Cassian steps out of the elevator directly into the sterile environment of the hospital.
He hated hospitals because they reminded him of his mother when she was chronically ill before she died, leaving him alone at a young age.
He shook off the thoughts and walked to the VIP room at the end of the hall.
Zachary was leaning against a stack of pillows by the headboard.
His face still had patches of purple and green from the bruises.
One of his eyes was swollen shut, and there was a bandage that covered a cut above his eyebrow while his ribs were wrapped under the hospital gown and his left arm was in a sling.
He looked thoroughly pathetic.
Cassian shut the door behind him before he walked to the foot of the bed, slowly crossing his arms as he stared blankly at his stepbrother.
Not an ounce of sympathy or pity in his eyes.
Zachary swallowed under Cassian’s gaze.
“Took you long enough,”
“The police report says you were attacked by a part-time bartender, but we both know, that is just the tip of the iceberg,” Cassian said flatly, not an ounce of warmth in his voice.
Zachary broke Cassian’s gaze, trying to come up with a lie.
“The fucker. He just came at me out of nowhere while I was minding my own business and—”
“Don’t even,” Cassian cut him off, his gaze going colder than before.
“I already read the witness reports and also talked with the bar manager, not to mention the CCTV camera that saw you enter the women’s restroom. So I’m going to ask you one last time. What happened?”
There was silence for a long moment while Zachary gritted his teeth together, trying to rack up his hung-over brain for a believable lie.
“I don’t have all day.” Cassian double-tapped his fingers twice on the bed frame, making Zachary sigh as he looked down at his bandaged hands.
“There was this woman,” he started quietly.
“She was at the bar, and I tried to talk to her, but she rejected me like…I was nothing.”
“So you followed her into the restroom?”
“I was drunk, Cassian. I wasn’t thinking straight. I just wanted…I don’t know what I wanted, maybe to humiliate her and make her feel as small as she made me.” He blurted out the excuse.
“I pulled out my phone, and I was recording her under the stall when this kid appeared out of nowhere and started yelling at me.”
Cassian’s finger tightened on the bed frame.
“You were recording a woman in the restroom without her consent? Are you getting pathetic by the day, or is it just me?”
“She rejected me, Cassian. Do you even have any idea what that feels like? She’s supposed to say yes, just like they usually do. I’m a fucking Black, after all. But she looked at me like I was nothing.”
“It’s called being told no, Zach. You were supposed to leave her alone like a normal human being, not commit a fucking crime.”
Zachary’s head whipped up to stare at his brother.
“I would appreciate it if you would spare me the moral lecture. You aren’t exactly a saint, Cassian. All you do is spend your time judging women for wanting your money. At least I…”
“At least you what?” Cassian cut him off, his voice going up slightly.
“At least you violate their privacy and get yourself beaten to a pulp? At least you make our family look like garbage in the news?”
Zachary went silent at that.
He has pushed past his limits.
Cassian pushed off the bed frame before pulling out his phone.
“I’m going to have Jax look more into the bartender, and—”
“You don’t have to, Cassian,” Zachary said.
“I was just a dickhead. I was drunk, and I wanted to make her regret it, okay? It was fucking stupid. I am stupid.”
Cassian ignored him as he pulled up Jax’s number.
At the other part of the city, Jaxson Smith sat at his desk in front of Cassian’s office.
His hands rapidly typed across the keyboard of his monitor as he finished arranging all the details of the fight that landed Zach in the hospital.
The police report he got was straight to the point.
There was a fight between the two men, one of them was arrested while the other was hospitalized, but Jackson already knew that the police reports were manipulated.
He pulled up Jude Bennett’s record next and scanned the details.
He was 23 years old and worked at the club as a part-time bartender.
He also studied at UCLA on a partial scholarship.
He was never arrested before and had a clean record until the bar fight.
And then he found the address.
Jaxson leaned back in his chair, his fingers pausing as the address matched the one on the dealership paperwork from two days ago.
The paperwork that belonged to Aurora Bennett.
He pulled up her driver’s test records, cross-referenced their names, and came to a realization: Jude Bennett was Aurora Bennett’s brother.
Jaxson immediately just then his phone buzzed.
An incoming call from Cassian.
“I’ve got something you need to see,” Jaxson spoke first.
Cassian stepped out of the hospital room before he responded, “What is it?”
“The bartender, the one who beat up Zach.”
Jaxson started from the other side.
“His name is Jude Bennett, he’s a student at UCLA, and he part-times at the bar, but he has no prior criminal records.”
“Okay, I know there’s something else, Jax. Get to the point.”
Jaxson paused for a second.
“He’s Aurora Bennett’s brother.”
The words hit Cassian just as Jaxson had expected.
There was silence for a long moment as he remembered the woman who had slapped him and thrown water in his face.
It was also her brother who had just beaten his own brother to a pulp.
“Are you sure?”
“I’m positive. They share the same last name and address. The dealership also confirmed her emergency contact as Jude Bennett, who is listed as her younger brother.”
Cassian squeezed his eyes shut, Aurora’s face flashing in his mind.
He knows that her brother is in the right, but for some reason, something in the back of his head kept telling him that this was his chance to make her pay for crossing him.
“He was protecting the woman,” Cassian said.
“Zach was the one in the wrong. He was violating a woman’s privacy when the bartender tried to stop him.”
“But we don’t know that for sure,” Jaxson said carefully.
“Yes, we do, I saw the footage.” Cassian opened his eyes.
“And Zach just confessed to me. He said he was drunk and followed the woman into the restroom after she rejected him. He was going to use it against her when he got caught in the act.”
“So, what do you want me to do now?” Jaxson asked.
Cassian ran a finger down his cheek, remembering the way it stung when Aurora slapped him and the way she never seemed to break under his gaze, no matter how much he wanted her to.
But he also knows that this could be a way to teach his brother a lesson.
He had always been a brat since he was a tender age, raised by his mother to be entitled and have no respect for the word “no.” He believes he can do anything because he is Black.
“Close the case,” Cassian ordered.
“Contact the police and have them drop the charges.”
‘But Cassian, Savannah is going to—”
“I will handle her,” he said.
“Zach bought this upon himself.
Besides, if the case goes out, the police will be forced to actually investigate properly, and they will find out the truth, which will affect the company’s reputation.
“We can spin this as Zach just being a victim of circumstances, but only if we close it quietly.”
“Okay, I will make the call.”
Cassian finally ended the call.
He knows he has just done the right thing, but he also knows that he wasn’t going to let Aurora Bennett go scot-free after what she did to him.
Savannah Black burst through the doors.
The sound of her designer heels grated on Cassian’s nerves as she walked into the room.
A small designer bag hung from her elbow, and her hair was perfectly styled, as usual.
Her expression was bitter as she rushed towards her son, ignoring Cassian’s existence.
“My little boy!” she cooed, caressing Zach’s face like he was a wounded child.
“Look at what that animal did to you!”
Zachary winced when she brushed against his bruise.
“Mom, please, I’m fine.”
“You’re not fine, Zach! You’re lying in a hospital bed and your face is…”
She paused, her expression filled with rage.
“I’m going to make sure that boy rots in the depths of prison! He’s going to pay for this!”
“Nothing of that sort is happening.” Cassian shut down her promise.
She whipped around and glared at him.
“And who are you to decide that for me? Your brother was nearly killed by some gutter rat and you want…”
“Your son was recording a woman in a restroom without her consent.”
Cassian’s firm voice cut her off.
“The bartender caught him and tried to stop him. He is 100% in the wrong.”
Savannah looked conflicted for a second before her anger surfaced.
“That’s a lie. Zach will never…”
“He’s already admitted it to me before you arrived,” Cassian said smoothly, crossing his arms.
“And if this matter escalates, the truth will come out eventually, and the media will have a field day with it.”
“The company’s reputation will not only be scarred, but our stocks will also fall, and Zach will be branded as the brat who recorded women in bathrooms. Is that what you want?”
The room went silent for a long moment.
Zachary looked down at his bandaged hands while Savannah’s hands slightly trembled.
She clenched her hands into fists before she turned back to Cassian again.
“I see what this is. You’re trying to protect the man who beat up your brother.”
“You can believe what you want to.” Cassian said, “But I won’t let Zach’s or your foolishness affect the company. The charges will be dropped, the boy will be released, and you will make sure that Zach stays out of trouble from now on. Is that understood?”
Savannah’s jaw tightened as she glared at her stepson before she finally turned away to continue stroking her son’s hair.
“Fine.” She gritted out coldly.
“But I won’t forget this.”