"You seem to want to ask me something," Cassian said, his tone calm but knowing. He set his coffee down. "Ask."
I swallowed, fingers tightening around the fork.
"Um... about the girl," I began, my voice quieter than I intended. "Is she... is she still in your life?"
Silence.
Cassian didn’t answer immediately.
Instead, he leaned back slightly in his chair, his gaze locking onto mine with unsettling focus. Like he was studying me instead of the question.
Then his lips curved. It wasn’t a smile. Something sharper.
"Such double standards, Isabelle."
My breath hitched.
He tilted his head slightly, eyes darkening. "You didn’t answer my question about Nathan," he continued, his voice smooth, almost lazy. "And yet you expect me to answer yours?"
Heat crept up my neck.
This petty man. Why bring that up now?
"That’s not—"
"What?" he cut in softly.
He leaned forward now, resting his forearms on the table, closing the distance without touching me.
"Are you jealous?"
My grip tightened around the fork.
"I’m not—"
"You are," he said calmly. He didn’t sound like he was guessing or teasing.
He said it as if it were a fact.
My chest tightened.
"I was just asking," I said, trying to steady my voice. "You said there was someone. It’s normal to be curious."
Cassian watched me for a long second. Then he reached out, his movements slow and deliberate.
His fingers brushed against mine, stilling the slight tremor I hadn’t realised was there.
"There was someone," he said at last.
My heart skipped.
His thumb traced lightly over my knuckles absent-mindedly, almost thoughtful.
"Six months ago."
Six months ago? Could it be... No, it can’t be possible, right?"
The room felt quieter.
"Met her once," he continued. "Didn’t even see her face properly."
My brows knit slightly.
He didn’t see her face properly?
"Then why—"
"She lied to me." His gaze lifted to mine again, sharper now. "And I don’t like being lied to."
Something about the way he said it made my stomach drop.
Because it didn’t feel like he was talking about the past anymore... It felt like a warning.
My fingers instinctively curled, but he didn’t let go.
"She gave me a name," he added quietly. "One that wasn’t hers."
My pulse stumbled.
"Next time" ..."Tell me the truth."
Cassian’s words from that night six months ago replayed in my mind.
Oh my god... It can’t be...he’s talking about me?
"And yet..." His grip tightened just slightly. "I still remember her."
The words settled between us, heavy and dangerous.
I forced a breath. "Then... is she still important to you?"
Cassian’s eyes held mine, his gaze unblinking and unreadable.
I held my breath, knots forming in my stomach in anticipation of his answer. Then, just as suddenly, he let go.
"Eat," he said, leaning back as if the conversation had never happened. "Your food is getting cold."
Just like that. His voice was filled with a control and finality that shut down any further enquiries.
I lowered my gaze to the plate, but my appetite was gone.
"She lied to me."
The words echoed louder than they should have.
I picked at the food absent-mindedly, my thoughts tangled, my chest still tight from the way he had looked at me.
It didn’t feel like he was talking about the girl.
It felt like he was watching... Like he was waiting... For something.
It made me realise that every lie I had told was a knife hanging over my head by a thin thread.
It could snap at any moment.
~~~♧♧♧~~~
Cassian’s POV
Cassian watched Isabelle in silence.
The way her fingers slowed around the fork.
The way her gaze dropped too quickly.
The way her breathing changed, just slightly.
It was subtle. But not enough to escape him.
His eyes darkened almost imperceptibly.
Nathan.
The name echoed once in his mind.
Then he shut it down—irrelevant.
What mattered was something else.
Something far more dangerous.
He exhaled slowly and focused on watching her eat, but his thoughts were not here.
They had already gone back.
Six months ago.
And there it was again. That same instinct. That same quiet disruption.
He had felt it the first time she touched him.
And now... This.
His fingers tapped once against the table, slow and controlled.
Lies.
He could always tell.
Not because of the words themselves but because of patterns.
And hers... Didn’t align.
His gaze lingered on her a moment longer before he leaned back slightly, his expression returning to that calm, unreadable mask.
The memory surfaced without permission.
The Eclipse Club was a place he rarely visited unless necessary.
Everything about the place was predictable. Too loud. Too crowded.
Bass heavy enough to drown thought. Crowded enough to suffocate interest.
Cassian had been seated in the VIP section, one arm resting lazily against the leather chair, watching patterns. People. Behaviour.
He didn’t see anything worth his attention.
Like always—detached.
Nothing reached him.
Not the music.
Not the women.
Not the attention.
Until she appeared.
Not entered... Appeared.
Because he hadn’t noticed when she came in.
Only when she stepped into his line of sight.
A masked girl.
Drawn into his orbit. He had seen it before. Women trying to impress him. Trying to stand out.
He had already dismissed her.
Until she walked toward him.
Her steps weren’t hesitant, nor calculating.
She was direct.
That was the first irregularity.
His gaze sharpened slightly as he watched her approach.
The noise around him dimmed as she climbed onto the platform beside his table.
She stood close to him. Way too close.
Most people avoided his space unless invited, but she didn’t.
Her hands rested on his shoulders, her movements light, almost careless.
As if she didn’t understand who she was touching.
Cassian didn’t move, but something inside him did. A shift so subtle yet unwelcome.
His eyes lifted to hers and stilled. That was when he saw it. She didn’t want to seduce him, and there was no fear in her eyes.
She was standing in the middle of a room filled with predators...
And she looked untouched by it.
That was new.
That was... interesting.
"Hi, handsome. Can I have this dance?"
Her voice was smooth, but he caught it.
The slight inconsistency.
His lips almost curved. "You’re brave, Kitten."
He watched her reaction carefully. A flicker crossed her eyes; she wasn’t used to that name.
Good.
That meant she wasn’t part of that world. That got his attention.
"I think you’ve mistaken me for someone."
Her answer was honest.
Instinctive... Not rehearsed.
Cassian leaned back slightly, studying her more closely now.
The mask.
The posture.
The way she held herself.
She didn’t belong here.
And yet she wasn’t leaving.
"You’ll do."
He didn’t know why he said it.
Only that something in him had already decided.
"You are exactly what I’ve been waiting for."
That was when it changed.
He reached for her.
Her wrist fit too easily in his hand.
Too right.
His thumb brushed against her pulse. It was fast but steady, and his grip tightened slightly.
"Now, where’s that earlier boldness?"
She recovered quickly, offering him a smile.
But he could see through her. And that made it more interesting.
When she suggested the dance, he didn’t hesitate.
He pulled her in. Closer.
His body reacted instantly.
Not numbness. Awareness.
He noted it. Analysed it.
Every movement between them felt... like a discovery.
His control remained, but his awareness shifted. Focused only on her.
Then the mask slipped slightly. But it was enough.
His eyes dropped to her hand, with a mark on the back of it. He reached for it without thinking.
"Is this a tattoo?"
She froze.
It wasn’t the reaction of someone caught lying. It was the reaction of someone protecting something important.
His eyes darkened slightly.
She leaned closer. "Mia."
She had given her name too easily. He knew it instantly... It was a lie.
His gaze locked onto hers, but maybe it was the timing or coincidence, but the music stopped.
She stepped away trying to leave.
And he let her.
Not because he wanted to.
Because he needed to see if she would look back.
She did.
Of course she did.
"Mia."
He tested the name and watched her reaction. "Next time... tell me the truth."
Then she disappeared.
Just like that.
No hesitation.
No trail.
No trace.
Cassian’s expression hardened slightly at the memory.
He had searched. But his men came back with nothing. There was no "Mia".
No girl with that mark.
No record.
It was as if she had erased herself.
And yet...
He remembered everything.
The way she looked at him.
The way her pulse reacted under his fingers.
The way his own body responded.
That had never happened before.
Not once.
Until now.
Cassian’s eyes darkened.
Isabelle.
The way she touched him.
The way his body stabilised.
The way his control slipped.
The same pattern.
The same disruption.
His fingers curled slowly into a fist.
Coincidence?
He didn’t believe in those.
His gaze sharpened.
"Interesting..."
This time, the word carried weight.
Because now...
He had something he didn’t have before.
Access.
And this time...
she wouldn’t disappear.
Because this time, he wouldn’t let her.
His gaze lifted briefly to the woman across from him... she was still within reach.