Aaron’s Request

One more inch, Just one. But the door creaked open.

Cassandra jolted, her body stiffening. Dante drew back slowly, his jaw flexing. Viktor stood at the threshold, his sharp gaze flicking from his father’s towering frame to Cassandra's tensed shoulders.

For a split second, silence crushed the air, heavy with the weight of what almost happened.

“Viktor,” Dante drawled, his voice smooth, unshaken, as if he hadn’t been about to cross a line that could tear his family apart. He stepped back, reclaiming the space, sliding his hands casually into his pockets. “You’re back.”

Cassandra pressed her lips together, fighting the wild throbbing of her heart. She lowered her eyes, turning around, hoping Viktor wouldn’t notice the redness in her cheeks or the trembling in her fingers.

Viktor's eyes softened at Cassandra. He chuckled lightly “What are you doing in the Don's study?” He teased. He walked over to her, pressed a quick kiss to her lips, it was warm possessive, familiar. Cassandra smiled faintly.

Dante stared between them with narrowed eyes, his heart clenched.

“Leave us for now,” said Viktor. “Father and I have business”

Her heart was beating so hard she thought he might hear it. “O-of course,” she whispered. With one last glance at Dante, who sat like a king in shadow, his eyes fixed on her, she fled the study, nearly stumbling out the door.

She didn’t stop until she was back in the safety of her room, shutting the door and pressing her back to it. Her hands trembled as she reached for her phone, dialing the only number she could think of.

“I was just about to call you,” said Aaron the moment he answered.

“Aaron.” Cassandra gasped, clutching her phone tightly.

“Cassie,” Aaron's voice took a sharp turn, his tone strained. “Is something wrong? Why have you called? What happened?”

“Everything's fine” she forced a reply, her voice slightly shaky.

“Then why did you call?”

Her chest tightened. “What do you think you're doing, Aaron? You sent someone to Mr. Krüger's dock? Why?” She lowered her voice.

There was a short pause. “He has been caught already? Cassie, how do you know about this?” he asked.

“Aaron these people are dangerous!” She snapped at him. “Mr. Krüger, he could….hurt you”

“Not after your marriage to Viktor,” Aaron objected. “I’m immune to their dirty tricks”

Cassandra's jaw clenched. She started to pace. “That's why you supported father in my marriage to him. You wanted to use me for your selfish gain”

She heard him sigh. “It's not like that. You know how much exposing the Nordau Bloc's activities means to me. It's my life's work. My career depends on it”

There was no convincing him otherwise.

She breathed in defeat, “Just….be careful, Aaron. If anything happens to the contract, we'll all pay dearly for it”

“Not if I can expose them first. But I can't do it without your help, Cassie”

Cassandra froze, blinking as if she had misheard. “What do you mean?”

Aaron's voice lowered, his tone urgent, “I need you to look around for anything incriminating and report to me. If you can find out where they're moving their shipments, I can bring everything down”

Her stomach twisted. For a moment, she forgot to breathe. Betray Viktor, who trusts her, and his father, who has started to accept her.

“Aaron do you hear yourself?” she whispered sharply. “You're asking me to put my life on the line…..for your career?”

“No, for justice,” he shot back. “For the truth. Cassie, you're the only one who can do this”

She bit her lower lip, her fingers tightening around her phone. After a moment's hesitation, she breathed, “Fine. I’ll do it.” Her stomach knotted “But don't expect answers overnight.”

Aaron sighed in relief, but she immediately added “But you have to promise you won't do anything to put yourself in danger,”

“I promise,” he said quickly, almost too quickly. “I owe you, Cassie. I swear, once this is over, I’ll get you out of that marriage. I’ll put those criminals where they belong….behind bars.”

After the call, Cassandra collapsed on her bed, her mind heavy. She thought of back in the study. Dante almost kissed her, but why? It would've been a worse scenario if Viktor had caught them.

Her thoughts were interrupted by Viktor's entrance. He came in with a light chuckle “How on earth did you end up in the old man's study?”

It sounded like a subtle interrogation.

Cassandra stood up with a wry smile. “I…..wandered. I didn't mean to”

Something in the way she spoke made her look disarmingly innocent. He walked up to her, cupping her face with a small smile. “It's fine.”

Before she could respond, his lips touched her skin. He showered her with kisses, from her forehead down to her lips, each one soft and slow. Then, his mouth traced down to her neck and he nibbled her.

Cassandra felt a shiver down her spine. His actions seemed more than mere affection. He was marking her. She winced playfully “What's gotten into you?”

“I'm excited about next week,” said Viktor with a grin.

Cassandra tilted her head, slight unease building up inside her. “What’s…happening then?”

Viktor chuckled “Your initiation, Love”

––––

It had been nearly a week, yet Cassandra still couldn’t calm the storm inside her. The reality that she would be bound to the Nordau Bloc as a permanent member weighed heavily on her chest.

Initiation

No matter how many times she asked, Viktor refused to reveal what that truly meant. He kept her in suspense with that infuriating smile on his face. Cassandra prayed it wouldn’t be anything cruel, or absurd… but with rumors surrounding the cult, she could never be certain.

That night, she pushed everything else aside for Aaron's request. Seven days in this house had taught her a few things. She discovered that the only room she could access easily was Dante's study.

If there was any place to find a scrap of information, something harmless enough not to endanger her brother or her new family, it would be there. Harmless, she told herself again, as though the word might shield her from the danger of what she was about to do.

Somewhere past midnight, she set off. She slipped past the dining hall into the deeper corridor. When she got to the door, she inhaled deeply.

“In and out,” she told herself before stepping in.

She took out her phone, the torchlight casting a faint glow over Dante's table. Her heart raced as she searched frantically with her eyes. She found peculiar documents sitting on the table and started to flip through them.

She was too engrossed, she hadn't noticed the sudden change in the atmosphere.

A figure was standing by the door she carelessly left ajar. Waiting. Watching.

She only knew when a voice broke through the still silence.

“Looking for something?”

Cassandra's breath hitched, her body stiffening, frozen midmotion. The papers remained clenched in her hand as she struggled to breathe.