My Father's Friend
My Father’s Friend – Chapter 20

-Casey,” she hears his name pronounced and freezes. Casey! -She hears her name again, but what was going on? -Wake up!

Why would she wake up, she was already waking up, why were they saying that to her, and why was she hearing her name as if it were an echo? Suddenly she felt the touch of a hand on the bare skin of her arm, which made her tense up and open her eyes violently until she half sat up.

She was breathing heavily, her chest heaving up and down. Casey was trying to assimilate what was happening, and that’s when she realised that what she was experiencing was simply a dream. Nothing was real, the eyes, the voice and the touch… it was all part of a dream, so he swallowed as he looked down at his body. A heavy dark blanket covered half of his body, he noticed he was still wearing the underwear he wore at the club and realised it wasn’t a f*****g dream.

-Jesus Christ, this isn’t a nightmare.

She looked around noticing for the first time that she was in a rather luxurious room, she took the blanket to cover her body. She felt so vulnerable in that place, but whose room was it?

-Casey.

That voice alerted her, was it the one from the dream? She looked around, it seemed as if she was blind. Surely she had to blame it on the adrenaline rushing through her body. Then from turning her face like a fan, she came upon the masculine figure of a man. He was standing inches from the bed. How had she missed him before?

-Casey, are you all right?

He asked, moving a little closer to her, but the red-haired woman was in automatic mode. Instinct led her to pull back, but it was useless, as she hit the back of the bed. That was the guy who offered her the cloak, that was her buyer, the man who would hurt her.

-How do you feel?

-What do you want from me?

-Nothing… I just want to know if you’re all right.

Nothing? What do you mean, she looked at him from pillar to post looking for a sign that he was lying, but she found nothing in that muscular man. He was so tall that it gave her torticollis to look into his eyes.

-I see you’re well, I’m going to leave you to rest. I just came to make sure you were all right. In that room there is a bathroom, where you can wash and change your clothes.

-What? -He frowns in doubt, what the f**k was going on?

-See you later…

She watches the strange man leave, then slowly closes the door. She stood for a moment listening for the sound of the key pin, but it didn’t happen. They didn’t close her door, what the hell kind of place was that?

As she stood up, she saw huge windows. She ran over to open them both at the same time, Casey came upon a huge balcony. It was still dark, and it was starting to rain. She noticed that she was in a mansion, an impressive villa with a large garden. Although it was night, everything was very well lit.

He looked down at the ground and noticed that it was too high to jump, if he did, he was likely to break a leg or worse, die. So, he retraced his steps and walked to the bathroom. It was so much more amazing. She was surrounded by so much luxury.

-What kind of place is this?

After locking the door and feeling safer, Casey took a bath and changed clothes. It was very strange that she found a wardrobe full of women’s clothes in her size and not only that, they were of very good quality. After that he stood in the middle of the room not knowing what the hell to do, what kind of privileges were those?

In the midst of her thoughts a light knock on the door put Casey on alert, she slowly walked to the door to hear who was behind it.

-Miss Casey, are you awake? -Who was that woman, she wondered. I brought you something for dinner, can you open the door?

Hesitantly she opened the door to see a short, somewhat plump woman. She was holding a silver tray full of fruit and other things. Immediately his stomach protested, he remembered the horrible food they gave out at the club and compared to that, it was actually a delicacy.

-You must be very hungry, I’ve brought you a little bit of everything,” the woman smiled openly.

-Who are you? What is this place? -The woman blinked.

-You’d better eat something and get some rest, tomorrow will be another day and things will be better,” The lady hands her the tray and then leaves.

She closes the door feeling more confused than before, everything was very strange, the house, the attention, the luxuries, they were even feeding her… Who was this man who bought her? What were his purposes? She looked again at the tray with food and didn’t think twice to sit down to devour all the food…

The bed was comfortable enough that Casey wanted to get up to close the balcony windows, the breeze was a little strong and the cold was creeping in through the window. But even so, he didn’t care, he just snuggled closer and closed his eyes. She needed to get some rest, who knows if this would be her last night, and with those thoughts she completely surrendered.

The semi-transparent golden curtains billowed heavily, the balcony doors stood wide open as the rainwater trickled in… a male figure entered the bedroom where Casey slept soundly, a pair of hands closed the glass windows stopping the blizzard inside the room.

The man turns around and watches the black-haired woman sleep, he approaches the bed with his hands in his pockets. He stands beside Casey watching her in complete silence, she was oblivious to the scrutiny of that bluish gaze.

When suddenly something happens that he didn’t expect, Casey jolts awake to stare at him. He froze as he watched her stare at him with those intense green eyes.

-Cauther! -she exclaims in surprise, her eyes widening at the same time.

What? But if Santino told her that she’d lost her memory, how could she possibly recognise him?

Casey was having another horrible and frightening dream, so terrified was she that she woke up abruptly, but as soon as she opened her eyes the first thing she saw was a pair of blue eyes that she had seen before, my God, they were the same blue eyes she had seen in her dream, and suddenly like an avalanche, it came crashing down on her, sweeping away the fog in her head.

She immediately recognised the man standing before her, that arrogant blue gaze was indescribable, it was him, he was in her room and it wasn’t a bloody dream… and as if it was nothing, she remembered her life, who she was and what had happened that night. Then he sat up and mentioned Cauther’s name.

-What are you… what are you doing… what’s going on? What are you doing here?

-Do you know who I am? -Was I looking at his stupid face or what? She wondered.

-Of course I know who you are, the question is, what are you doing here? -Casey stands up to stand next to Cauther.

-Have you regained your memory? -He asks deadly serious, but that seriousness made him look very dangerous.

Did he know, she wonders dumbfounded. Why did he know? She was feeling a twinge of fear as she looked into his blue eyes, instinct leading her to take two steps back when she sensed Cauther take a step towards her.

-Answer me, Casey, have you regained your memory? -She sharpens her gaze, making her eyes much brighter than before.

-How did you know? How did you know I’d lost my memory? -She hugs herself, seeing a certain darkness in Cauther’s gaze. It was you, wasn’t it? You’re the man who bought me in that damn club.

Cauther walks towards her without taking his eyes off Casey’s face, her retreating faster and faster with every step he takes. Until she is cornered against a table against the wall and Cauther’s body. The CEO, stretching both arms out, positions them on either side of the redhead’s body. He brings his face so close to hers that I could see the fear in his eyes.

-Are you afraid of me? -He frowns as he catches a glimpse of a bead of sweat running down his brow.