Addicted

Chapter 22: Release

Cassandra

Cassie woke up feeling a little better. She was comfortably wrapped in Ethan's big soft robe. She sat up looking around the room until her eyes landed on Ethan; sitting in his chair in the corner and reading a book.

He looked up as soon as he heard her and stood to his feet. "How long have I been sleeping?" Cassie asked, her throat was raw and sore. Probably from sitting under the cold water for so long.

Ethan grabbed a glass of water and handed it to her. "About 5 hours, it's 4 in the afternoon." He answered as he watched her take small sips from the cup. "Baby, we need to talk." He said softly.

Cassie sighed and closed her eyes. She knew he had questions, and she knew she needed to answer them. Her distress had been thrown at him like a roaring train and he still handled it with grace and care. He made her feel safe.

She slowly nodded her head when her phone pinged. She looked over to see her phone sitting on the dresser hooked up to the charger. Reaching over, she unlocked her phone and sighed as she saw all the missed calls and messages she had from Alessandro and Damien.

She decided she would give both of them a call later. She knew they were calling for two different reasons. Damien more than likely learned Jerrod was here and Alessandro was probably wondering why she ghosted him.

"They've been blowing you up for the last two days. I just took your phone off of do not disturb." Ethan commented.

She nodded before saying a quiet thank you.

"There were other messages from an unknown number." He started. She could tell he was being mindful of his next words.

"Cassie, I'm really worried for your safety. What am I dealing with here?" He asked as he sat next to her.

"What did the messages say?" She asked softly, finally meeting his gaze.

Ethan shook his head and grabbed her hand. "I will not repeat what those messages said. But I know this man is demented and dangerous. You will not be going back to your penthouse." He stated firmly.

Cassie sighed and nodded. No one could get to Ethan's floor so she knew she was safe here. She could only imagine the things Jerrod had written to her. At this point, he was probably in an erratic state. It was best she stayed out of his sight. She knew if she ran into him again, she wouldn't walk away unharmed.

"Cassie...Let me help you. Talk to me." Ethan said softly.

Cassie couldn't hold back her tears any longer. "I'm so scared." She choked out. Ethan quickly wrapped his arms around her in comfort.

"Baby, what did he do to you?" Ethan asked. His grip tightened around her as he felt her body tremble against him. He couldn't lie, there was rage brewing in him from seeing how afraid Cassie was of this bastard.

"He took everything from me." She whispered looking away from Ethan's worried gaze. She closed her eyes and released a harsh breath. She hadn't spoken about any of this since the day she spoke in front of the judge.

"My first crush, my first kiss, my first...time..." She shook her head. She felt like she couldn't breathe again. Ethan quickly noticed and grabbed her pills out of her purse. He handed the pills to her and placed the cup of water back in her hands. She quickly took the pills and sat silently trying to catch her breath. Ethan waited patiently and gave her shoulder a soft squeeze of encouragement.

Finally, Cassie turned to Ethan, a lone tear dropped from her face. "What do you mean by he took everything? By force?" Ethan asked, wiping the tear from her cheek.