A Donor Told the Curvy Maid to Stay in the Kitchen—Then the Crime Boss Pointed at the Grand Piano and Made a Reckless Promise

The ride back to the estate that night was suffocatingly quiet.

Elena sat by the window, watching the city lights blur into dark trees as they traveled north. Cassian sat beside her, staring straight ahead, his posture rigid and cold.

When they finally arrived at the mansion, Cassian walked straight to his library, pouring himself a large glass of straight scotch.

Elena followed him in, closing the door firmly behind her.

"Cassian," she said softly, standing by the leather sofa. "Talk to me."

Cassian took a heavy drink, his back turned to her. "You shouldn't have heard that tonight. I tried to keep you away from the filth of this family."

"Did you kill your father?" Elena asked directly. She didn't ask with anger, or fear, but with a quiet, profound desire to know the man she was coming to love.

Cassian turned around slowly. His dark grey eyes were filled with an ancient, agonizing pain.

"My father was dying of terminal lung cancer," Cassian said, his voice raw. "He was in agony for months. The doctors refused to give him enough morphine because of state regulations. On his last night, he grabbed my arm with what little strength he had left. He wept. He begged me—his son, the boy he had abused his entire life—to end his suffering."

Cassian swallowed hard, his knuckles white around his glass. "I sat by his bed for six hours. And when the pain became too much for him to bear, I disconnected his ventilator and held his hand until his heart stopped beating. I did it out of mercy, Elena. But in the eyes of the law... it was homicide."

Tears welled in Elena's eyes. The monster that Julian had painted was actually a son who had carried a heartbreaking burden alone in the dark to give his dying father peace.

She walked over to him, taking the glass from his hand, and wrapped her arms tightly around his waist, resting her head against his chest.

"You gave him peace, Cassian," Elena whispered, feeling his massive frame tremble slightly as he finally let go of the burden he had carried for three years. "You aren't a murderer. You are a man with a merciful heart."

Cassian wrapped his arms around her, burying his face in her soft hair, holding her as if she were the only anchor keeping him from drowning in the stormy dark sea.

"Julian has the hospital security footage from that night," Cassian confessed against her skin. "He stole it from the administrator's vault. He intends to release it to the police tomorrow morning unless I hand over the company."

"Then we stop him tonight," Elena declared, pulling back to look at him. "Where is Julian staying?"