The first thing she'd done after Cassius and Nico left was to check the room for cameras.
She hadn't forgotten Chris's creepy behavior and it made her sick knowing she'd have to share her remaining time with Cassius with him there.
When she was done inspecting the room she made her way down, again noticing the fancy rails on the stairs and the soft carpet under her feet. Her first instinct was to look for them in the kitchen, where Cassius tended to hang out a lot in the past. When she saw that it was empty she decided to just walk around and explore the house for a bit.
While opening random doors along her way she found a few offices decorated with expensive wood, a bar, a poker room, and a conference room of some sorts. The last one is where the men turned out to be. When she entered only Nico looked up to throw her a smile, which she gladly returned before taking a seat.
"We have to bar the backdoor, I've checked the locks and they aren't good enough. One kick and it's gone," Chris pointed out. She disliked the man so much even his voice annoyed her.
"It counts as an emergency exit, we can't seal it," Cassius replied coolly. For some reason, he looked very on edge, but she didn't quite know why.
"So what do you suggest then?" It was obvious Chris didn't like being told 'no' and she felt a little smug knowing Cassius said it a lot.
"Have it reinforced so it can't be kicked down. Nico, call Garett and tell him to send someone over."
Nico, who'd been silent the whole conversation, sprung up and left the room with a quick 'on it'. She wondered if he'd been silent because he had no authority or because he didn't want to get involved in whatever Chris and Cassius had going on.
Seemingly done with the conversation Chris left the room as well, leaving Cassius alone with Nathalia.
It suddenly felt very awkward, she knew there were cameras pointed at them so she had to act like there was nothing between them. But she also knew he wasn't a very talkative person and she didn't know what to talk about.
"You like the room?" he asked offhandedly while gathering some papers in front of him. She was glad he was the one who broke the silence because it was getting harder and harder to think.
She looked at his hand, which moved all over the table while sorting out the files in front of them. "Yeah, it's gorgeous. Nico said something about it being used for senators and such, right?"
First, he replied with a nod, before maybe realizing he was stopping the conversation that way and answering, "Yeah, high profile cases. Senators among them."
She nodded and watched him finish gathering everything before standing up. "Come on, I'll show you the safe room here."
He gestured for her to leave the room first before taking the lead. Much to her chagrin, he led them up the stairs. Because of the fancy high ceilings in this house, the stairs were surprisingly long and her calves were already starting to cramp up.
Cassius stopped just short of her bedroom and opened the door. She didn't want to admit she was totally ogling his muscles but she did notice the way they strained as he opened to door. The door must have been very heavy if he had to put so much effort in just opening it and she wondered how she would ever do that in a crisis.
She hadn't noticed she was frowning at the door until Cassius spoke up, "If anything happens one of us will get you here, don't worry. Come on."
Stepping inside the room she couldn't help but notice the stench of metal surrounding her. The room was practically a metal cage with no windows. It was bare aside from a table with some water bottles and some chairs. She was pretty sure anyone would get claustrophobic in a space like that. The clang of the door closing made her swirl around in panic. She was relieved to find Cassius still in the room with her with that same passive look on his face as before.
"I'll show you how to open it again, stand here."
It was unusual for him to tell her what to do like that but she didn't mind, he was working after all. She stepped in front of a small number pad and waited for her instructions. She heard him come up behind her before continuing, "It's important that you remember this code. Six, four, one, one, zero, eight. Can you repeat that?"
"Err- six, four, one... one..." she started before thinking of the next number.
"Zero, Eight," he finished for her. "Again."
"Six, four, four--," she started again before getting corrected by Cassius. "Six, four, one, one, zero, eight."
"Right, six, four, one, one... zero? Eight..?" she ended in a questioning tone, not sure if it had been correct.
She gasped when an arm snaked around her waist and Cassius stepped forward, pressing his body into hers in the process. "Hm, good," he whispered lowly. "Again."
After looking around in panic she turned her head to look at him. "wh-what about the cameras?" she whispered, her voice already starting to tremble from anticipation.
"There are no cameras here," he murmured while caressing the skin of her belly from under her shirt. "And the walls are soundproof as well." When she said that last part her face heated up and she almost choked on her words. Not knowing what to say, she just turned around to quickly kiss him. It was meant to be short and sweet but as soon as she let go she got pulled into him again for a rough and passionate kiss that set every inch of her body on fire.
She didn't quite know what came over her when she started pulling at his shirt, but whatever it was, Cassius was into it. Before long, both their shirts were off and the skin contact made the kiss that much more heated. His hands roamed over every inch of her exposed skin while hers found their way into his hair, pulling him even closer.
Goosebumps ran over her arms when he grabbed her thighs and put her down on the table, not letting go of her lips. Her mind got hazy and she couldn't think straight, she wanted him and he was all there was to her world at that moment.
Somewhere in the process, she'd lost her pants as well and Cassius was working on removing his. Anticipation filled every cell of her body and she knew she wanted him, fast. She watched him put on the condom while swallowing thickly at the sight of his large member. Even now, after all the times they'd done it, she felt as if it was going to be too big for her.
He kissed her tenderly while running his hand along her jaw before pulling her forward to the edge of the table. The look in his eyes told her their lovemaking wasn't going to be as tender as his sweet kiss.
And she didn't mind.
The hot stream of the shower cascaded down her body, relaxing her tense muscles. She'd been right, it hadn't been tender. It had been fast and rough and exactly what they both needed.
Six, four, one, one, zero, eight.
She repeated the number in her head again. Cassius had made its importance very clear and she wasn't about to forget it. She just hoped there wouldn't come a time she was going to need it.
Her growling stomach made her realize she'd been in the shower for far too long so she quickly turned it off to get dressed. Once finished she set out to find Cassius again and this time the conference room was the first place she looked. Her hunch turned out to be right because all men were seated and busy with one thing or another.
Nico was the first to notice her. His brown eyes shot up to meet hers while he smiled at her. "Hey, Kat! What took you so long? I was about to go up to see if you were alright."
Images of what she and Cassius had been doing flashed through her mind and she hoped her face wouldn't betray her by turning red. "I was showering, " she answered as confidently as she could before changing the subject as fast as possible. "So, what's for dinner?"
This caught the attention of Chris as well as Cassius because they both looked up from their work. Chris was the first one to respond, and she hated it.
"The kitchen is fully stocked so you can make some steak and mashed potatoes."
She opened her mouth to say something but she quickly closed it after realizing she had no idea how to react to that. She'd never cooked for so many people before! How was she supposed to do that now? Besides, she wasn't familiar with the kitchen and had no idea where to find everything.
"No, have someone bring something over," Cassius said calmly, yet something about his face told her he was annoyed. She was also relieved Cassius didn't seem too keen on having her cook everything as well.
Chris just shrugged, "She can cook, right girl?" When she didn't give him any sort of reaction he just continued. "It's easier if she cooks. Besides, steak and mashed potatoes aren't hard to mess up."
She knew Chris was awful but now she was absolutely cooking on the inside. How dare he try to convince them to have her cook everything for them without even asking her. He even insinuated she was a bad cook!
"What the fuck are you on? She doesn't fucking work for you."
She was lucky Cassius's harsh words weren't aimed at her because if they had been she'd probably burst out crying immediately. Instead, she felt relieved he defended her.
Nico chose this time to speak up as well, after being silent for a while. "Yeah, I don't think it's fair to have her cook for us."
Chris shot them both a glare so deadly even she got scared. "Whatever, do what you want," he gruffly said as he stood up and walked out, almost bumping into her in the process. She was glad this time Cassius was there to defend her against Chris because she wouldn't have known what to do without him.
"So, what are we getting?" Nico asked cheerily, seemingly unaffected by the tense atmosphere in the room. His question was aimed at her more than Cassius but she didn't have an answer ready.
"Um. You can pick," she said after a moment of thought. She was scared she'd pick the wrong thing and make Chris even angrier than he already was. Nico's eyes shifted to Cassius who just shrugged at him, not even bothering with an answer.
"Sweet! Let's get pizza," he suggested. His mood was so contagious she couldn't help but smile along with him.
She nodded and looked at Cassius to see if he agreed as well when she noticed a faint frown on his face. It could mean a whole bunch of things but she couldn't help but wonder if it had been because he was jealous.
Somewhere inside her, she hoped it was, and that he felt angry at the thought of her enjoying being around some guy that wasn't him. She also knew it wasn't a silly thought because of what had happened with Matt. He never outright said it but she knew it had been out of jealousy.
She loved the little things that showed her he cared about her. She loved him.