Tempting the Devil

Olivia wiped the counter of the hotel reception area she manned. She looked up when two men walked in. Her smile was automatic, a practiced thing, something she made herself do, to seem more inviting, more friendly. Working as the reception lady, she couldn’t be her grumpy self.“Can I help you?”“We need to speak to the guy that does the garden. Please.” The please was added as an afterthought.The man’s tone had her taking an involuntary step back. “I think he’s at the back.”“Thank you.” The men made to move toward the door and she jumped forward.“Wait, why?”“We just need to talk to him.”“He’s working now, can this wait?” Olivia felt a twinge of unease as the tall man fixed his eyes on hers.“Ma’am, stay out of this.” He led the other man out and she found herself following. Brody was working on the pool when he looked up and spotted the two men and Olivia. For a second he seemed to freeze, then he threw down the pool net and ran.Olivia watched Brody run, the fear she’d seen on

Olivia knew she was stuck in a nightmare. The images were hazy, and she felt like she was floating. But the fear was real. She’d known this fear once before and it paralyzed her. She was running, a corridor that just kept getting longer, a never-ending run from them. She could hear them laughing behind her. She knew they would catch her. They always did. When would she stop running and just let them do what they want? Maybe then the nightmare would be over sooner. But the thought of what they do, of the pain and humiliation, was too much to think about and she kept running. When the hand grabbed her arm, she screamed. And she knew it was the first of many screams.Cassandra jolted awake, she nearly dropped to the floor, in the moment of panic she forgot she was on the couch. What had woken her? Screams? Emma! She sat up and started for the door when she heard a low whimper. She looked to the bed and watched as Olivia thrashed around, she was fighting invisible hands, shoving at them,

Three days passed before she saw Cassandra again. Olivia and Emma spent their days lounging at the pool, drinking and relaxing. At night she waited for Cassandra to come to the room, but she never did. Or she did because the couch was always ruffled in the mornings. Things were so calm and quiet that she could almost make herself believe that she was on some remote holiday with a friend. Pedro, for some reason nice to her, had brought her the report on the night the girls were dropped off at the gate and she realized that she’d treated Cassandra harshly and judged her wrongly. When she’d asked Pedro to talk to Cassandra, he’d said that she was unavailable and when she was ready to talk, she would. It had been the most words she’d ever heard him say in one go, and she stared at him. He’d winked at her and resumed his brooding. She stared at the bedside clock as she waited for her body to adjust to being awake. She sat up in shock as she realized that the shower was going in the bathroo

Cass always felt at home surrounded by darkness. She sat in her living room, her tux jacket draped over the chair's back, her shirt collar unbuttoned and her sleeves rolled up. Her arms draped over the chair arms, and a half glass of whiskey dangled from her right hand. The fire blazed in front of her as she stared at the dancing flames. All her life she'd had to fight. She'd been trained from the age of six, to fight, to defend. She'd been honed by some of the best and her skills were that of a highly trained assassin. She scoffed and took a sip of the warm liquid. Maybe if she'd become an assassin her life would be simpler. She would never know the true meaning of feeling at peace. She shook her head this time she downed the rest of the whiskey and reached over to fill the glass again. She was lying to herself about that. For a brief moment, all too brief moments, she'd felt peace. Olivia. The woman was asleep in her bedroom, in her bed. The one place she could feel completely at

Emma and Vance were already at the breakfast table when Cass made her way down. She was dressed in her usual suit and ready for work. She planned on being gone before Olivia left, she didn't think she could hold to her resolve to send her away if she had to look into those beautiful eyes. "Where's Pedro? He should be here already," Cass asked as she sat down and pulled the lid of her plate to reveal eggs, bacon, and toast. For a second she thought maybe he might have been more injured than he'd led on. "They're gone, Cass." "Gone?" She repeated and looked up confused. "Olivia and Pedro. They left last night after she took care of you, she woke me to say goodbye and said you told her she was free to go." Emma narrowed her eyes. "Pedro waited for her downstairs so I assumed she was telling the truth." "Yes, I did. I just thought they'd leave this morning." "What happened last night?" Vance asked. Cass told him the same story she told Olivia and then added. "She wasn't safe here.