Cherry Pie

"You think you're clever, don't you?"

Selene braced herself, refusing to look away. She knew exactly what he was doing. He was keeping his cool to deny Daniel the satisfaction of seeing him angry.

His eyes moved past her cheek, and straight to Daniel, who was already watching them. Before he could say a word, Cassian’s hand clamped down on her shoulder, forcing her up.

"Let's head home, baby," Cassian said.

Hearing him use those words made her sick to her stomach. But before she could wrench herself free, his hand slid down to the middle of her back, shoving her toward the door. She stumbled slightly, barely grabbing her coat off the chair as he escorted her out of the room.

They rode the elevator down just to find the lobby in absolute chaos. Bright camera light hitting her eyes immediately, and photographers swarming the doors, shouting over one another.

"Mrs. Vale! Are you cheating on your husband?"

"Cassian! Is your wife having an affair?

Without saying a word, Cassian threw his arm over her shoulders, dragging her against his chest so hard she could barely breathe. She was used to him putting on a show of the doting, protective husband for the camera.

When they got to the car, he shoved her into the passenger seat and slammed the door shut.

Just like that, the public show was over, and she was trapped alone with him. Selene leaned her head against the cool window, trying to calm her trembling hands.

She knew he wanted her to beg or explain herself, but she she wasn’t going to give him that, so she kept her mouth shut.

Cassian slammed his foot on the gas, and jerked the wheel to pass a truck. The sudden speed threw Selene’s shoulder hard against the passenger door, causing her to hiss in pain.

"Can I ask you something, El?" he asked without looking at her.

Selene didn't look at him. "Sure, go ahead."

"Is he fucking you?"

The utter disrespect of the question made her whipped her head around to look at his face. "How can you even ask me that? We are business partners, Cassian. The only reason I was even at that restaurant—"

"I don't care about the restaurant," he snapped, his jaw clenching. "Give me a straight answer."

"No," she spat. "No, he is not."

For a moment, she could swear she saw a smirk on his face before he slipped back into his regular blank look.

A second later, he turned the car onto the driveway of their estate.

"Good, because let’s be very clear, El. We’re still legally married, and you still carry my name. If you humiliate me, or drag my family through a scandal with that man, I won't just pull the funding."

He slammed the brakes in front of the house, and turned to face her.

"You know what I can do Selene. No brand or business owner in this city will work with you if you cross me. I will bury your business so deep you’ll never find your way out. You will have absolutely nothing left but me. Do you understand?"

Selene stared at him, wondering how much damage power has done to him in just a few years, for him to react like this. Pushing the passenger door open, she walked into the house.

She ran up the stairs, and headed straight to her bedroom. Immediately she turned the door open, she began stripping off her clothes, throwing them on floor and slipping on a loose silk dress.

She lay down on the mattress, staring up at the ceiling. She closed her eyes, and let her mind wonder back to how Daniel’s hand had rested on her thigh under the table. It was a painful difference to the strong grip Cassian had used to drag her away.

The sound of her phone buzzing on the nightstand broke her out of the thoughts.

When she saw Daniel's name, a small smile slipped on her face. She swiped the screen and put it to her ear. "Daniel?"

"Tell me you're okay," he said. He was pacing; she could hear the creak of the floorboards from his end. "The way you left… I was worried.”

"You don’t have to be Daniel, I’m okay." she whispered. "It was a necessary PR move. Cassian was just protecting me and the brand from the photographers."

"Don't give me that corporate bullshit, Selene," Daniel snapped. "That wasn't PR. He was marking his territory, and you just let him drag you out of there."

The word let stung. She sat up, her fingers digging into the mattress. "He is my husband, Daniel, he knows exactly what he’s doing. You don't know him, and you have no idea how this works."

"I know what I saw," Daniel muttered, sighing loudly. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have snapped. It's just… you looked drained Selene.

She felt the anger leave her as she lay back down, curling her knees to her chest. "I was just tired, Daniel. I'm always tired."

"Where would you go?" his voice softened.

“What?”

"If you could go anywhere right now, where would you go?”

"Probably a cheap diner in the middle of nowhere, with sticky tables, bad coffee, and those large cherry pies."

Daniel’s laughter echoed through the speaker. “A diner? I’m pretty sure you’ve spent all your life at fancy restaurants. How come you want to go to a cheap roadside diner?

"Because nobody will expect anything from me there." she whispered, rolling onto her side.

"Alright, then that's where we’ll go the day after the launch. I'll drive you to the worst diner I can find, and we’ll get the pie.”

Selene held the phone closer to her ear. "Daniel, we shouldn't."

"It's just a slice of pie, Selene. We can handle a slice of pie."

She remained silent, just laying there in the quiet room, listening to his breathing, knowing she should hang up… but she couldn’t bring her to.