Page 74 of Cruel Deception

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Cassian stood there.

All shadows and rage.

His tailored coat swung behind him like a reaper’s shroud. His eyes—icy, unreadable—landed on Luca first, then on me.

He didn’t blink.

Didn’t look surprised.

Just... furious.

Luca stepped forward, jaw tightening. “How the fuck did you get in here so fast? Didn’t you just enter the estate?”

Cassian didn’t answer immediately.

Instead, he stepped inside. Calm. Cold.

“We both have access to this property,” he said. “What made you think anyone had the right to stop me?”

His gaze flicked to me. Not pity. Something darker. Possession. Fury. A silent vow.

Then his eyes dropped—slowly—to the red welts striping my arms. My split lip. The torn neckline of my dress. And when he spoke again, it was barely a whisper.

“You hit her,” he said.

His voice wasn’t raised. It didn’t need to be.

But the silence after was loud—like a guillotine waiting to drop.

“Wrong move, brother.”

Luca’s fingers brushed the butt of his gun.

Cassian didn't move.

But tension coiled in the room like a drawn wire.

Heat surged beneath my skin.

He came for me. Even after I broke his rule. Even when I didn’t deserve it—He still came. And I didn’t know if that terrified me more than being left behind.

Chapter 13

CHARLOTTE

Luca reached for his weapon—but he never had the chance.

Cassian moved with inhuman speed, shadows blurring around him. In one swift, fluid motion, he struck Luca’s wrist hard enough to knock the pistol loose. It clattered to the floor with a metallic thud. Luca staggered, caught completely off guard, his expression flickering from arrogance to stunned disbelief.

“Are you going to fight me over a woman?” he sneered, lips curling in mockery, trying to mask the tremor of fear beneath it.

Cassian didn’t blink. His face was carved from stone. His voice dropped low—lethal. “I don’t fight over women.”

A beat of silence.

“I kill for mine.”

The tension cracked like thunder.

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