Chapter 5.

Cassandria POV.

I spent the day alone. Andros left a text on my phone telling me he had to go and do some work and Lola went to her apartment. So I have the house to myself. I guess he knew I needed my space after what happened last night.

So here I am, sitting in my sweats, his hoodie with the hood up obscuring my face, with the curtains closed, wrapped in a blanket surrounded by snacks and bottles of soda. I ordered a pizza and it should be here soon. I shut my phone off after I read his text message and ignored the door.

Now I’m binging my shows as I dig into my ice cream. Yes, I am not ready to face the world after what happened last night. The door bell rings and I groan.

“Pizza for miss Bristol-Romano.” I sigh and grab the remote from under the blanket, and pause the show as I shuffle to the door. I know I look like death warmed up. But I don’t care. I open the door and take the box and bag and thank him as I close the door and lock it again.

Moving back to the sofa and the safety of my blanket. I open the pizza box and smile at the cheesy goodness. I un-pause my show and eat my pizza. Yes, I’m a pig and I don’t give a fuck. Hell, I’m out of fucks to give at this point.

The door bell rings again, and I ignore it. When the front door opens and I side eye who it is that has entered my pity party, uninvited I must say.

“Well, you look beautiful.” I turn my head and glare at him.

“Thanks.” I turn my head back to the TV as he sighs and walks closer to the sofa and sits down, reaching for the snacks and I grab the bag of food and open it and take out my fries and start to eat them. Yes, I could put those competitive eaters to shame with the amount I can eat.

“Bloody hell, Cass, you eat anymore and you will slip into a food coma and die.” He says, chuckling, but I just keep eating.

“Doesn’t sound so bad. At least I will die, full, content and with a grin on my face.” I say with a shrug before taking another five and stuff them into my open mouth, and he chuckles as he reaches for my fries.

“Hey, get your own.” I snap as I slap his hand away.

“Ok, Joey, calm down. Cass, look, this is not healthy.” I turn to face him and he looks at me.

“Tell me hulk. Why are you here?” I ask him, and he smiles sadly at me. Oh, great, he knows what happened. Of course he does. The chances are every fucker in the world knows what I did last night.

“You need a friend, Cass. I know I don’t look like it, but I am. I’m your friend. So if you want to talk, I’ll listen. If not, then that’s fine. We can sit here and watch this shit and eat even more shit. How does that sound?” he says and I sigh as I bite the inside of my cheek and turn to face the screen again, wiping the stray tear away. We settle in to comfortable silence.

A few hours in and we are arguing about what to watch next. Hell hulk has even removed his suit jacket, tie, and shoes. He is cool to be around, even if he is a grump, but he is my protector, so he is forgiven.

“Thank you Tony. I thought I needed to be on my own, but you proved me wrong. You’re an alright guy.” I say as I bump his shoulder with mine.

“Just alright? Well, I’m offended. I’m so much cooler than Andros.” He says and I chuckle.

“Keep telling yourself that, snowflake. I’m not ready to talk about what happened. I don’t think I ever will. Last night, I lost it and I snapped. It scared me. I didn’t know what I was doing. I could have really hurt her.” I say as I choke and my voice cracks.

“Hey Cass, look at me. No one blames you for what happened. To be honest, everyone is happy you put that entitled little bitch in her place. You have nothing to worry about. She said what she said, and you defended yourself.” I run a hand through my hair as he pulls me to his side, and I let him. I feel comfortable with Tony.

He hugs me, and we just sit like that watching TV.

“Matteo wants you to go to his house tomorrow. He is having a family get together for all the people in the community and their families. We do it every so often. He also understands if you don’t want to go. It would be good for you to meet other people, Cass. I will be there and so will Lola and Andros. You need to break out of this shell. So will you come?” he says to me and I sit up and look at him. Can I do that? Can I show my face after everything I did last night?

“I will think about it.” I say, and he winks at me with a smile on his face.

“Well, that’s better than a flat out no. It starts at one in the afternoon. There is no pressure.” He says and we sit back in silence, watching TV until I begin to fall asleep when I realise something.

“Oh my god, Tony. You have just smiled!” I say as I laugh, and he narrows his eyes at me.

“Shut up. I do smile, you know. It’s rare, but it does happen. Now shush, we are getting to a good part.” He says, and I chuckle as I snuggle back into his side.

I wake up on the sofa, and the house is quiet. Tony has no doubt gone home. Andros, I think, is still out. I’m fine with it. I stretch and move to sit up. Hearing a crunch, I look at what I was lying on. Great. A burst packet of Cheetos. I reach up and dust the crumbs from the side of my face and pull a couple from my hair.

Ok, that is disgusting. I stand up and begin the cleanup of the living room. Once all the empty packets and bottles are in the bin. I grab the vacuum cleaner and get to work to clean the living room and kitchen. After an hour or so, the living room was back to what it was and so was the kitchen.

I open the back patio doors to let in some fresh air and make a coffee. I grab my phone and turn it on to be inundated with messages and missed calls from Andros, Lola, tony and a number I don’t recognise. I ignore them as I rest my head against the cold marble countertop as the front door opens and in walks Andros.

“So you’re alive then?” I turn my face and give him the finger, and he chuckles as I sit up and finish my coffee.

“It would appear so. Why are you home?” I ask, and he moves closer to me and kisses me, but then makes a face of disgust.

“When did you last shower?” he asks, and I sniff myself through the hoodie top. Wow! If I was still hungover, I would gag and no doubt throw up. The smell of stale alcohol, sweat and grease is enough to knock me out! Vile!

“Erm, Friday.” I say with a wince, and he shakes his head.

“Today is Sunday, you dirty bitch. Get your ass upstairs in that shower and be ready in half an hour, Cass. No argument.” I groan and bang my head against the countertop and he chuckles as he scoops me up and I shriek as I wrap my arms around his neck.

“Andros, put me down, you big buffoon.” I say as he takes the stairs to my room and dumps me on the bed and I bounce as he turns and walks into my bathroom and turns the shower on.

“Move your ass. Half an hour Cassandria. Or I will throw your stinking ass in the pool.” He says, and I glare at him. He leaves the room, closing the door behind him. Fine, fine. I need a shower anyway.

I strip out of the hoodie and sweats and dump them in the laundry hamper before stepping into the shower and I scream.

“ANDROS, ANYONE TELL YOU, YOU ARE A GRADE A ASSHOLE!” I shout as I adjust to the temperature. Fucker trying to kill me with ice cold water. I quickly wash, shave my legs, and shampoo the Cheetos out of my hair. Once I’m done, I wrap a pale grey, fluffy towel around my body and one wrapped around my wet hair. I brush my teeth and enter my bedroom to see a white sundress on the bed.

He knocks on my door, and I move towards it and open it.

“Wear a bikini as well. It’s a pool party.” He says and I slam the door in his face as he laughs as he walks away. Twat waffle.

I move back and grab a bikini and throw it on. Throwing the sundress on over it. I put my hair up into a messy bun and grab my wedge sandals as I walk out of the room feeling human again and make my way downstairs.

Ok I can do this. It’s just a family event. I can sit next to Lola and sunbathe. No big deal, you’ve got this, Cass.

Andros is leaning by the front door in his shorts and t-shirt with his sunglasses on his head. I walk past him and open the door. I step out and the sun blinds me. I turn around to grab my sunglasses, but he already has them in his hand.

“Come on.” I take them and put them on and follow him down the path as we walk towards his SUV. I climb in and he drives us to Matteo’s house.

We pull up to a gate and wait for it to open. I watch as we drive up the long driveway, trees, and lots of greenery line the driveway and there is a fountain in the middle. My eyes widen and my jaw hangs open. Ok, I take it back. It is not a house. It’s a damn mansion.

Andros parks the SUV by the front door. I open the door and step down.

“You ready, little one?” he takes my hand in his as I look up and back at my brother and nod my head. Here goes.