Their Wife

Fourteen

I stood, frozen and wide-eyed with my hands resting against his chest. The jacket of his crisp suit felt soft and cool under my palms. His eyes burrowed into mine, not giving a hint of his emotions.

The blues of his eyes were dark, reminding me of stormy waters, but the calm indifference they portrayed contradicted the analogy. He gazed down at me from his towering high. He must have been at least 6'5. His skin was lightly tanned and his face was made of hard, sharp angles. They made his lips look even more pillowy soft. His black hair was styled back, the sides shorter than the top.

Cassius was a tall and imposing man. He had an aura that screamed don't fuck with me, I'll kill you before enjoying a nice cup of tea like it never happened. I bet he had killed people before sipping tea from a dainty little cup. Although, nothing about him looked dainty when I witnessed him wrap those rosy lips around the rim of a porcelain teacup.

He cocked his brow at me. The movement in his otherwise still features caused me to jolt back, removing my hands.

"Care to answer the question, Ms. Riar?"

My mouth opened and closed. "Well I- I was with Kai and Timothy- we-"

He stopped me with a raised hand.

"I'm going to ask you once more, Ms. Riar, what are you doing here?"

I swallowed and darted my tongue out to moisten my lips before speaking. "I was helping Timothy and Kai with the supply run." I internally high-fived myself for not messing up this time.

"In an alley?" He asked.

I tried explaining how I was lured in by a little shit who was throwing pebbles, but, once again, he cut me off.

"Do correct me if I am mistaken, but I don't recall assigning that as one of your tasks." His tone made it clear he knew he wasn't mistaken. He seemed like one of those people that were so thorough that they never left an opportunity for a mistake to occur. The only mistake would be to ever correct this man.

I went with Timothy's story. "They needed help and asked. I thought it would be fine since I already had to help others with their tasks at the manor."

"Others?"

"The other servants."

"I see."

He nodded once. Turning away slightly, he looked around the busy street before looking back at me, eyeing my cap.

"I think it's time we have that talk, Ms. Riar." He put one hand in his pocket while looking down at the phone in his other. "Follow me."

He didn't wait for a reply before walking away.

I rushed to catch up to him. Following a few steps behind him, I found it easier to navigate through the crowd than earlier. It seemed to split for him. I didn't blame them, I would steer clear of a man like him, too. The only problem was that I had to follow him.

He led the way to an idling black car. Opening the door, he gestured for me to get in, following right after.

I moved as far as I could to the other side. Pressed up against the door, I swallowed. Looking to the front, my eyes caught the glare of the old butler, Lester, in the rearview mirror. I bet he and Lyria would be best buds.

I waited for Cassius to say something, but he had pulled out a tablet from the back of the seat in front of him and was reading some documents and answering emails. It was like I wasn't even there.

There was no way I would start this conversation that he wanted, so I just sat there, looking out the window as Lester drove.

My eyes widened as I remembered about Kai and Timothy as my heart stopped racing from Cassius's abrupt appearance.