I stare at the front door as the knocking continues. Nobody has answered the door so far, no one is even in sight and the person knocking is definitely not going to give up anytime soon.
Do I like answer the door? I mean...it's not my house but it's not like anyone else is around to make the decision.
Would the polite thing be to open the door or to not open the door? What if it's someone we're purposefully ignoring? What if it's a murderer? Oh damn. Wait, most people in this house are murders. I probably should be more cautious of what I do around here.
To open the door or to not open the door, that's the question.
Blaine has guards so whoever's knocking must not be dangerous or at the very least is authorised to be here.
To be honest I just want the knocking to stop.
I slowly edge closer to the door, giving just a little extra time for someone to come and stop me.
I unlock the door and as soon as it's cracked open an inch it flies open and a flash of long brunette hair quickly strides past me.
I speed walk behind this woman on a mission before realising who the set of brunette hair belongs to and stopping in my tracks.
"Mariana?" I ask. At the sound of my voice she immediately spins around.
"Cassie?" She says clearly confused. "What are you doing here?"
"It's a long story, probably best for another day. What are you doing here? You sounded like you were going to break the door down."
"Is Jackson here?" She asks about her boyfriend and Blaine's cousin.
"I haven't seen him but it is a big house." I state.
"Mariana." A new voice says.
"Blaine." Mariana says turning around to look at him. "Is Jackson here?" She asks.
"No, why would he be?" Blaine says.
"Because he told me he was coming round to see you."
"Oh, right." He says, clearly lying which begs the question where is Jackson?
♡♡♡
Blaine's POV:
"Oh, right." I say trying to cover for him. He could've given me a heads up that he was going today.
"So where is he?" Mariana asks slowly, not believing him either.
"He's cheating on you." I say seriously, no amusement in my tone. We both know she's not dumb enough to fall for that one I'm just buying time to come up with a better excuse.
I'm normally good with lying on the spot; I work best under pressure. But when one of the only people you class as a friend, a cousin that's more like a brother and the only family member you care about, wants you to cover for him while he gets a ring to propose to the only girl he's ever had eyes for, it's a different kind of pressure.
"Jackson?" She says disbelievingly. "We are talking about the same Jackson, right? Cause there's absolutely no way....which means you're trying to cover something up. Out with it, where is he?" She says with not even a single doubt in her mind, loyal and smart.
"Come with me." I say pulling her down the hall and away from Cassandra.
"What?" She says when we stop walking.
"Listen he didn't want me to tell you this because he's embarrassed but he's having problems down..." I trail off looking down.
She gasps.
It's a load of shit, of course but it's a mess for Jackson to solve, it's not my problem any more. I've done my part.
After her many questions, mainly consisting of asking if he's ok, she walks back the way she came probably going to see Cassandra.
I pull out my phone and send Jackson a text, a heads up which is a luxury that I didn't receive.
Me: Your girlfriend's at my house
and she knows your not here.
Jackson: Rhi is at your house?
Jackson: Oh shit.
Jackson: She knew I was hiding something and now she's probably worked it out, what the fuck do I do?
Me: She still doesn't know, I covered for you.
Jackson: and you couldn't have started with that?
Jackson: I'm getting strange looks in the ring store because I was freaking out.
♡♡♡
Cassie's POV:
"Cassie." I hear Mariana's voice from behind me. She walks and sits on the opposite sofa.
When Blaine walked off with her I chose to stay here so she knew where I was and I wanted to stay somewhat nearby incase he tried anything.
"I don't know the reason you're here for." She starts. "But I know it can't be good. Just say the word and I'll help you."
I hesitate before speaking. "I'm good."
She nods. "Ok....but if you ever need help for anything I'm here."
"I know and I'm here for you too."
"I heard about the destruction at Castle. What happened?" She asks.
"That's why she's here." I hear Blaine's smooth voice saying as he walks into the room. "I'm helping her with construction work." Realy? A smile appears on my face.
"For a mafia boss you're a terrible liar." She says, crossing her arms and sitting back in her seat. My eyes widen. I knew that she knew something but I didn't know she knew all of it.
"See that's a face of someone who already knew." Mariana says motioning towards me.
"And what if she hadn't, little miss detective?" He says glaring at her.
"Never pegged you as the type to dwell on the past." I say and his hard gaze snaps to me.
It's better aimed at me than her.
All of a sudden the front door opens and Jackson quickly comes into view.
"Cassandra, leave." Blaine says.
"And what if I don't want to?" I say.
"Cassie?" Jackson says in confusion. He's late to the party.
"Leave." Blaine says the one word again. I stare into his eyes that hold no warmth and decide to just do as he says.
With a roll of my eyes, that I make sure he sees, I get up and start to leave the room.
"Bye." I hear Jackson shout. I turn around and give him a small wave while backing out of the room.
♡♡♡
Blaine's POV:
"Blaine told me you were cheating on me." Mariana says. Great way to start a conversation, throw me right under the moving bus.
"He what?" Jackson says shocked.
"I know it's not that so why don't you tell me what it is." She says, trying to catch us out.
"She knows about your problem." I say looking towards his dick. He's confused so he looks down and realisation of what I'm insinuating strikes on his face.
"You're kidding me right, you didn't seriously tell her that?" He asks.
"So it's true? Jackson, you don't have to be embarrassed." She says.
"I assure you I don't have any kind of problem. Unless you count that idiot cousin of mine." He says.
"è il tuo modo di dire grazie?" (Is that your way of saying thank you?)
"Questo merita un vaffanculo, non un grazie." (This deserves a fuck you not a thank you.) He says. Mariana who's confused looks between the two of us. "He's the one with the problem, he didn't want me to tell you." He falsely claims.
"Fucking liar."
"Am not." He replies.
"Yes, you are."
"No, I'm not."
"Ok, fine he was planning a date." I say, acctually helping him out this time. The back and forth would've gone on all day if I hadn't have put an end to it.
He huffs, playing along. "It was meant to be a suprise."
"A date?" She says sceptically.
"No." Jackson says rubbing the back of his neck to help his act. "Ok, fine yes but it's still a surprise so pretend not to know."
"You're acting weird, are you sure you're ok?" She asks him.
"I'm great, just nervous for the art gallery in Paris." I don't let a smirk appear on my lips, that would ruin the acctual suprise and I'm not that mean.
♡♡♡
Cassie's POV:
"Ok, so what do we do?" Franciso asks leaning forward against the kitchen counter, his hands clasped together.
"Well you need to get the ingredients out for a start." I say.
"What ingredients?" He asks.
"You wanted to make cakes so....cake ingredients."
"Do I look like a fucking akinator to you?"
I chuckle, a big smile involuntary appearing on my face at the fact of him doing something so normal. "You played the akinator game?"
"And that's hilarious because..?"
Still laughing I say "I don't know I just can't picture it."
Francisco came to me asking me to teach him how to make my cupcakes and so here we are.
"So what ingredients do we need?" He asks.
"You seriously don't know?"
"I've never made cakes before." He says and I gasp.
"You'll need butter, caster sugar, self raising flour, eggs, a splash of milk and I like to add a bit of vanilla extract but I don't know if you have that here."
He looks baffled. "Was I meant to write all that down because I don't remember half the things you just said."
I start opening cupboards to find the ingredients and place them one at a time infront of Fransisco.
"So how do you know Blaine?" He asks as I'm searching for ingredients.
I grab the milk out of the fridge and turn to look at him.
I'm meant to be the one asking questions.
"How about this." I say placing the milk on the top. "You ask me a question and in return I ask you one."
"Fine, but I'm allowed to decline the question."
"Only with good reason." I say. "Deal?"
"Ok, first question, how do you know Blaine?"
"Family friend." I say vaguely.
"Oh yeah? What are his parents names?"
"That's a second question, it's my turn." I grab a piece of paper from the kitchen table and scribble down the measurements and some basic instructions for him so we can get to work. "How long have you been in this whole mafia thing?"
"Technically since I was a kid." He states.
"What? A kid?" I say shocked.
"Ah, ah. That's a second question. What are his parents names?" He asks.
"Edward and Andrea." I answer as we continue measuring the ingredients. I'm good at remembering names, it's a good skill to have especially in situations like this. "Elaborate on the kid thing."
"My parents were in Edward and Andrea's mafia before they had me so like Blaine, this is what I grew up with."
"So you grew up with Blaine?"
"Technically that's another question but yes." Ok, definitely need to watch what I say about Blaine's family infront of him. "How long have you known Blaine's family?"
"I don't know the exact amount of time but multiple years." I state. If I don't give specifics I'm less likely to be caught out. "How close are you with Blaine and his family?"
"I'm extremly close with Blaine, his family not so much any more. You claim to know his family, I want you to prove it."
"What? How?"
"Show me a contact on your phone of one of his family members other than Blaine himself." He says. For a second I think I've been caught out but relief floods my body when I realise this is acctually something I can do. I take out my phone and scroll through my contacts.
I'm so lucky that he phrased the question like that and lucky to have a certain blonde haired friend that will further prove my act.
He'll be expecting that if I do manage to provide evidence it'll be one of his parents not his cousin.
I click on Jackson's contact and turn it around so he can see.
He looks deep in thought for a moment. "You know Jackson?" His eyes flick to mine.
"Yes. Now it's my turn." I say clicking the power button before putting it back in my pocket. "Do you work for Blaine because you want to or do you feel obliged to?" Is he resentful towards Blaine and trying to get revenge?
"Because I want to." He says simply.
"Come on, you can give me more than that."
He sighs. "Growing up in the mafia world is all I know, it is what I'm trained to do. Before Blaine was in charge I wanted to leave but it wasn't an option, I don't anymore."
"Why?"
"Because Blaine's a good leader, better than his parents. As you know, they're old school, very stuck in their ways which isn't a good leader quality. Sometimes change is good, it's needed to move forward. Mistakes are to be learned from, not repeated. A lot of people here don't know how lucky they are to have not been under their leadership."
"Why weren't they under their leadership? Did Blaine recruit all new people?"
"I think you've gotten more than enough information for your one question. Did you know about Blaine's family mafia before he brought you back here?"
I shake my head. "No."
"The answer to your question is when Blaine stepped up at the age of 18 a lot of people weren't happy about it, especially the older ones who had been here a long time." Noted. "He gathered everyone, told us if we weren't loyal to him then to leave. Eventually one man dared to leave and he let him go, a few others followed. He got backlash for just letting like half of the high up members go, he didn't seem bothered by it. He recruited more people in place of the old. Blaine doesn't care what other people think, a lot of the people he recruited had a bad reputation and he was warned off but he didn't let that deter him."
"But why did the people leave?"
"Some, like me, were forced into this life and usually death is the only way out so they jumped at the opportunity. Some didn't trust Blaine. Some, I guess, were jealous that he got put in such a high position at such a young age." He says.
"Why didn't you leave?"
"Like I said, the only reason I wanted to leave was because Edward and Andrea were in charge, Blaine was the change we needed. He's the right amount of calm, calculated and ruthless. He's open to suggestions but overall he makes the final decision and if he feels undermined it won't end well." He says. "This is meant to be a two sided game, so now it's my turn." We put the cakes in the oven. Leaning against the counter, he continues. "Blaine hasn't mentioned you before and you two don't seem all that close, what's the story behind that?"
"There's not much to it we just don't really get along. He's too arrogant and moody."
He chuckles. "I guess that's right but those aren't his only qualities."
"You said that a lot of the higher up members left, how is it decided who's higher up?"
"You have to prove you're worthy."
"How?" I ask and he raises an eyebrow.
"Why? Trying to impress someone?" He asks.
"No I- who would I be trying to impress?"
"Blaine."
"Why would I want to impress him?"
He shrugs.
"The higher up people are more trusted and get more serious jobs, they normally know more then the others do and are given a higher rank." I'll have to ask Blaine who these higher members are. While they may be more loyal, they know more information so if one of them is the mole they could be way more dangerous then we originally thought.
"Are you one of these higher people?"
"Yes. But you can't be so what I don't know is why you're alowed to eat with us all?" He tilts his head, studying me. So all the higher up members eat together. "Do you have some type of Enemies with benefits thing going on?"
My eyes practically bulge out of my head. "What the fuck? No. Ew." Ok, the ew was taking it a bit too far, he is kinda fine but his personality needs some serious work. "I only eat with you all because Blaine's trying to piss me off and I refuse to give him the satisfaction."
"Mhm." He hums.
"I'm serious. I have more self respect than that."
"I'm agreeing with you." He says putting his hands up in surrender.
"And yet it feels like you aren't."
"Watcha cooking?" Nathan says as he strolls in the kitchen.
"Oh shit the cakes." I say racing to the oven.
"Oh, I assumed they were meant to still be in." Francisco, the cupcake expert, says.
This is why you need to be in the zone to bake properly.
I grab the oven gloves and as I open the oven the steam flows out. I cough slightly at the smoke and waft the air infront of me before grabbing the cupcake tray.
Even through the oven gloves I start to feel the heat of the tray so drop it on the top before it burns my hand.
The fire alarm starts blaring as we stand and look at the burnt cakes.
"I'm guessing it's not meant to look like that." Nathan says loudly over the alarm.
Blaine comes storming into the room.
He eyes the crispy cakes. "Is that the reason the fire alarm is going off?" He says loudly pointing at the monstrosity of a cake.
Blaine looks to me for an answer. "Don't look at me, it's Francisco's fault." I say, the fire alarm still sounding.
He shifts his focus to Francisco.
"How is it my fault? You're the chef I'm just the assistant."
"Because you were aware of the amount of time the cakes had been in the oven, I'd forgotten."
"I've never made cakes before, for all I know they could need days to cook."
"It's not fruitcake."
"You're a fruitcake if you think I know that."
♡♡♡
A/n not much Cassine (the ship name I just came up with) in this chapter but I wanted to do a bit of a crossover.
Also, if you didn't know the term Fruitcake can also mean a crazy person if you didn't understand Francisco's last line.
Don't forget to vote if you liked this chapter :)