Chapter 139: The sweet temptation of an IOU
"Okay. Get up. I don’t like that you’re on the floor." Cass ordered and Vespertine slowly rose up, sitting back on his thighs. It wasn’t exactly what Cass had in mind, but the look on Vespertine’s face told him that the man was still processing everything he had heard.
Cass waited, watching him for a few moments before he reached for another snack.
Vespertine sat in silence, muling over everything before he finally spoke.
"Do you think...she ever actually liked me?" Oh boy. Now he was going to bring that up? How the hell was Cass supposed to know? He’d never liked anyone in his life. He didn’t know what that felt like, at least romantically. He liked his sister, and his brother-in-law, and that was about it.
There might have been other people in his past, but it had been a long time. They didn’t count anymore.
Cass sighed, sitting back against the couch cushions as he looked at the Vespertine before him. This was a man who was a shell of himself. He was suffering, because of things he found out yesterday, what he had done thus far, and everything in between. He could feel pity for the man, maybe even some empathy, but no sympathy.
The man had put himself here. He hadn’t groveled enough for Cass’ piece of mind, nor was he willing to accept it. Most of it wasn’t his to accept. The more recent shit? Absolutely. He’d done that with Cass, not with Lord Blackburn, but there was some old shit that he had done that Cass couldn’t forgive, for Lord Blackburn’s sake.
"I don’t know, Lord Vespertine. I’m not a mind reader, and I...well, it’s not my place to guess. I suggest that she probably had pure intentions when entering into marriages with you three, but who am I to say? Did you ask her?" Cass asked and watched as Vespertine swallowed, turning his head to the side.
His jaw was tight, his expression complicated and sad, and his hands pressed into his thighs, fists in their own right. The man was pissed and avoiding her. Fair enough. She had lied, and not only that, it was his adoptive sister that she was involved with. There was bound to be a deeper hurt involved.
Cass wouldn’t know that pain, and he couldn’t even imagine it. They were already on rocky ground, well, everyone was on rocky ground with Ava right now. Cass wasn’t sure if Vespertine knew that, but it wasn’t Cass’ job to make him aware of the fact that Lady Fiona and Ava were having a hard time. Cass didn’t even know if they were still together.
That had not been brought up when she had visited him yesterday, and he hadn’t had time to ask.