All Chapters of Mine to Lose: Chapter 21 - Chapter 26

Athena's POVHarold is already waiting for us at the curb. Cassian and I slip into the back seat of the car, and I instruct Harold to take us home.Cassian greets Harold with a polite nod and a “Hello,” before settling next to me. As the car pulls away from the event, a heavy silence fills the space between us. We exchange fleeting, intimate glances, our eyes speaking volumes in the silence.The drive feels like the perfect nature of tranquility amid the chaos of the evening. We sit side by side, our hands brushing occasionally, each touch a silent reassurance. Though we don’t say much, the connection between us is palpable, filling the silence with its own kind of intensity.By the time reached the front of my building I felt so anxious it was hard to breathe, I did my best to climb out of the car without falling on my ass. It was simple enough, though with the compounding factors of the uneven gravel and the starlit darkness—plus the painful clench of my inner muscles—I held on to t

Athena's POVWhen I arrive at Cassian's loft, Hailee looks surprised to see me. “He’s upstairs in his studio,” she says. I head up the stairs and find the door to his studio open, so I don’t need to knock. Cassian doesn’t hear me come in; he’s engrossed in painting with his AirPods on. I could watch him all day—he looks so perfect, so absorbed in his work.I stand there for a few more minutes until he glances up and his face lights up with a deep, genuine smile. The happiness in his eyes makes my heart flutter.“Hey, sorry, I didn’t hear you come in,” he says, setting down his paintbrush and removing his AirPods.“You looked so engrossed, I didn’t want to interrupt,” I reply, pointing at his painting. “What are you working on?”“You’ll see it when I’m done,” he says, his smile widening.Just then, a woman with a thick French accent walks out of the bathroom in a towel that barely covers her. I remember her, she was with him at the auction. My stomach drops and I feel a wave of nausea.

Athena's POVOnce we had driven away, I glanced over at Cassian, who sat beside me, watching me intently. I wanted to apologize for kissing him—we had agreed to be platonic friends, in fact, I had suggested it myself—but I couldn’t bring myself to say anything.“So, do you know why the Covingtons and the Castellanos hate each other?” Cassian broke the silence.“I thought you would know,” I replied. “I tried asking my parents, but they wouldn’t tell me anything.”“I don’t know either,” Cassian said. “It goes back to our great-grandparents, though.”“Yeah, I think so,” I agreed with a nod.“Do you want to find out?” Cassian asked.“Are you kidding? Of course,” I said.“Okay, good. I know where we should look,” Cassian said. He then instructed the driver to take us somewhere.A few minutes later, we were in the Upper East Side, parked at the curb of a grand building. Cassian grabbed the food takeaway bags while the driver opened the door for us.“We can eat as we look,” Cassian said as w