"Cassandra"

"Oh hello Jonny. How are you?" Cassandra asked turning to look at her back door. It wasn't really that far and Jonathan's hand was still in a sling so maybe she could make it?

"Don't even think about it" snarling he pushed  her inside, dropped his bag beside the door then kicked it close. He was mad.

"Think about what?"  Deny till you die Cass. He won't hurt you. Jon's your buddy. Except that you shot him with a bullet laced with Cyanide. Damn what were you thinking? He could have died. Nah. You measured it well and Jon's a big boy. He wouldn't have.....

"Running" he interrupted her thoughts taking small steps towards her. They were meant to intimidate her but this was Jonathan. To her he was a big cuddly bear. Angry but still a bear. Bears eat people Cass. That thought made her take a step back unconsciously but realizing what she had done she steeled her spine. Jonathan would pounce on her if he thought she was scared. He would also make her talk and it was too soon to open her mouth.

"What? Why would I run from you? Unless you came here to cash in that favor I owe you from way back. Then I would be forced to run because even though I'm not really with him I still love him. That kind of thing doesn't just go away Jon. He's like the love of my life but I'm like his mistress and I still don't get it. Why are..."

"Cut the bullshit Cassandra. I'm not here to solve your relationship problems"

She faked a hurt expression "I thought we were friends Jon. How could you say that to me?"

"I thought we were friends too Cassandra. How could you shoot me?" he retorted and she laughed.

"Are you crazy? Where did you get that idea from? I would never shoot you Jon. What's gotten into you?" her hand was twirling a lock of hair while her hip was jutted out making it seem like she didn't know what he was talking about. If she was a man he would have punched her the second she opened that door. That she was sure of.

"I have this urge to strangle you so you better start talking before I give in to it"

"I really don't know what......."

"CASSANDRA!" he growled in warning. She sighed dropping her facade.

"I really didn't want to"

"Then why did you?"

"I had to. I'm actually surprised you haven't figured out why I did it. I thought you were smart Jon. Drink?" she asked walking to the kitchen.

"Beer" following her, he sat on one of the tall chairs by the kitchen worktop. "Half the time I don't know what's going on in that head of yours Cassie."

"Thank you." she beamed at him. It was a compliment to her. The fact that Jonathan Blackwell hadn't figured her out meant she was good at her job.

"Seriously why did you shoot me?" he wasn't mad anymore. Just irritated which was a good thing because dealing with a mad Jonathan wasn't in her list of to do things that day.

"I can't tell you that. At least not yet"

He nodded slowly then tipping the beer bottle, drank half of it. "Cyanide?"

"Had to get your attention big boy"

"And a bullet alone wouldn't have done that?"

"Nah. People try to kill you all the time. Cyanide singled me out putting me on top of your list" she said shrugging

"I could have died"

"Nope. I'm a good shot and I measured the quantity. Too little to kill you but enough to get you to the hospital"

"You're fucking crazy. You know that?"

"Oh Jonny. Thank you"

"That wasn't a compliment"

"I can take it however I want." they drank their beers in silence for a few minutes before Jonathan sighed in defeat. Cassandra Benson was a conundrum. Every time he thought he had her figured out, she would surprise him by doing something he hadn't thought she would. But she was also his friend -the only real, honest to God, no secrets friend he had- which is why he wasn't really mad at her to begin with. She must have had a good reason for shooting him. Turning his head he looked at her. She'd changed since he last saw her. How long had it been? One, two years ago? Christ. He needed to wrap up this thing before he got in too deep. Rounding the counter, she stepped between his legs and hugged  him. "I missed you"

Jonathan put his beer down to hug her back "I missed you too pretty face" he held on longer than he should have, simply because he felt comfortable around her. She was the only person who knew what little there was to know about him. With her he didn't have to pretend he was someone else. It felt so good to be himself even if it was just for a second.

"How have you been?" she pulled back to look at him but didn't step out of his embrace.

"Fine......"

"Don't lie to me Jon."

"It's exhausting Cassie. I want to say 'fuck it' and leave it all behind but I can't be that selfish. I chose to do this and now I must see it through to the end"

"Do you want me to shoot Wes? I can do that you know" Cassandra asked with a straight face. Jonathan laughed but deep down he knew she would do it without a second thought. As crazy as she was, there was one thing that had made him confide in her. Her loyalty.

"Naw. But I'll keep that offer in mind. Maybe I'll need it someday?"

"You better or my skills are just going to waste here"

"I promise you." he tightened his hand grinning "So how are you and......"

"Get your fucking hands off her" a voice snarled making them both smile at each other.

"Nathaniel" Jonathan finished off without turning to acknowledge the other man. It wasn't a surprise that he'd walked in and they hadn't heard him. Nathaniel was stealthy like that. Most of the times the guy reminded him of a tiger stalking his prey. He watched as Cassandra transformed her face to that of annoyance and inwardly laughed. This was going to be entertaining. "An hour" he whispered to her and she tightened her arms around him to indicate she'd heard him and was up for the challenge.

"It's one hand Nate and who the fuck let you let in?" she asked turning her head. To anyone else, the position they were in looked intimate. But Cassandra was like a sister to him. So he only kept his hand where it was just to annoy Nathaniel.

"I let myself in. The door was open"

"Then kindly let yourself out."

"Cassandra....." Nathaniel said in a sing song voice. If she wasn't in his arms, Jonathan was sure she would already be in Nathaniel's. Their relationship was complicated and his source of entertainment every time they were all together. He wondered if she would last an hour or fall into the other man's hands sooner.

"Don't Cassandra me Nate. You have two seconds to leave" even as she was saying it, Nathaniel was taking off his coat conveying that he would leave when he wanted to. Settling back, he watched the couple hoping Cassandra failed so he didn't have to give her his money. She'd shot him and he really hated paying her even though it would completely be for another reason.

------------------

Penny sauntered downstairs dressed in skinny jeans and a v neck T-shirt. They molded her figure to perfection, showing off her curves. She passed two guys by the stairs who held a beer of bottle each and she could have sworn one of them chocked, the drink having gone the wrong way. The nurse's uniform she had been wearing ever since she arrived was form fitting but hid a lot of her body. A body she didn't need to work for at the gym like most women because she was born that way. Most would say it's thanks to good genes but only she knew it was a curse. Until she'd met Cassandra, she had hated her body. Being pretty had cost her a lot. At one point she would have preferred to be fat and ugly. Hell she'd tried to be fat countless times, eating junk food all day long but nothing had happened.

Cassandra had taught her how to use it when everything else failed. Men were fickle minded. Show them a little ass and breasts and they would forget everything. Like right then. Everyone had forgotten she was the guest they had been keeping an eye on and were ogling her. Walking straight to the kitchen she opened the fridge asking "Who's hungry? I'm making dinner if anyone is interested". When no one answered she turned around to find most of them staring at her ass. It looked like they had all moved to the kitchen. Clearing her throat got them to shoot their eyes up and when she raised her eyebrow in question, half of them blushed while the other grinned like idiots.

"I could eat" someone murmured and the others nodded. There was like fifteen of them, making her wonder what would be easier to cook. Men were known to naturally have big appetites but these ones looked like the could finish a whole cow and ask for more. Were there rules for joining the Bianchi organization?

"Great. I really can't cook for all of you but I'll order pizza" she said leaning on the aisle and flashing them a generous potion of cleavage. Almost all of them swallowed. Crammed in the huge kitchen, she had their attention just like she wanted to. Perfect. "Any preferences?" no one answered. They were all busy craning their necks willing her T-shirt to ride down further. This was going to be so easy. Penny thought. By kissing her in front of everyone, Jonathan had forbidden them from even making a move on her. But just because they couldn't touch didn't mean they couldn't look. They were all curious as to why their boss had chosen her.

She'd done a lot of research before walking in that house. She knew Jonathan didn't have relationships let alone care for anyone. That's why he was known as the Lone Wolf. She also knew about what had happened to his lover Lilith. Something like that could make anyone close themselves off. Which is why she wasn't keen on how possessive he was with her. She would be long gone before he got back and he'd forget her since she was just one in a long list of the women he fucked. She felt a little bad that he wouldn't remember her, but she shoved that feeling down. It wasn't like she was ready to start a relationship either. Penny wasn't sure she would ever be ready. But the way Jonathan made her feel gave her hope that she wasn't dead inside after all. Maybe someday she would be ready to open herself up again. But right then she had important things to do.

Taking out her phone she ordered pizza with the instructions to make it extra special. Hopefully she would find what she was looking for and be out of there before Jonathan returned.

-----------------------

The house was too quiet. Normally the guys would be loitering around with beers in hand or talking and laughing loudly. But the place was dead quiet and that scared Pasquale. Where had everyone gone? He'd left with Jonathan but they'd gone different ways, his boss to the airport and him to run a few errands. For the two hours he'd been gone, had something happened? Had they been attacked? No. There would be blood everywhere. So where was everyone then? He took out his gun walking inside slowly. The living room was empty. So was the kitchen. From experience, Pasquale knew calling out would be stupid especially if something was going on. He didn't want to alert anyone of his presence.

Walking upstairs, he checked the first door he came across which happened to be Lukas's. Surprisingly the kid was asleep. Closing it he went to the next. Abe was asleep too. So was everyone else. Breathing a sigh of relief that nothing wrong had happened, he tucked his gun back in to the waistband of his jeans. Apparently when the boss was away, the guys decided to sleep. Those lazy bones. He would have expected a wild party or half naked women parading around the house. Sleeping? That was unusual. But maybe they were just tired. Not knowing what to do, he headed back down to their security room. Maybe he could find something that Lukas had overlooked.

It was unlikely because the kid was a genius but it couldn't hurt to try. The screens in front of him showed a quiet house with most of the lights turned off. The only place that didn't have cameras were Jonathan's office and his bedroom. Other than that, every nook and cranny in that house was fitted with a camera that recorded everything for twenty four hours straight. Seating in one of the chairs he stared at the screens wondering who the woman that shot his boss was. He had to give it to her because no one messed with Jonathan Blackwell and lived to tell the tale. From the corner of his eye, he caught movement in one of the TV. Pasquale sat up so he could look closely even though he didn't have to.

A woman was leaving Jonathan's office. A hot piece of ass might he add. Damn, he wouldn't mind tapping that. She was his type of woman with enough meat he could hold on to all night. These days most women wanted to look like models and he had no problem with that since models were hot too. But once in a while a man needed something different. Something like...... Wait a minute. Isn't that the nurse? Now he knew why the boss was keeping her all to himself. One look alone was enough to make him adjust his trousers. But why was she leaving Jonathan's office? And why did she look like...... Fuck!  He shot up from his chair running out of the room. Of course it was her. Everything made sense. How had he not seen it? How had any of them not seen it?

------------------------

Two hours later, Jonathan was lying in bed exhausted. She'd gone for forty minutes before giving in and he was happy to keep his money. He'd missed how those two fought with each other only to make up later. They were like an old couple. His thoughts wandered to Jennifer and what she was doing. He couldn't ignore her forever because at some point he'd have to talk to her. Tell her why he was so insistent on helping her. It was the least he could do. He had to admit to himself that he liked Penny and if he had to choose between the two women, he'd pick her over Jennifer. Yes he was attracted to her, but it was purely on a sexual level. At least that's what he hoped. He couldn't be falling in love with two women. It was impossible.

Shaking his head, Jonathan decided to figure out why Cassandra had shot him. She'd said she thought he would have known the reason which meant he'd missed something. He thought back to the day she'd shot him. He was trying really hard to ignore Jennifer's calls so he'd decided to go out for lunch where Edward Lewis had bothered him all throughout his meal. As he was leaving, he bumped into Penny who had been....... Jonathan stopped breathing for a second. Penelope. It all came down to his nurse. Then jerking up, he scrambled to find his phone just as it started ringing. It was Pasquale calling.

"Keep her under lock down until I get there. I'm on my way" he said in to the phone. Pasquale groaned

"How did you know why I was calling? Are you some sort of clairvoyant?"

"Don't let her out of your sight Pascal. I think I know why she's there"

**************************************************

I think I do too.
Do you?
I just finished this since wattpad was glitching (is this even a real word?) on me yesterday. Looking forward for the next one so I hope I'll finish it today. 🤞