Squad 6 | COMPLETED

Chapter 43- Cassandra

Cassandra

She sat on her bed, looking across at a single book on Andrew's pillow. She sipped on water, taking deep breaths. No amount of crying and cursing would be helpful. Not even punching something would make her feel better. There was nothing but regret inside her. She had allowed herself to trust again, maybe even more than trust and as expected, they had betrayed her. The worst part wasn't even that she was suffering.

She snapped her head up as the door creaked open. She hadn't heard a knock.

Chase's face poked inside, his eyes searching for her. Maybe she hadn't heard one because there hadn't been one.

She didn't ask him what he wanted and didn't acknowledge his presence, returning to staring at a single stained spot on the wall.

"What was that out there?" he asked.

"You heard," she snapped.

"If that was enough to make me understand, I wouldn't be standing here." He had made his way into the room, keeping his distance.

Cassie moved one foot under her, dangling the other from the edge of the bed.

Chase waited. Truth be told, she had no fight left in her. And he didn't deserve her anger.

"So, what? You'll just give up?" He raised his eyebrows.

"You wouldn't understand."

"Wouldn't I?" he said, his voice strained.

"Well, what am I supposed to do, Chase? I have no team, no friends, no... nothing."

She looked at him, half expecting it him to be laughing at her or tell her she's pathetic. But he had no smile on his face. "Mila's dead," he said with such calmness, it was scary and no doubt fake.

Cassie didn't know Mila well. They trained a few times. Cassie had beat her. She had been there when Chase came to get her from Rome and then again during her first week back. She had kissed Chase in the middle of the hallway. She was threatened by Cassie's presence alone. But from the little she'd seen, Mila made Chase smile in a way Cassie never would again.

He didn't wait for her to say she was sorry, maybe because she never meant to say it. A sorry wouldn't bring her back. He took a seat next to her. He was close enough their thighs were touching and the warmth radiated from his body. He still smelled the same.

Cassie swallowed a lump. Mike and Stella weren't the only ones to break Phi rules with their relationship.

He took in a breath. "It's been hell here without you."

"You seemed alright."

"I'm a good actor."

She nodded, inching slightly closer to him. "I had to leave."

"Well at least you had the privilege to be let go," he said, joining her in inspecting Andrew's aide of the room, not looking at her as he spoke.

"What do you mean?"

"Some of us never got to recite our rights to Snakehead and keep our heads." He gave a half-shrug.

"Well, you were the first person to side with him to bring me back, so I don't see how you'd want to."

"Because if I rebelled and escaped, where would I go? I have no one out there. None of us do."

She had been so busy with her problems, her revenge. When she ran from Phi, all she thought about was getting away to a place where she wouldn't have to look at the same buildings, the same people. But, that's what made Snakehead so powerful. Nobody left Phi, not because they would die trying or because they adored him and his goals, but because they had nowhere to go. They knew no better. It was Phi life or life on the streets. Not everyone would have found their way around the streets, she thought. There were some young children raised at Phi.