"Hey! Don't rough handle the lady," Cassidy scolded his men as they walked into his room with Brandy and pushed her to the floor.
Brandy met the gaze of the man who was seated on a chair with a cigar in one hand. The man who was in his late thirties was dressed in a pristine white suit and he looked clean and handsome as she had always remembered him. Unlike the other lords, no one would easily guess his line of business judging by the way he dressed and carried himself.
"What do you want?" Brandy asked, feeling relieved and more confident now that she knew who she was facing. She was glad to know that of all the cruel lords of the cartel, it was Cassidy who had gotten her and not the others. Although he could be heartless, she knew that he had a thing for her. He was the first man Jero had sold her to after all. The one who had deflowered her.
"That is no way to greet your first love, is it?" He asked with a fond smile as he stood up from where he was seated and went to squat in front of her.
"Forcing yourself on someone doesn't exactly make you their first love, does it? What do you want?" She asked dryly and he smiled.
Seeing how they were on a yacht, she could only pray that Matt would be able to do something before they sailed. She did not doubt that the other lords were gathered wherever he was taking her to and that he had probably come to get information from her to save her from whatever the other lords planned to do to get what they wanted from her.
Cassidy clicked his tongue in disapproval, "Don't tell me you don't know what I want. Where is your sister and Jero's little boy?" He asked calmly.
"They left the country. Vacationing."
"They did? Any of you got her phone?" Cassidy asked, his eyes moving to the men who were standing by the door, and one of them who was with Brandy's handbag fished out the phone from her handbag and stepped forward as he handed it to Cassidy, but he didn't take the phone.
"Perfect. Now go through her text messages and her contact list for her sister's number, I'm sure her sister will come back from wherever she traveled to the moment she realizes that her sister is going to die because of her," Cassidy said with a wide smile which was directed at Brandy.
The man who was holding the phone looked at her, "Unlock it," he ordered Brandy who kept a straight face like she wasn't the one he was referring to.
Cassidy took the phone from the guy and held it out to Brandy, "Please unlock it. We don't want to hurt you. Personally I don't want to hurt you. I'd rather give you pleasure. But you have to cooperate with me," he said in a soft tone as he reached out to touch her hair, "You have gotten even prettier," he said with a note of lust in his tone.
"Why do you want my sister? You should at least tell me that before I unlock the phone. She did nothing wrong. We left after Jero was arrested, and we have stayed out of your way the whole time. Why are you still after us?" Brandy asked with a straight face trying to stall while hoping that Matt was doing all he could to get her help and get her out of there really quickly.
Cassidy looked at her for a moment and then he clicked his tongue, "We want Jero. To get him, we need your sister and the little boy. Now open it," he ordered.
"But Jero is still in jail. If you want him, go and get him there," Brandy said, pretending not to know that Jero had escaped.
Cassidy narrowed his sharp blue eyes and looked into her eyes as if he was trying to determine if she was really not aware that Jero had escaped from prison or was just trying to fool him.
"Don't make me force you, Andy. As you must know by now, I like it rough. Unlock the phone," he threatened as the yacht lurched slightly, letting Brandy know that they had sailed, and her time had started counting.
Brandy swallowed as she extended her forefinger to the phone and unlocked it with her fingerprint.
"Good girl," Cassidy said as he handed the phone to one of his men. "Find whatever you can get from it, and give her sister a call. I'm sure her sister will be more than willing to save her life."
Brandy kept staring at him since it was obvious that he thought she was foolish. She couldn't understand how the idiot would think that she would be stupid enough to save her sister's contact number with her name and then bring her phone along with her to such a place, unless of course because he truly believed that she didn't know anything.
"While we wait for the call, why don't we catch up? I paid double for your services after all," Cassidy said with a grin as he stood up and went to sit on his bed.
"You know I still don't like you, right?" Brandy asked with a scowl, and he chuckled good-naturedly.
"That is even more reason why I want you. I was surprised and disappointed to hear that you chose this line of business though. You used to be so shy about being naked," Cassidy said eyeing her with curiosity.
"When you are forced to undress long enough, you get the hang of it. At least I'm doing it out of my free will now," Brandy said with a smirk, and Cassidy's eyes hardened.
"You could have easily agreed to be my woman and saved yourself this stress. I would have protected you and your sister from things like this," Cassidy said, and Brandy rolled her eyes.
"Yeah, thanks. I'm not interested in being your whore."
"Even if it means having a good life and saving your sister's life?" Cassidy asked, and watched in fascination as something flickered in Brandy's eyes.
"Boss, the phone is clean, and her sister's line is not going through," The man announced as he handed the phone to Cassidy who took it from him and waved him off.
"Excuse us. I want to be alone with her," Cassidy said dismissively, and all the men left leaving him alone with her.
"Get off the floor. You can have the chair," Cassidy said, not liking the picture of her on the floor.
"Why are you doing this?" Brandy asked as she stood up and went to sit on the chair.
"Doing what?" He asked innocently.
"Why are you here?"
"Because I missed you. Do you want to know how I found you?" Cassidy asked, wriggling his brows.
"A private investigator?" She attempted.
"Not my style."
"You are not here because of the cartel?" Brandy asked in confusion since she thought that it was the private investigator who had told them where she worked.
"Now you're curious. I love that," Cassidy drawled.
"What game are you playing, Cas?" Brandy asked, making his lips curve.
"I've missed hearing you call me that, especially when you're writhing under me in passion. Wanting me and not wanting me at the same time. My heart just fluttered in my chest at the memory," Cassidy said as he raised his hand to pat the left side of his chest.
"I didn't know you had a heart," Brandy said, ignoring the rest things he had said.
"You're right, though. I'm just here to get you. Although the men don't know that yet," Cassidy said, making Brandy narrow her eyes.
"Then why was my partner killed?" Brandy asked, and he shrugged.
"Unfortunately she was only needed to convince you to come here. The moment you arrived here her usefulness expired."
"That was a human being!" Brandy hissed at him.
"Sorry. I will try to be more considerate towards others in the future. So tell me what I need to know."
"If you want Jero..."
"I don't want Jero. The cartel wants Jero, I want you," Cassidy said, his blue eyes watching her closely.
Brandy sighed, "A few minutes ago you said..."
"A few minutes ago I said WE want Jero not that I wanted him. And the men were in the room at the time so I had to say what they wanted to hear," Cassidy pointed out.
"So if you don't want Jero, why do you want to know where my sister is?" Brandy asked even more confused now.
"I can't tell you that... At least not yet," Cassidy added with a smile when gunshots sounded outside the door.
Believing that it was the people that had come to rescue her, Brandy decided to ask a question that was bugging her before she would leave Cassidy, "So how did you find me if it wasn't a private investigator?" Brandy asked, unable to contain her curiosity.
"Bill. I found out that you were searching for Bill. So I guess you must have been in touch with the lawyer girl who must have told you that Bill disappeared after contacting her. Do you see how much I know? But that's not how I got to know about your whereabouts," Cassidy asked with a grin that revealed his perfect dentition.
"Did you kill Bill?" Brandy asked with a concerned frown. She had only tried to find Bill because she didn't want Candy to take the risk of getting caught.
"What do you think I am? A bloodthirsty monster? I didn't kill him. I only sent him to a safe location, but I have my eyes on his business."
"So how did you know?" Brandy asked again, and the adjoining door opened and Jero walked in.
"I told him where to find you."
"Jero!" Brandy gasped in horror.
"Have no fear, my love. He won't hurt you. I'm your knight in shining armor after all," Cassidy assured her.
"You're late," Cassidy scolded Jero.
"I'm sorry," Jero apologized with a slight bow, making Brandy look from one man to the other. Although she had always known that Jero did Cassidy's bidding, she didn't understand what was happening.
"What is going on? Where are you taking me?" Brandy asked in confusion.
"If I tell you that, it wouldn't be fun, would it?" Cassidy asked with a smirk as he lit the cigar he had been holding the whole time, and took a puff.
"Where is Candace and my son? Don't tell me she traveled abroad. I know she didn't," Jero said looking at her with worried eyes. An expression she didn't expect to see in him.
Away from the port, in Matt's car, Jade's brows were pulled together, and her eyes were narrowed thoughtfully as she listened to the conversation going on between Brandy, Jero, and Cassidy.
"I think Andy has personal business with the man in the yacht. Do you know who he is?" Matt asked turning to look at Jade.
"I think he is in love with her. Probably an ex. At least we know that he isn't going to hurt her or let Jero hurt her. What I don't understand is how or why Jero is in there," Jade said thoughtfully and pursed her lips.
"If the man is truly keeping your witness safe even after knowing that he wants to snitch, and he is also with Jero without the knowledge of the cartel, that means he is likely the enemy of your enemies," Harry supplied sleepily from the backseat.
"Hm. An ally. Let's find out who the lover boy is," Jade said as she dialed Candace's line.
"Hey! Can you talk?" Jade asked the moment the call connected.
"Yes. Give me a moment," Candace said as she excused herself from the noisy kitchen and went to find a quiet spot.
"What's happening?" Candace asked curiously.
"Everything is okay. Do you know anyone called Cas? Probably your sister's ex?" Jade asked curiously and Candace's brows pulled together.
"The name is Cassidy. Andy never dated him. He is a second-line lord. He took over the family business from his late father who was one of the five founding lords of the cartel," Candace explained.
"Alright. Thanks," Jade said and hung up before Candace could ask any question.
"So what are we going to do? Call the cops?" Matt asked curiously.
"Not yet. Let's listen to them and confirm that he's an ally," Jade said and turned to look at Harry who was now fast asleep.. What a babysitter, she thought with a shake of her head.