The address on the card that Cassian gave her led her to a large estate on the hills of Bel Air.
The mansion looked more like a castle, with white-painted stones and a perfectly manicured lawn.
The sophisticated security system only let her through after she gave her name to the person behind the intercom.
“Miss Bennett, Mr Black is expecting you. Please make your way to the front porch,” a smooth voice said through the intercom on the gate, before the gate slowly swung open for her.
Aurora walked up the stone driveway after she had told her taxi driver to wait for her; she wouldn’t take long.
The sound of her heels clicking on the ground echoed softly around her.
She adjusted the silk of her red body-hugging dress—the one she’d borrowed from Amber that made her look a different version of her, one that had confidence and could stand up to rich bullies.
Even her usually bare face was made up with a smoky eye and a red lip that she wouldn’t dare wear on any normal day.
She looked absolutely stunning as she stepped through the large wooden doors that led into the even larger mansion.
The ground was completely covered in marbles, and most of the walls were made of glass that overlooked the city.
She walked up a grand staircase that led upward towards the second floor of the mansion.
Right at the end of the hallway, a room with double doors was open, and she could feel something pulling her towards it.
Something told her that Cassian was there; she clenched her fingers as she strutted into the room.
Cassian was standing on the balcony of the master bedroom, a glass of aged scotch in his hand.
For the first time, she wasn’t seeing him in his usual sleek work clothes, but something more casual.
He wore a dark plain tee with short sleeves, revealing his tanned and corded forearms, which he paired with grey sweatpants.
His expression was a mixture of uncertainty and satisfaction.
A dark smile lifted on his lips as he watched her walk through the double doors, his eyes scanning over her entire build, taking in the new appearance.
“You came sooner than I expected.”
“You didn’t leave me with any other choice.” Aurora didn’t return his smile.
“There’s always a choice, Aurora,” he said, pouring a glass of wine into a glass and handing it to her.
She took it but didn’t put the glass to her lips.
“You chose your brother’s freedom over your pride. That’s not nothing.”
Aurora didn’t respond, but her other hand was curled into a fist behind her back.
“You look beautiful.” Cassian’s voice dropped as he took two steps towards her.
“I did it for you,” Aurora whispered.
Cassian froze for a second, his eyes scanning her, studying her for a moment.
“You did well,” he said, his arms wrapping around her waist and pulling her flush against his body.
“Look at you, dressing up for me, coming to me, yet pretending like you don’t want this. But we both know…” Aurora cut him off by slamming her lips against his.
The rest of his words muffled into a groan as he quickly responded.
The kiss went on for a long moment.
Cassian’s movements were desperate and rushed, like a thirsty man who had finally found water after a decade.
Aurora pushed at his chest when her lips finally started to hurt.
Cassian stumbled two steps back, his eyes staring at her with dark confusion.
“What are you…”
“Enough,” she said, pulling a tablet from her handbag.
Cassian’s eyes snapped to the device and back at her face.
“What’s that?”
“It’s a gift. Just for you,” she said before she tapped the screen, and the video started playing.
Cassian’s eyes slowly widened as he watched the entire event that happened on that night.
He already watched it once at the bar when he asked the manager to wipe it.
Then how did Aurora get the footage?
Cassian’s jaw tightened as the footage finally finished playing.
He ran a frustrated finger through his hair.
“Where did you get this?”
“I have my ways.”
“Where did you get this?” he repeated, his eyes darkened with anger.
“Maybe I slept with a man and he gave it to me,” Aurora said smugly.
“Aurora!” he bellowed her name, his voice filling the entire balcony and drifting out into the evening air.
He yelled her name like she had said something forbidding.
“What? Do you think you’re the only one who gets to use me?”
“Well, sorry to say, Cassian Black, but there are plenty of other disgusting men out there just like you who will do anything just to spend a night with me. But I digress.”
Now, she said, clapping her hands together.
“The important thing is that I have it. And if you don’t give me Jude’s unconditional release papers, this will be on the front pages of every news outlet in Los Angeles by tomorrow morning.”
Cassian stared at her, looking completely off guard.
She just checkmated him.
“You’re bluffing.”
“Why don’t you try me?” she said, holding his gaze.
“Your brother’s reputation, your company’s reputation, and the famous Black family name… it’ll all get badly hit if this video surfaces.”
She continues, “I already see the headlines: Zachary Black caught secretly recording a woman in a restroom, the Black family trying to cover it up by threatening a young man who was just trying to do the right thing.” She paused, letting her words sink in. This chapter was copied from novelping dot com without permission.
She scanned the look at his pale face before she smiled again.
“So here’s the deal. You will give me Jude’s release papers, unconditional, and then I will give you this tablet, which has the only copy of this footage.”
“How do I know that is the only copy?” Cassian said calculatingly.
“You don’t. You just have to trust me. It’s called being at the receiving end. It’s an honour to make you know what it feels like.”
“Fine. You’ll have the papers by morning,” Cassian gritted out.
“I want them tonight.”
“I can’t—”
“You can, and you will.”
Aurora stepped closer before she raised the tablet in her hand, which displayed the paused video.
“Or I hit send, and we watch what happens to your precious brother and company.”
The tense silence that came after stretched for a long moment before Cassian pulled out his phone from his pocket and made a call.
It was short, and when he hung up, his expression was even darker than before.
“Jaxson is bringing the papers. He’ll be here in a minute.”
Aurora nodded with a satisfied smile.
“Good.”
She didn’t relax, even as she could taste the victory.
She couldn’t let her guard down around a wounded tiger.
The anger brewing behind Cassian’s gaze was dangerous.
He was clearly not used to losing, and she knew he would do anything to get back at her.
“You’re making a big mistake, Aurora,” Cassian said.
Aurora flashed an ungenuine smile before she slid out of the balcony, sliding the doors shut and flicking the click to lock them in place.
“No, everything about this feels right,” she said.
“You thought you could treat people like objects? Didn’t you? Buy whoever you want, and control whoever you please. But you can’t buy me, Cassian Black,” she said, leaning closer as he glared at her from behind the glass.
“I hope your balls freeze off out there.”
Aurora turned away from him, just as Jaxson arrived.
His expression was a mix of shock and curiosity as he looked between an angry Cassian trapped on the balcony and a smug-looking Aurora.
She didn’t say a word to him.
She simply exchanged the release papers with the tablet before she walked out of the room and down the stony pathway where the taxi driver was still waiting for her after she offered to pay him double.
She slammed the door shut behind her, settling into the back seat of the car as they drove down the hills.
This was the best night of her life.