Chapter 59: Anticipation

NOAH

The air in the suite was so thick with tension I could practically see it swirling like smoke. Cassian didn’t just look angry; he looked like he’d crawled out of the deepest circle of hell and found out someone had moved his furniture.

I stood there, frozen, my pulse hammering against my ribs like a trapped bird. The sight of him, disheveled, unbuttoned, nursing a whiskey in the dark, was devastating. My brain, ever the traitor, didn’t immediately scream danger. Instead, it whispered, Oh, God, he looks incredible.

I hated myself. I was officially a pervert.

Then my eyes caught it. Tiny, dark flecks of dried blood on his white cuff. The metallic tang hit my nose, faint but unmistakable. My stomach did a slow, nauseous somersault. Alex’s words from the bar echoed in my head, louder than the pounding of my heart: They say he murdered people, Noah. Multiple people.

“I, ” I started, and then promptly lost the ability to speak. I sounded like a broken flute. I tried again, my voice trembling. “I was… I went out. For a drink.”

Cassian stood up. He didn’t just stand; he uncoiled. He towered over me, a wall of pure, intimidating muscle and expensive tailoring. The shadow he cast swallowed me whole. He stepped into my personal space, his scent, sandalwood, peat, and that sharp, iron smell of blood, overwhelming my senses.

“With Hendrix,” he said. It wasn’t a question. It was a death sentence.

“Yes,” I blurted out. My inner scaredy-cat was doing backflips. Part of me wanted to lie, to say I’d just happened to run into him, but I knew the look in Cassian’s eyes. He already knew. He was just waiting to see if I’d dig my own grave.

I took a shaky breath, trying to find a shred of the spine I’d boasted about in the car. “And? I’m a grown man, Cassian. I’m allowed to have a drink with whoever I want. You don’t… you don’t own my every waking hour.”

The silence that followed was agonizing. Cassian’s eyes narrowed, his gaze so intense I felt like I was being dissected under a microscope. I expected him to snap. I expected him to grab my jaw or pin me against the floor-to-ceiling windows until I apologized. My body actually tensed in anticipation, a traitorous thrill sparking in my gut. Wait, am I actually hoping he touches me? I screamed at myself internally. Noah, you are a disaster. You are a psychological wreck.

Cassian didn’t snap. He didn’t touch me.

Instead, he let out a long, heavy sigh. It was the sound of a man who had reached the end of his tether and found it frayed. He let out a dry, humorless scoff, a faint smirk ghosting across his lips, not a kind one, but one of pure, cynical defeat.

“You’re right,” he murmured, his voice sounding oddly hollow. “You’re a grown man, Noah.”

He turned away from me without another word. He picked up the whiskey bottle and his glass, his movements slow and weary. He didn’t look back as he walked toward his bedroom. The click of his door closing felt louder than any shout.

I stood in the middle of the living room, blinking. I should have felt relieved. I’d won. I’d asserted my independence and he’d backed down.

But I didn’t feel like a winner. I felt… disappointed? Empty?

“Oh my God,” I whispered, burying my face in my hands. “I am a pervert. I wanted him to teach me a lesson. I’m officially broken.”

I spent half the night staring at the ceiling, wondering if this was the beginning of the end. Maybe Cassian was finally sick of me. That was the goal, wasn’t it? To be so annoying and defiant that he’d tear up the contract and send me packing. But as I lay there, the reality of that prospect felt less like freedom and more like a cold, dark void. If I went back now, I’d be the guy who failed. My parents would look at me with that ’we told you so’ pity. Lila would laugh. Nick would just shake his head.

Unlucky if I stay, unlucky if I go. Being Cassian’s ’toy’ was a nightmare, but at least it was a high-end nightmare.

The next morning was a blur of caffeine and awkward silence. We were back at the construction site for a secondary inspection, the Spanish sun already beating down on the dust and steel.

The moment we stepped onto the site, Luca, the man with the permanent nervous tic, materialized at my side. He hovered like a worried mother hen while Cassian walked ahead, ignoring us both.

“Noah! Oh, thank God you’re okay,” Luca whispered, his eyes darting around frantically. “Yesterday… that was… I almost had a stroke, Noah. I really did.”

“I’m fine, Luca,” I said, adjusting my hard hat. “Really. It’s over.”

“Is it?” Luca leaned in closer, his voice dropping to a conspiratorial hiss. “Did you see the news?”

“What news?”

Luca pulled out his tablet, his hands shaking as he swiped through a news feed. “The guy who took you. The hostage-taker.”

I froze. “What about him?”

“He’s dead,” Luca whispered. “They found him this morning. Jumped off a building near the docks. Apparent suicide.”

My heart stopped. “Suicide?”

“That’s what the police are saying. Apparently, Alex Hendrix let him go after a ’private negotiation’ to try and settle things peacefully. But look at the comments, Noah.”

He handed me the tablet. My eyes scanned the screen. The headlines were sensational: HOSTAGE-TAKER FALLS TO DEATH AFTER CLASH WITH TECH GIANTS. The comment sections were a battlefield.

, ’Suicide? Yeah, right. Hendrix is too nice, but that Wolfe guy? He looks like he eats souls for breakfast.’

, ’Bet Cassian Wolfe had him thrown off. Look at his record. Once a criminal, always a criminal.’

, ’Hendrix tries to be a hero and Wolfe cleans up the mess. Typical.’

I handed the tablet back, my stomach sinking. I looked at Cassian, who was standing fifty yards away, pointing at a blueprint and speaking to an engineer. He looked perfectly calm. Perfectly professional.

And then I remembered the dried blood on his sleeve last night. The bruised, swollen knuckles.

A cold shiver crawled up my spine. Did he do it? Did he find that man and break him until he fell? Or worse… did he push him?

“Noah!”

I jumped, nearly dropping my own clipboard. Alex Hendrix was standing behind me, looking as polished and ’angelic’ as ever in a light gray suit that probably cost more than my life. Luca let out a squeak of terror and scurried away toward the scaffolding. No spine, I thought bitterly. Absolutely zero spine.

“Alex,” I said, trying to keep my voice steady. “Good morning.”

“It is a good morning,” Alex smiled, his eyes warm. “I had a wonderful time last night, Noah. I’m glad you reached out.”

I glanced nervously toward Cassian. He was still talking, but I could feel his awareness of us like a physical pressure on the back of my neck. “Yeah. It was… it was nice.”

“You seem tense,” Alex said, stepping closer. He looked toward Cassian and lowered his voice. “He’s in a mood, isn’t he? I can see it from here. He has that ’I’m-about-to-sue-the-world’ look.”

“He’s fine,” I lied. “Alex, did you see the news? About the man from yesterday?”

Alex’s expression softened into something mournful. “I did. It’s a tragedy, Noah. I really thought I could get through to him. I wanted to help him, to see if we could address his grievances without violence.”

“Do you think… do you think it was really suicide?” I asked, my voice barely a whisper.

Alex brushed a hand over his hair, looking troubled. “I’d like to believe so. But the world is a dark place, Noah. Don’t concern yourself with it. I’m the one who handled the security release; I’ll handle the fallout. You just focus on being okay.”

He smiled, a perfect, reassuring beam that should have made me feel safe. But for some reason, it felt… staged. Like a line from a play.

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