Five

CHAPTER 5

Antonio and Cassandra looked at each other. The atmosphere turned awkward in one second. Antonio mumbled, while Cassandra forced a smile while pushing Antonio's body away from hers. Something down there urgently wanted to be satisfied, but hearing that in reality Cassandra was still a virgin, also sounded very confusing to the man's ears.

Fortuna seemed to be on Cassandra's side. The ringing of a cell phone from inside the bag broke the silence between the two of them. Cassandra pointed at the phone from a distance, then shouted. “I have to take a call!”

But Antonio did not let Cassandra go easily. One of Antonio's hands held Cassandra, making Cassandra turn around and display a panicked expression on her beautiful face. “Where do you think you're going?”

"I have to take that call. It's an important call!” It was just Cassandra's excuse to get free, but Antonio furrowed his brow curiously.

“You think that call is more important than our sex tonight?”

“I'll be back,” Cassandra said in a quieter voice, she was getting worried and scared.

And her worry grew even more when she saw the name on her phone screen. Alexander. A familiar man. A friend from the police department.

“What the hell?!” Cassandra cursed inwardly.

Cassandra squeezed her cell phone quickly as Antonio approached. “Who called you and interrupted us?”

Cassandra hesitated for a moment, her mind racing for an explanation. “It's... it's just my mom,” she stammered, trying to keep her voice steady. "I really need to take this. Please give me a minute."

Antonio's eyes narrowed, but he released his grip, letting Cassandra get off the bed and grab her cell phone. He hurried to the corner of the room, his heart pounding as Cassandra pretended to pick up the call to prevent their sex from happening that day.

"What?! Your pigs got poisoned?!” It was a lie, Cassandra just made it up.

She peeked at Antonio who was sitting on the side of the bed with a curious face, and Cassandra chose to continue her acting there.

"Okay, Mom. I'll be here soon."

Antonio raised one eyebrow, looking impatient with the situation. "Poisoned pigs? Seriously, Cassandra? You could have come up with a better excuse. “Cassandra forced a laugh, hoping to ease the tension. “Yeah, my mom's farm is always full of surprises.”

Antonio sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "Alright. Go take care of your... pigs. But we'll continue later.” Cassandra nodded quickly, grateful for this temporary escape. She grabbed her things and headed for the door. As she left, she could feel Antonio's eyes on her back, a mixture of frustration and confusion.Once she was outside, Cassandra dialed Alexander's number. Her hands trembled as she brought the phone to her ear, the cool night air helping to calm her racing heart. “Alexander,” she said once she picked up. “What's going on?”"Cassandra, we need to talk. It's important,” Alexander replied. “Can you meet me at the station?”“What is it?” asked Cassandra, her anxiety growing. “I can't talk about it over the phone. Come here as soon as you can."

“Alright, I'll be right with you.”

After Cassandra hung up the call, she remembered something very important: the gun she was hiding.

"Shit! What bad luck!"

Cassandra patted the steering wheel before she finally got out of the car to secure the gun she was hiding. She hid behind some bushes, observing the two bodyguards who seemed to be talking in front of the door, before they both finally left. This was good luck for Cassandra, she had to go back and the universe had already given her a way out.

She ran inside, sneaking around, hoping Antonio wouldn't find her trying to get back into the mansion this way.

Cassandra's eyes found Antonio on the phone with someone in the living room, he seemed busy and had his back to her and this was a good opportunity. Cassandra returned to the room, retrieved the gun she had hidden and put it in her bag. But when she turned around, she couldn't mask her surprise there.

“Argh!”

“What are you doing here, Ms. Baker?”

Antonio's presence completely shocked Cassandra. She clutched her chest like she was going to have a heart attack from that moment. But within a second, Cassandra regained her breath and acted normally.

“Um, I dropped my pork medicine here.”

Antonio's eyebrows furrowed. "Pig medicine? Do you carry it with you everywhere you go?"

"Yep. And it's very important." Cassandra smiled awkwardly, she ran past Antonio and shouted, “See you soon, Mr. Franches!”

“Miss Baker!”

Antonio ran after Cassandra, but the girl seemed to have super speed. She disappeared from Antonio's sight in a second. Antonio's appearance at the door made the two bodyguards who were resting run over to Antonio.

“What are you looking for, Mr. Franches?”

“Did you see the woman who came here?”

One of them mumbled, then answered hesitantly. “Did she do something bad to you?”

“No, I just thought she was still here.”

One of the bodyguards replied, “What if we both go after that woman now, sir?”

But Antonio made a wise decision. Antonio, who felt that going after Cassandra at that moment would only lead to more questions that he was not ready to answer, ignored the suggestion of the bodyguards. "No, let her go. It's not important."

The guards exchanged confused glances, but they nodded and returned to their posts, leaving Antonio alone in the room. Antonio went inside his manison and let the bodyguards get back to their work.

Meanwhile at the station, Cassandra had just parked her car. They met near the Metro bridge, Cassandra and Alexander. Alexander immediately knocked on Cassandra's window and

Cassandra rolled down her window, and Alexander's worried face appeared. “What happened?” he asked, his voice barely able to hide the tension.

Alexander looked around, then approached. "You need to come with me. There's something big going on, and you're involved."

Cassandra's heart skipped a beat. “What do you mean?”

“It's about a case we're working on,” he said, lowering his voice. “We found something that changes everything.”

Cassandra nodded, her mind racing. “Alright, let's go.”

She followed Alexander into the station, her mind torn between anxiety and curiosity. They walked to a secluded conference room where Detective Martinez was waiting for them, his expression serious.

“Detective Martinez,” Cassandra greeted, her voice more steady than she felt.

Martinez nodded. "Cassandra, thank you for coming. We have a situation that requires your immediate attention."

He pointed to a table filled with photographs, documents, and a laptop displaying surveillance footage. Cassandra's eyes widened as she looked at the images - scenes of violence, familiar faces, and one particularly gruesome photo, that of Antonio.

“Antonio?” she whispered, disbelief lacing her voice.

“Yes,” Martinez agreed. "We've been tracking his activities for months. He's more dangerous than we thought."

Cassandra's mind was reeling. The man she had just left behind was involved in something far darker than she had imagined. “What do you want me to do?”