Roll For Initiative

36. Cassie

I may have gone a bit overboard on groceries for tonight, but my excuse is that it is Lucian’s first game night back with us. I bought almost every topping you could think of for pizza. Pepperoni, bacon, ham, chicken, peppers, onions, mushrooms, and, of course, pineapple for Ash and Lucian. YUCK! I got stuff for margaritas and some other beverages. I picked up those delicious brownie bites because those are Lucian’s favorite. I also got groceries for the week for my house since I will be home from work for almost three weeks thanks to this shoulder. Thankfully, it feels much better; I haven’t had to take more than basic Tylenol. Thank God for my high pain tolerance.

I barely make it into the kitchen with the bags without dropping them. I catch my reflection in the hall mirror and can already see the start of bruising on my jaw. I need to grab some cover-up because Lucian will absolutely lose his mind if he sees this, and I don’t need that right now. Theo ended up calling me about 10 minutes ago, begging for forgiveness. He apologized and said it wouldn’t happen again. Apparently, his last sub cheated on him throughout their whole relationship, and he said he was scared it was going to happen again. He also said he wants us to be official and exclusive only to each other, not even with Allie anymore. I told him I would think about it and let him know tomorrow.

I’m not excusing what he did, but I understand why he was paranoid. He has always been so amazing and sweet with me, so I’m torn. Do I still want to give this a try? I need to forget these feelings or whatever it is that I have for Lucian. I have a fantastic man who cares about me, spoils me, and makes me feel things I haven’t felt before. He also helps me explore any fantasy I want and never judges. Plus, he is hot as fuck. But on the other hand, he has now shown how violent he can get. So we will see.

I grab a glass of wine while I tidy up the house and chop up all the toppings for tonight. I still have about three hours until everyone gets here, so I decide to pop a headache pill and take a nap. My head is still pounding. I decided to put a bag of ice on the back of it because there was a knot. Theo said he would be spoiling me on Saturday as his way of apologizing. I wonder what that entails.

When I lay on the couch, I felt a heavy fog descending on my body. My couch still smells like Lucian’s cologne. The more I lay here, though, my heart is starting to hurt. We never fight, ever. But today, he was so irritated with me that he walked out on me. He has never done that before. I hope by tonight, things will be back to normal. He texted me a few times to make sure we were OK, and I always said yes. I wish that I could talk to him about everything that’s been going on: Vixens, Theo, and life in general. I will leave out the shit from in the parking lot this morning. He wouldn’t even give Theo a chance, and at that point, he would go after him.

I‘m already unsure if Lucian will even like Theo. He has always hated rich, pretentious assholes, which makes me wonder how he and Jayme became friends. When he meets Theo, well, actually, if he meets him, he will probably say the same shit as earlier. “He isn’t good enough.” Lucian has always thought I deserve more than I do. He is such a fantastic guy. Before I know it, I drift off to sleep only to be woken an hour or so later by hushed whispers near me.

"Do you think she’s ok? She’s breathing, but it seems off." I can hear whispers through my sleepy fog.

"Yeah, I think. Fuck, he did hit her head against the car. What if she has a concussion." Is that Lucian's voice? How does he know what happened?

"Wake her up then, Lucian. I don’t want to do it and freak her out." That's definitely Jayme's voice. Fuck, my head is still hurting.

I feel someone sitting behind me and a slight nudge on my back. Apparently, when I fell asleep, I laid on my side facing the back of the couch and buried my face into the corner.

"Cass, are you okay?" Lucian is sitting on the edge of the couch, rubbing my back.

I suppose I should wake up now. I yawn, stretch out, and look up at him. My body aches, too. Everything feels sore.

"Hey, sleepy head. Didn't you get enough sleep last night?" He is talking all calm and hushed. He runs his fingers through my hair, petting my head.

"Mmmm," I sigh as I roll over and lean into his touch.

He accidentally brushes over the goose egg knot on the back of my skull, and I can’t help but wince. His eyes darken with rage. Fuck, that look is sexy on him. His muscles go rigid, the veins flexing in his arm. Damnit, seeing his anger should not be turning me on.

"Cass. What the fuck is this?" He gently turns my head so he can check my injury. Fuck what do I say? He somehow seems to already know, but I don’t think he is aware of who the guy was. Maybe the doorman said that I was attacked in the parking lot. Yea, that must be it.

"My friend met me in the parking lot when I left your apartment. And I ended up hitting my head on the car." Technically, it's not a lie.

"Who was this friend?" I’ve never seen his eyes this dark. If Theo were here, Lucian would have already tried to kill him.

"Just the guy I’ve been sort of seeing. It’s all good, though. I took some headache pills and should be fine for tonight." I go to try to stand up, but he puts a hand on my thigh. Holding me in place.

"Did he make you hit your head on the car? And you aren't fine. That's a huge knot, and it was bleeding. "

Ok, how do I spin this without it obviously coming off as the "I fell down the stairs" lie?

"No, we were kissing and messing around, and usually I put up some resistance when he adds force, but I was tired, and my body was a ragdoll. I just hit the car harder than expected. He didn’t mean it, though." Lies, all lies. I feel bad for lying to him. Another thing we don’t do is lie to each other, but that seems to be happening a lot lately.

“This doesn’t seem like it was an accident, though, it seems like abuse. Are you sure you don’t want to press charges? If he does anything else, I will press charges. Understood?" I stifle my laugh. Theo is one of the wealthiest men in New York. Charges will never stick to him. I’m fairly sure he has so many judges in his back pocket that he can get away with murder.

"Yes, Sir," I giggle. Trying to break the tension, I do my goofy salute, which seems to help because even Jayme is smiling now.

"Oh, I thought you said Jayme wasn't coming tonight?" I ask, calling Lucian out on his shit from earlier.

"He couldn't leave me at home. And it’s illegal to leave me in a parked car." Jayme laughs.

“Yeah, because you are definitely a dog,” Lucian says to him, rolling his eyes.

"Well, that's good. You can learn D this time, he lets me. But when I glance down, his jaw is still tight, and he looks hurt. I move without thinking. I sit on his lap, wrap my arms around his neck, and hug him close, nuzzling my face in the crook of his neck. I can slowly feel the tension leaving his body as he wraps his arms around me.

"Thank you for being so concerned, Lucian. I promise I’m okay, and it won’t happen again." I can feel him place his lips on my head, inhaling deep, like this morning when we were snuggled in bed. We just sit there for a moment, embraced by one another. I can tell seeing me hurt is causing him pain because he wants to go after who did it.

* Ahem* *Cough* *Cough *

Jayme interrupts the moment. I go to move away, and he keeps his arm crossed over my middle and holds onto my hip.

"Hey. I know you can take care of yourself and all, but please don’t feel like you have to do it alone. I can help you fight your battles, too, " he says as he leans in and kisses me on the forehead slowly, letting his lips stay there for a moment. I can feel the heat pooling between my thighs again. I smile at him as he pulls his lips away.

"I know. If I do need you, I won’t hesitate to call."

"Yeah, and I’m here as backup, too. I may seem like Richie rich, but I can fight with the best of them." Jayme takes jabs at the air. Landing a right hook, then an uppercut to the invisible foe.

I can’t help but laugh. I don’t see Jayme being in a fight. It might damage his pretty face. He is more likely to pay someone to fight his battles for him. Fucking rich guys.