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2025-09-05 12:25:12Naomi pov
Before I could even process the shock…
Cassian grabbed my hand.
“Move.”
Gunfire rang out around us, but he didn’t flinch.
He shot down anyone who stepped in our path, his aim cold and merciless.
We weaved through the chaos of smoke, blood, and crumbling walls. The mansion was falling apart behind us. Screams echoed. Fire licked up the edges of the curtains.
“Stay close,” he barked, “Don’t stop for anything.”
We kept running. I didn’t know where we were going…only that I trusted him more than I trusted my own feet.
My dress was soaked. My body ached. But for the first time in five years…
I was running toward something that felt like freedom.
“Please… save Maria too.”
Cassian didn’t look at me at first…just kept scanning the hall, with his gun raised.
“The maid? The one that was bound on the floor?”
I nodded quickly, eyes wide. “Yes. Please.”
His jaw tightened, just for a second.
Then he nodded. “Okay. If she isn’t dead already, I’ll take her.”
He turned sharply, shouting an order to one of his men crouched behind a broken statue.
“Find the maid. Get her out. Now.”
The man gave a sharp nod and sprinted into the smoke.
Cassian grabbed my hand again, guiding me toward a side corridor. We ducked beneath fallen beams, stepping over bodies. My legs felt like they might give out at any second.
“Go with him,” he said, pushing me toward a man by the exit. “He’ll get you to safety.”
The man opened the black van door just as we reached it.
“Cassian…what about you?”
“I’ll meet you back at the house,” Cassian said, his voice steady.
He gave me a quick wink…like this was just another day.
Then he was gone.
The car door slammed shut behind me, locking out the noise.
Everything after that was a blur.
I barely noticed the roads, the turns, or the people around me. My hands trembled the whole ride.
And then the van pulled up in front of a mansion so massive, so breathtaking, I almost forgot how to breathe.
It was bigger than anything I had ever seen.
Even bigger than Don Eldon’s estate.
Black marble. Silver gates. Sprawling gardens lit with golden lights. It looked like something from another world.
The door opened, and someone offered their hand. I stepped out, slowly, still trying to understand what world I had landed in.
A tall woman with soft eyes met me at the steps.
“We’ve prepared a room for you to rest,” she said gently.
I blinked at her. “I’d rather wait for Cassian.”
“He’ll be fine,” she reassured. “Please, you must be tired. Are you sure you don’t want to sit?”
“No… I’m okay.”
I stood there in the hallway, unmoving.
And then the front door creaked open.
Cassian walked in, calmly like he hadn’t just walked through hell.
His black shirt was wrinkled, open at the collar. A faint cut trailed down his cheek. His eyes swept the room until they landed on me.
And just like that, I could breathe again.
“Thank you, Cassandra. You can go.”
He didn’t take his eyes off me as he spoke.
The woman bowed and left quietly, the soft click of the door behind her was the only sound in the room.
Then it was just us.
“Finally, you’re here with me again,” he said, taking a slow step forward.
I didn’t move.
My heart was a mess. My legs felt like they weren’t mine. But still, I couldn’t stop looking at him.
“I’m sorry I didn’t come sooner,” he said, now standing right in front of me.
Close enough that I could smell the smoke on his skin, the faint iron of blood, the heat of war.
“Where were you that night?” I whispered, blinking back the tears I swore I wouldn’t let fall.
My voice cracked, but I knew he heard me.
And I knew he knew exactly which night I meant.
Cassian lowered his gaze.
“The day you were married off…” he said slowly, voice heavy. “I wasn’t there because…because she sent me away.”
“Your mother?” I asked, even though I already knew.
He nodded. “She knew I’d never agree to it. Never let it happen. So she had me sent away, without telling me why.”
His jaw clenched. “By the time I got back… it was already done.”
My chest tightened.
“I swear,” he continued, “I looked for you. But I wasn’t strong enough then. I couldn’t get you back from the Don.”
He closed his eyes, his voice thick now.
“I’m sorry.”
“I’m sorry I never protected you. I’m sorry I left you behind.”
“But before then…” I whispered, my throat tight. “You stopped showing up in my room. You started avoiding me.”
His eyes flickered, guilt flashing through the green.
“That was because my mother found out,” he said, voice quiet but steady. “She knew I was getting close to you.”
He looked away, jaw tightening.
“She threatened to torture you if I didn’t stay away. Said she’d make an example of you. Said I’d have to watch.”
I swallowed hard, the pieces clicking into place.
“I thought you abandoned me,” I said softly.
Cassian turned back to me, his eyes glassy with a rage that had nowhere left to go.
“I didn’t. I could never.”
He stepped closer, his hand hovering like he wasn’t sure if he was allowed to touch me.
“I’m sorry. But now… now you’re mine. I can protect you. No one…not even the Don. is ever going to take you away from me again.”
“I don’t want to be owned by anyone,” I said softly, but firmly.
“I just… I want to be free.”
Cassian froze.
The weight of my words hung between us like a blade.
He didn’t speak for a moment…just stared at me, like he hadn’t expected that. Like a part of him had hoped I’d melt into his arms
And forget everything.
But I wasn’t that girl anymore.
Not after five years in hell.
Latest chapter
Step Brother's Deadly Obsession 57
Naomi’s POV The drive back to the city felt longer than it should have. The wind carried the scent of rain and burned metal through the open windows, and though Cassian’s hand never left the wheel, his mind was miles away, probably tracing lines of war I couldn’t yet see. The note burned in his coat pocket like a live ember. I could almost feel its heat from where I sat. Beatrice’s handwriting haunted me, every word felt like a ghost come to accuse. When we reached the safe house, the air was thick with tension. Guards were changing shifts, radios buzzing, eyes flicking toward us for answers they wouldn’t get. Cassian handed Rubio the note’s coordinates with a terse order. “Run it through everything we have. Cross-check against Syndicate patterns.” Rubio nodded and disappeared into the operations room. Mara followed, already on her comms. That left Cassian and me alone again. He walked to the window, staring out at the skyline. Rain had started to fall, soft at first, then he
Step Brother's Deadly Obsession 56
Cassian’s Pov; Night settled like smoke over the valley as we drove north again. The same road that had carried us away from fire now carried us back toward it. The truck’s headlights cut through a thin fog, turning the blackened trees into pale ghosts on either side. Naomi sat beside me, hood drawn, her fingers tracing the wolf pendant I’d given her months ago. She hadn’t spoken since we left the city. She didn’t need to. The silence between us was thick enough to fill the cab. The ruins appeared just after midnight, a silhouette of ash and twisted metal rising from the fields. The barn’s frame still stood, ribs of charred wood glinting faintly under the moon. The air smelled of soot and rust. Rubio and Mara followed in a second vehicle, their beams sweeping the debris. “Perimeter looks cold,” Mara’s voice crackled through the radio. “No heat signatures, no motion.” “Keep watch,” I said. “We go in and out fast.” Naomi’s gaze stayed fixed on the ruins. “This is where I wa
Step Brother's Deadly Obsession 55
Naomi’s Pov; The days after the rescue felt unreal, like waking up inside someone else’s dream. The safe-house was quiet, almost too quiet. Every sound seemed magnified, the hum of the generator, the shuffle of guards outside, the faint clink of dishes from the kitchen below. My body healed faster than my mind. Bruises faded, cuts closed, but my thoughts kept looping back to the cell, to the scent of iron and smoke, to the sound of Cassian’s voice cutting through the chaos. He hadn’t left my side for the first two nights. He’d sat in the chair beside my cot, half asleep, half awake, his pistol resting on the table. Sometimes I’d wake in the dark and find his gaze already on me, as if making sure I was still there. He didn’t talk much. Neither did I. Silence had become the language between us, heavy, necessary, almost tender. On the third morning, Mara brought me a tray of food and a manila folder. “Cassian’s orders,” she said. “He thought you’d want to see this.” Inside we
Step Brother's Deadly Obsession 54
Cassian’s Pov; The road back to the city stretched out like a scar, long, silent, and endless. By the time the first checkpoint faded behind us, the adrenaline had burned away, leaving only the smell of smoke and blood in its place. Naomi sat in the back seat, her head resting against the window, eyes half-open but distant. Every few minutes the truck hit a bump and she flinched; she tried to hide it, but I saw. Her wrists were red and raw where the chains had been. Mara drove, one hand steady on the wheel, the other on the radio, speaking in short bursts to our safe-house teams. Rubio rode shotgun, rifle balanced across his knees, eyes scanning the horizon. No one spoke for a long time. When we reached the river road, I finally broke the silence. “Any tails?” Rubio shook his head. “Nothing on the scanners. Either Reyes’s men scattered or they’re licking their wounds.” “Good,” I said. The word didn’t sound like victory; it sounded like exhaustion. By the time we reached
Step Brother's Deadly Obsession 53
Naomi’s Pov; I sat on the cot, staring at the mark I’d carved into the wall days ago. The wolf’s head looked rougher now, the edges darkened from the soot that drifted through the vents. I traced it with my fingertip, whispering the same promise I said every night. He’s coming. The sound reached me then. Distant at first, something metallic, a muffled pop, then another. It was sharper, faster. Gunfire. I froze, breath catching in my throat. The guard outside shouted. Boots pounded down the hall. Voices overlapped, curses, commands. And then the lights went out. The sudden darkness was absolute. I could hear my own heartbeat, the clink of my chains when I stood. For one heartbeat, I thought maybe Reyes was moving me again, that this was another trick to make me hope. But the next sound shattered that doubt: the roar of an explosion somewhere above, the ceiling trembling, dust raining down like ash. The door burst open, flooding the cell with light from the hall. The limping gu
Step Brother's Deadly Obsession 52
Cassian’s POV It was close to dawn when Mara found me. The city outside the windows was still burning in places, thin trails of smoke curling against the pale light. I hadn’t slept, not since the night before, not since the warehouse. The smell of ash still clung to my clothes, to my hair, to everything I touched. I was standing at the map again, tracing routes that led nowhere, when Mara burst through the door. Her face was drawn, eyes sharp with urgency. “You need to see this,” she said I turned. “What now?” She didn’t answer. Just crossed to the far table where a monitor flickered, a live feed, one of hundreds we’d hijacked from Reyes’s security network. Most showed empty hallways, guards smoking, blank walls. But on this one, the image was different. A small, windowless cell. Gray walls, iron cot, single light bulb. And Naomi. My breath caught before I could stop it. She was sitting on the edge of the cot, head bowed, hair tangled. She looked thinner, bruises faint
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