I’m not in danger anymore. I sit on a cold metal folding chair in a huge warehouse. It’s shoved against a wall in an out-of-the-way corner.

It’s full of people, but none of them are looking at me. None of them care.

At least the wound on my arm has stopped bleeding.

I end the call and let my hand fall to my side.

All around me, employees of the Blackwell family hustle and shout to each other, unloading and storing the counterfeit designer clothes that make up most of our cargo.

If the cargo was damaged by the near-crash, Cassian would be here. The business, the family name, they mean everything to him.

But the damage was only to me—his wife. So, he won’t care at all.

Even though I’ve tried so hard to be the perfect wife for three years, Cassian won’t lose an instant of sleep if I die. In fact, he probably wishes I would.

Then he’d be free. I know that’s what he really wants. Ever since the wedding, he’s done everything he can to forget I exist—despite the fact that we live together.

The only time he pretends to be a loving husband is in front of Grandpa Donovan. Otherwise, Cassian is completely cold to me.

Reyna convinced him I was a gold-digger and a manipulator before he even met me.

He’s never gotten to know me, and he’s never given me the chance to prove I’m more than what he thinks.To him, I was just a pretty little ornament—a wife meant to stay home and wait for him.

I sigh and tip my head back against the metal wall behind my chair. It’s hard to calm my shaking limbs.

Other people who were on the plane—runners and crew—are greeted by friends and family. They run up and wrap their arms around each other in tight hugs. I turn away.

I can’t remember the last time someone held me.

After three years, it shouldn’t break my heart to have it shoved in my face how little Cassian cares. And it shouldn’t matter. I achieved my goals. My mom and I survived.

But now I’m starting to realize that surviving isn’t the same as living.

I try his number again.

“Customer currently unavailable. Please try again later.”

I will not cry.

Suddenly, I hear footsteps as someone hurries up to me.

“Gemma, where’s your husband? Is he coming to pick you up?” asks Ferne, one of the smuggling crew who was on the plane with me.

She holds tightly to her boyfriend, who’s part of the warehouse crew. He’s still pale and shaky and he has an arm around her. I can’t help but feel a stab of envy. It’s so clear on his face how much he cares for her.

They have no idea I’m married to the boss. No one does. Cassian has forced me to keep our marriage a complete secret. They think I’m married to some random guy.

“Um…he’s probably caught up with something,” I say. “He could be at work.”

Part of me wants to tell Ferne who I’m actually waiting for. It would feel good to tell someone the truth.

But of course, I can’t.

“Caught up?” Ferne says with her big eyes wide. “We almost died up there!”

She lowers her voice. “Who do you think sabotaged the plane? Do you think they were after the Mr. Blackwell?”

I shiver at the thought that someone gunning for Cassian might have killed a dozen innocent people.

“It’s the boss!”

“Mr. Blackwell is coming!”

Suddenly, it’s like I can feel him. Like a moth drawn to a flame, I look up. My heart lurches.

Cassian is here. Tall, with dark hair and midnight-blue eyes and so heartbreakingly beautiful.

He’s not alone. There are a few high-ranking associates of the family with him. They all reek of money and power.

But none of them scream “command” like Cassian. The expression on his chiseled face is carefully controlled rage at whatever just happened on this flight.

Desire curls in my belly and makes me dream of the things husbands do to wives. Things I wish he would do to me. But he never touches me. Never even comes near me.

Three years married, and still a virgin.

I hear another whisper. “Who is that woman with him?”

“Is that the new partner? I heard she and Cassian go way back. He’s been so busy with her all morning he even turned off his phone!”

My eyes snap to the woman, and I feel the world fall out from under me.

Because I know her.

The woman he’s with—the “new” partner in the family business—is Reyna.

His first love. My half-sister.

The woman he swore three years ago he cut out of his life.

I’ll take him from you one day. I can’t wait to break you all over again.

She looks at me and smirks, and I know she’s back to fulfill her promise.