CASSANDRA

I stared at him with utter disbelief. I couldn't believe that I had been hearing such nonsense from him.

As soon as the song ended I felt him alone. I didn't care if people began to stare at us curiously. With me, at my sudden departure after our dance, and to Calix who was left there staring at my wake.

I regretted that dance, not only it make me have a conversation with Calix it also made my heart very upset as I was reminded that I still feel the same for my half-brother.

"You're crying again," Dan remarked sadly, offering me his handkerchief. I tried very hard not to cry and started making a scene at Loukas and Sapphire's anniversary celebration but it was so hard to control. "This is the second time you cried after seeing him. This is also your second meeting after two years."

I wiped my tears discreetly using his handkerchief. "It still feels like everything just happened yesterday. I thought I would be fine seeing him again after a few years. I guess I was wrong."

Dan looked over my shoulder for a brief moment before focusing his attention back on me. "Take several steady deep breaths, Cassie. The hosts of the party are approaching us."

I cursed under my breath, blinking away my tears. Did they notice that I had been crying after my dance with Calix?

"Cassie," Sapphire's voice tried to get my attention.

I slowly turned around making sure that there were no traces of tears in my eyes. I saw the somber expression on Sapphire and Loukas' faces. "Yes?"

Sapphire looked worriedly at Loukas as if asking for assistance.

Loukas cleared his throat. "I hate to break this bad news to you this evening but we received a phone call that your father is rushed to the hospital. I know that you are estranged from your father but as his business partner I thought you should know--"

My hand flew to my mouth to hide my shock. "Oh, my God! What happened to him? Is he okay?"

Loukas sighed deeply. "I know I am not in the position to inform you about his condition but I hope Spiro will understand. He was diagnosed with leukemia last month and the cancer is progressing aggressively."

My heart broke at the news. I knew that I cut off ties with my father since I learned about this mess involving me and Calix. And until now I still haven't found it in my heart to forgive him for cheating with Calix's mother.

But even if I was still angry with him, he was still my father and I didn't wish for him to be ill like this.

"Do you want to see your father?" Loukas asked quietly. "I can arrange for your transportation tonight if you want."

"What the hell is going on here?"

We all looked at the newcomer. It was Calix with his date on his arm. My heart felt like it had been stabbed repeatedly seeing that beautiful model's arm wrapped around Calix's arm.

"I asked what the hell is going on here?" Calix demanded once again when no one seemed to answer him. He looked furious for no reason. "Why are you all gathering here?"

"We are just talking to Cassie about her father." Loukas supplied calmly clearly unbothered by his cousin's enraged behavior.

"What about him?"

I glared at him discreetly. He was not even trying to hide his disdain for our father. But he was paying me no mind since his attention was purely fixed on his cousin.

"He is rushed to the hospital and I am asking Cassie if she wants to see her father. Sapphire and I can provide her transportation." Loukas explained to his exasperating cousin.

"Thank you for your kindness," I decided to step into the conversation. "I will accept your offer. I want to see my dad."

"I'll come with you," Dan stated standing next to me.

I threw a grateful smile at him since I didn't know if I could do this alone. Dan knew me well and he was ready to help me before I even needed to ask. I needed some support in this as I was about to meet the man who betrayed me and my mother in the worst possible way.

"No," Calix contradicted, sending a dark glare to my friend, Dan. "I will accompany Cassie. You better stay here."

"What?! What about me?" His date didn't like the idea. She was scowling at Calix.

He removed her hand that clung to his arm like a vine. "You'll stay here and enjoy the party. My sister, Dionne will keep you company."

She despised the sudden changes in their night and she was throwing an angry look in my direction. She was blaming me for all of this.

Since I didn't want to be this woman's new enemy. I have to act fast. "No, it's okay. Dan will accompany me," I dared to look at Calix's maddening look. "You can stay here with your woman."

I knew my mistake as soon as those words left my mouth. It was evident from the different reactions of the people around me.

Dan winced at me. Loukas sighed in resignation. The model smirked while Sapphire shook her blonde head giving me a pitying look.

But it was Calix's reaction that I got scared the most. I never saw this kind of expression on his face before. I barely recognized him. He was glowering at me so darkly that I shivered. I knew that I hit a nerve and he was very pissed at me right now. He was clenching his jaw so tightly that I feared it might break at any moment.

"You..." Calix started in a dangerously low voice as he was about to close the distance between us.

I automatically took a step backward out of instinct to put some good distance between us.

Loukas jumped in and blocked himself in front of his cousin. "Calix." There was an underlying warning in his tone.

He threw me a menacing glare at his cousin. "Step aside. This is between me and Cass. You have no say in this."

Loukas met him eye-to-eye. "I just want to make sure that you will not hurt her."

He scoffed. "Hurt her? You know damn well I cannot do that." He pushed aside Loukas. He grabbed me on the wrist and pulled me beside him. "Is the captain already waiting on the yacht? We'll be leaving now."

Calix forced me to follow his lead as he walked away from the party. I tried to remove my hand from his death grip but he didn't budge.

"Unhand me, will you?! I am not coming anywhere with you." I tried to shake off his grip but each time I was unsuccessful. "Calix! Let me go!"

My heart dropped into the pit of my stomach when I saw his mom looking at us with worried eyes near the side of the Spiridakou mansion.

"Calix," Irinna said with tears shimmering in her eyes. "Can we talk?"

He walked past his mother without even glancing in her direction. She might as well be invisible in his opinion.

I looked at him and there was no hint of emotion on his face. I felt sad, it seemed that his relationship with his mother was as cold as my relationship with my dad.

When we arrived at the dock where Loukas' yacht was waiting for us. We boarded the sailboat that would bring us to the main island. This was the last thing I wanted. I didn't trust myself to be alone on this trip with him.

As soon as we boarded the captain sailed through the dark sea and my uneasiness intensified. I barely saw anything but the light from our vessel and the moon and stars in the night sky.

Calix disappeared inside and I was grateful to be away from his presence. I allowed the cold air to be my companion for this trip. But then, an oversized coat draped around my shoulder.

I glanced behind me only to see Calix was the man behind it. He was also offering me a drink.

"No, thanks," I replied politely. I also tried to remove his dinner jacket from my shoulder.

"Don't be stupid, Cass. You'll freeze to death before we even arrive at the hospital," he drawled lazily. He pushed the drink into my hand. "Here. Drink this, it will help you to calm your nerves."

I looked away from his mesmerizing blue gaze. "You shouldn't leave that model back there. That's rude, you know."

He laughed humorlessly, standing next to me near the railing. "So you can bring your boyfriend with you instead and finally introduce him to our father?"

I couldn't miss the sneer in his voice. I glared at him vehemently. "Dan is not my boyfriend! He is just a friend."

He leaned his back on the yacht railing while crossing his arms in the middle of his chest. "Friend, huh?"

I let out an exasperating breath. "I don't care if you don't believe me."

He was eyeing me intently. "How can I believe you when that man keeps on hanging around you like a damn annoying fly."

"A fly?" I stared at him in disbelief. "My God! That's so rude. How can you compare you Dan to a fly?"

He shrugged unapologetically. "Well, it's the truth. First in New York and then here in Greece. He is like an insect who doesn't want to leave you alone even for a minute."

I scoffed, raising my eyebrow at him. "Are you jealous?"

The laughter died in his face and it was replaced by the intensity of his gaze. I stepped back when he started to close the distance between us.

"W-What are you doing?" I asked anxiously. "Back away."

"Why?" He taunted. There was a devilish smile playing on his lips. "Are you scared, Cass?"

"No," I denied fiercely. Alas, he already caged me in between his body and the yacht railing. One wrong move and I would end up in the sea below.

"What is your question earlier? Ah, you ask if I am jealous?" He smirked in my direction. When he smiled like that his face became more handsome than he already had. He grabbed the railing trapping me in my place. "Yes, Cass, I am jealous of him. Happy?"

My heart went wild at his admission but I tried so hard to calm my heart. "Don't be ridiculous. You know very well that..."

"That what, Cass?" He jeered, his face was only inches away from me. "That we're blood-related?"

"Yes," my answer floated through the air like a cold wind.

His eyes became darker and his knuckles turned white. The corner of his mouth tugged with a cruel smile, his nose was almost touching the tip of my nose.

I thought for a moment that he was going to kiss me because he kept on looking at my lips and then glancing at my eyes to see my reaction. I was not even sure if I have had the strength to stop him if he did that...

"We're here." I was grateful that we finally arrived at the main island. I pushed him aside thankful to be away from him.

I didn't even wait for him when I got out of the yacht as soon as the steps were placed for us. I walked ahead of him. I didn't wish to be in his presence any more than I already had tonight.

But as I expected he caught up with me with his long strides while walking the wooden planks. I fastened my pace but he was easily matching my pace.

"You have a companion remember?" He reminded me sarcastically.

I pointedly ignored him and hailed a taxi late that night. I glared at Calix when he intertwined our fingers together. "My hand, Mister."

"What's wrong?" There was a playful smile on his face. "Can't I hold the hand of my sister to keep her safe?"

The glare was still fixed on my face. How dare he toyed with our situation so cruelly? "I don't have time for your dark humor."

I tried to tug my hand from him but every time was an unsuccessful attempt. He was holding my hand as if he had no intention of letting it go.

When we finally hailed a taxi we were on our way to the hospital where Loukas told me where my father was admitted. We were like teenagers who were having our first lover's quarrel. I kept removing my hand from his but he was also persistent in holding my hand.

"You know, I will forgive you for calling Gisele my woman."

I stared at him with disbelief on my face. "Excuse me?!"

He smiled reassuringly in my direction. "No hard feelings but I should warn you never to do that again. Believe me, you don't want to see me get mad."

I scoffed sardonically. "Oh, my God! I can't believe this. The audacity!"

The ride to the hospital was relatively short. After only a few minutes we were already here. I went to the information and asked about my father. I found out that he was in the Intensive Care.

I didn't expect that he would be placed in ICU. While riding the elevator going to the floor where the ICU was, I couldn't help but bite my fingernails.

"Everything will be fine," Calix reassured me soothing my rigid back.

For the first time since we went on this trip, I became grateful for his presence. I eyed him curiously. "Didn't you explicitly tell me two years ago that you hate him and you don't want to see him ever again? Why are you here with me then?"

He looked at me with an arrogant tilt of his brow. "Where should I supposed to be then?"

I shrugged casually. "I don't know. Back at the island? Partying with your family?"

He chuckled mockingly. "We both know that I don't truly belong in the family. I am an outsider who is just pretending to be one of them. There is not a drop of Spiridakou blood in my veins."

"Then why bother come to Loukas and Sapphire's wedding anniversary celebration?"

Calix looked at me as if I lost my mind or something. "You seriously don't know or you are just acting dense?" When I shook my head, he took deep breaths. "Because Loukas had mentioned that you will be attending. I want to see you again after our bad parting in New York."

I frowned at him. "Why?"

He gave me a maddening look. "Because we still need to talk about what happened two years ago, Cass. You owe me an explanation, don't you think?"

The elevator door opened and saved me from replying to him. We walked into the nurse's station to ask about my father's condition.

"Miss Vitalis?"

I turned around to see a middle-aged man approaching us. "Yes?"

"I'm Spiro Vitalis physician, Angelos Carras." He held our his and in front of me.

"Cassandra Vitalis," I shook his hand briefly. "How's he, doctor?"

He spared Calix a glance before gesturing in the other hallway. "Let's talk in my office, shall we?"

We followed him into his office and once we got there he informed us about my father's condition and how he had just been diagnosed with stage two acute myeloid leukemia and it was aggressive that needed immediate treatment. He needs a bone marrow transplant and chemotherapy.

"The problem is, your father is refusing the treatment. He said he didn't need it." Dr. Carras added. "Besides, we need a bone marrow donor."

"I want to be tested and see if I can be a match for him," I said without a beat.

"Let me get tested too," Calix announced when Dr. Carrass stared at him with confusion, he added. "I-I'm his son."

I was surprised that he admitted being my father's son though you could see in his face the disdain and anger.

If the news shocked Dr. Carrass he didn't let it show on his face. He cleared his throat and acted professionally. "Very well, we will get you tested and inform you as soon as the result is out. But I have to tell you now that not all bone marrow tests from offspring will come back as a match. So don't get your hopes high."

"Ah, doctor," Calix said. "I have a question."

"Yes?"

He spared me a glance. There was something in his blue eyes that I could not fathom at the moment. "Is there a high chance that bone marrow tests will not match even if you are blood-related?"

"Yes, most of the time there's a low chance for a match between a parent and an offspring. However, if it is a sibling donor the chance is high."

"What if you are not sure you are even siblings?"

Dr. Carrass sat back from his swivel chair. "Then, if you are suspicious, I suggest you run a sibling DNA test."

Calix looked at me meaningfully and my heart jumped in my chest. "That's what I thought."