The Forgotten Night Read online

  “Your obvious animosity toward me and the fact that you agreed to marry somebody you don’t love.”

  “That’s not true,” she protested as she walked over to one of the bay windows.

  Andrew slowly followed her. “What’s not true, the first or the second thing I said?”

  “The first…the second…both,” she said with a frustrated sigh.

  “So you don’t hate me?” Andrew asked, settling in beside her.

  Cassidy looked up at Andrew. “No, of course not. Why would you think that?”

  “You haven’t spoken more than a few words to me since last year.”

  “Well, okay, so maybe I was a little upset with you, but that doesn’t mean I hate you, Andy. I don’t hate you.”

  “That’s good to know, but I’m still a little upset that you agreed to marry this Robert guy when you clearly don’t love him.”

  “What are you talking about? How would you know who I do and do not love?”

  “Your eyes,” he said then walked over to the cabinet to pour himself a little whiskey.

  “My eyes? What about my eyes?” she asked, genuinely curious.

  “They sparkle when you are happy, and they weren’t sparkling tonight, Cassie,” Andrew said, putting down the same shot glass that she had used after taking a drink of the hard liquor.

  Cassidy sighed angrily, frustrated that she still cared about what he thought. “Why do you care, Andy? This has nothing to do with you.”

  “Why do I care?” he asked, sounding irritated. “I care, Cassie, and it has everything to do with me.”

  What is he getting at? Cassidy swallowed hard, hoping Andrew couldn’t hear the loud gulp.

  “You can’t marry this man. You don’t love him, and you want to how I know that? It’s not just your eyes, Cassie, it’s your heart. It belongs to me, just like mine belongs—”

  “Stop this, you don’t know anything,” she forced out as tears welled in her eyes. She turned, but Andrew grabbed her arm. “Let go of me.”

  “I love you, Cassie. I always have and always will. My heart belongs to you and you alone,” he said, brushing a tear gently from her cheek.

  “You can’t do that,” she cried. “You can’t say something like that and think I’ll fall for it again!”

  “I’m not pretending, Cassie. I know you think I slept with Ashley last year, but it’s not true.”

  “How do you know that? You don’t even remember! You don’t remember anything from that night!” she said, trying to pull away.

  Andrew grabbed her with both hands by the shoulders. “I do. I do remember…I remember everything.”

  Cassidy wanted to speak, but no words came from her mouth. She could only stare up at Andrew. She wanted so badly to believe him, but she was afraid to risk her heart again.

  “My mind played some tricks on me and it took me time to piece it together, but I remember everything I told you now. You asked me why you were the only one I would let take me upstairs, and I told you the truth. I wasn’t lying. I wanted to be close to you because I have loved you since the first time I laid eyes on you. I remember everything I said. Everything you said. Everything that happened that night. I love you, Cassidy Alyssa Ames. I’m pretty sure that you love me too.”

  Tears were falling down her cheeks, and all she could do was nod her head. He remembered everything. He remembered, and that was all that mattered to her. He hadn’t used her and he hadn’t betrayed her, he loved her and only her.

  Andrew looked down at her, his heart in his eyes, and she nodded slightly. He wasted no time, but crushed his lips to hers. He wrapped his arms around her and held her closely as he deepened the kiss. Cassidy moaned as she wrapped her hands around his neck, loving the taste of him, missing the way he kissed her, the way he touched her, the way he pleasured her.

  “I love you, Cassie,” he whispered when he pulled back.

  “I love you too, Andy.” She smiled at the words and again their lips met passionately.

  Cassidy grabbed the front of his shirt and began to pull him to the couch. Andrew smiled against her lips and followed her. She pushed him down to the couch and straddled his lap, never breaking the kiss.

  “God, I’ve missed you,” she whispered as she trailed kisses down his jaw to his neck. She looked up at him suddenly.

  “What’s wrong?” he asked.

  “You are never drinking vodka again,” she said.

  He laughed. “Baby, I’m never getting drunk again,” he said and captured her lips with his.

  Cassidy pulled away again. “Does Rach know? You know about…”

  “She knows everything. She helped me at our party actually,” he said, trying to kiss her again.

  She held her hand up to his mouth. “What do you mean, she helped you at your party?”

  “She helped me figure out what happened. Well, she told me not to get drunk and see what you said.”

  “Wait, you weren’t drunk that night?”

  He smiled sheepishly. “No.”

  “You little trickster. Like I said before, you are never drinking heavily at that party again.”

  “I promise you, Cassie, you will never have to carry me up those stairs again. In fact, I can promise you that I will be the one carrying you up the stairs.” He smiled, and she laughed before resting her head on his shoulder. “I love you, Cassie, there’s no one I’d rather be with.”

  “I should hope so,” she said, leaning back to look at him. “But, yes. Je t’aime.”

  “I love it when you talk to me in French,” he said.

  “Really?”

  “Yes.”

  “Vas tu m'embrasser? Tu m'aimeras pour toujours?” Cassidy smiled when his eyes flashed a darker shade of blue. "Je t’aime. I love you, Andy.”

  “I love you too, Cassie, always,” he said and claimed her lips again, answering both her questions.

  Chapter Six

  “So I hear congratulations are in order,” a tall blonde told Robert as she sat down next to him. Robert had come out of the study and walked straight to the bar, ordering a shot of tequila.

  “Who are you?” he asked darkly, not in the mood for chitchat. He was still upset about the way Cassidy had reacted to his proposal. He’d gotten down on one knee in front of a crowd of strangers and poured his heart out, and instead of being happy about it, she’d acted annoyed. It infuriated him.

  “Ashley Kingston, nice to meet you. I know Cassidy and Rachel. I saw you and Cassidy leave. Where is she?”

  “She stayed behind in the study, I came here.” He pointed to the bar, taking another drink.

  “Oh, really? Because I thought I saw Andrew go in there. Actually, he’s been in there for a while, now.”

  Robert turned to face her. She had his attention now. He’d had a bad feeling about that bastard Andrew ever since he’d met him. “What?”

  “Did you know that he loved her? I mean, I’m pretty sure she loves, excuse me, loved him,” Ashley said in an overly sweet innocent voice. “Well, congratulations again. I’m sure you’ll be very happy, and I’m sure they’re not doing anything.”

  Robert watched the blonde walk off, his fury mounting. He wasn’t an idiot. He knew she was a troublemaker, probably someone who hated Cassidy, but he feared there might be something to what she’d said. Slowly he got off the chair and walked to the study, to the same door Cassidy had dragged him through, and put his hand on doorknob. He slowly turned the knob, but the door was locked. He had to know. He pressed his ear to the wood and listened.

  “Stop it!” he heard Cassidy squeal and laugh.

  “I can’t help it, Cassie, you’re just too damn sexy,” Robert heard Andrew admit. “I love you, baby. I will never find someone as good as you.”

  “And don’t you forget it.” She began to laugh but was cut off, presumably by a kiss.

  Robert growled and stalked back to the bar. He grabbed a couple of bottles of vodka and walked up the stairs to Cassidy’s bedroom. He would wait fo
r her there. He had a few things to say to the whore he’d just proposed to.

  * * *

  “Baby, we can’t do this here,” Andrew said, pulling Cassidy’s hands away from his suit buttons with great reluctance.

  Cassidy looked down at him, her eyes sparkling. “I thought this is what you wanted. You know, your eyes go a shade darker when—”

  “Cassie, I want our first time after—”

  “After the fiasco last year?”

  “Yes, I want it to be perfect and that means no engagement,” he said, lifting up her hand. “Wow, that’s a hefty rock.”

  “It doesn’t mean anything. I don’t love him. I don’t even like the guy.”

  “Why were you with him then?”

  “He took my mind off of you. Well, sometimes.”

  “I’m so sorry, Cassie. I should have remembered. All of this is my fault.”

  She shook her head. “What matters now is that you remembered and that we are together.”

  “Which is why I can’t do this here, in your father’s study. I want it to be perfect, no engagement, no Robert, and preferably in a bed.”

  Cassidy nodded. “I’ll tell him tonight after everyone leaves. He really loves me, Andy. Actually it's not love, more an obsession, I think.”

  “Do you want me to be here when you do it?” he asked, suddenly concerned.

  “No, I can handle him. I just, well, it’s hard. I hate to hurt him, he can be a little possessive sometimes.”

  “Cassie, has he ever hurt you?” Andrew asked and prayed he hadn’t touched her.

  “No, never, it's just he had this look in his eyes, whenever we were together. I never had sex with him, Andy, if that’s what the look on your face means.” She smiled slightly and Andrew relaxed. “When we would go out,” she rephrased, “he would never let me answer my cell phone if it rang. Sometimes he’d even check who I had been talking with. He stuck to me like glue, he would call me at least two to three times every day just to ‘check up on me’.”

  “God, Cassie, I’m going with you when you tell him, I don’t want to see you get hurt.”

  “He couldn’t hurt me, Andy. He’s not like that. He might be a little possessive, but he’d never hurt me.”

  “You don’t know that, and I don’t want you to be wrong and something happen.”

  “I love you too,” she said, kissing him chastely on the lips.

  “Cassie, I’m serious,” he said, genuinely concerned.

  “I know, Andy. If I think I’m in any danger, I’ll lock myself in the bathroom and call you, okay?”

  Andrew smiled slightly and kissed her forehead. “I just don’t want anything to happen to you. We have a lot of lost time to make up for.”

  “I know, Andy, I love you too,” she said, placing her hands on his cheeks and looking up at him.

  “I’m never going to get tired of hearing those words,” Andrew said with a large grin plastered on his face. Cassidy smiled back at him and leaned in to capture his lips again.

  Cassidy heard the soft knocking first. “Andy, the door.”

  “Just ignore it, they’ll leave.”

  “What if it’s Robert?”

  “He’ll leave eventually,” Andrew said as he continued to kiss her neck. The knocking grew louder and Andrew groaned.

  “Shh,” Cassidy said, covering his mouth with her hand. “Yes?” she called out.

  “Cass?” Rachel said.

  “It’s just your sister, pansy,” Cassidy said, climbing off of Andrew. She walked over to the door and Andrew followed. He draped his arms around her waist as she opened the door slightly. “Yes?”

  “Can I come in? I’m alone, no Robert,” Rachel assured them.

  Cassidy smiled and opened the door fully.

  Rachel’s mouth broke into a smile, obviously realizing she’d just broken up a make-out session. “I guess this means that you two…”

  Andrew and Cassidy both nodded.

  Rachel squealed and reached out to embrace her best friend. “This is so exciting, my best friend and my brother. Aw, you two are too cute.”

  “Rach, could you let go of my girlfriend?” Andrew asked. “I think your exuberance is suffocating her,” he joked.

  “Ha ha, big brother. I’m just happy for you is all,” she said, hugging him too. “So have you told Robert yet?”

  “No, I’m going to tell him tonight,” Cassidy said. “Is he still around?”

  “I’m not sure. I saw him a while ago, but since then I haven’t. I just came here to tell you that everyone is gone, all the guests. I’m heading home. Are you coming, Drew, or are you going to stay here?” she asked with a wink.

  “No, I’ll go with you.” He smiled. “Meet you at the entrance,” he told Rachel, who nodded and walked back out of the study. He turned back to Cassidy. “I hate leaving you here alone.”

  “It’s just tonight, Andy. I’ll be fine. Tomorrow I’ll be a single woman.”

  “No, because tomorrow you will officially be my girlfriend,” he said, wrapping his arms around her waist.

  “I like the sound of that.” She smiled. “I love you, Andy. I feel like I’ve said that a lot tonight.”

  “I love you too, and you could never say it too often. Call me tomorrow when you get up and tell me how everything went,” he said, resting his forehead on hers. “And be careful.”

  “Don’t worry, I’ll be fine.”

  Andrew nodded and kissed her softly.

  “You’re going to have to stop that or you’ll never leave.” Cassidy smiled.

  “Okay, I’m going,” he said, kissing her once more.

  “Go, Andy, I’ll call you tomorrow,” she promised.

  Andy let go of her waist and walked out to meet his sister. Cassidy followed him and waved to them as they walked out the door.

  * * *

  Cassidy shut the door behind Andrew and Rachel and locked it. She turned around and leaned against it, feeling like she was in a fairytale. He loved her, and always had. She couldn’t help but giggle and jump up and down a little. She was so happy, nothing could change that, not even to facing Robert.

  She looked around the first floor, but there was no sign of Robert. Maybe he’d gone back to the hotel. As much as she wanted to break things off with him, she really didn’t want to do it tonight. She didn’t want him to ruin what had turned out to be one of the best nights of her life.

  In fact, everything was really quiet. She didn’t even hear the staff in the kitchen and wondered how long she and Andrew had been in the study.

  Slowly, she ascended the main stairs and made her way to her room. She didn’t bother turning on the upstairs hallway light, she knew where she was going. When she opened her bedroom door, she swore she could smell alcohol, but pushed the thought aside. She took off her shoes and tossed them across the room before walking into the bathroom. She unzipped her dress and slipped on her pajama pants and camisole. She opened the door and draped her dress on the bed and walked to the light switch and flicked it on.

  Robert sat on her small sofa. “Hello, Cassidy,” he said gruffly.

  Cassidy shivered at his tone and knew something was wrong. She looked around and saw the empty bottles of vodka at his feet. “Hey, Robert. I thought you had gone back to the hotel.”

  “No, I’ve been up here since I left you in the study,” he said bitterly.

  Cassidy saw something in his eyes she had never seen before and decided it wasn’t a good idea to tell him about Andrew tonight. “It’s really late, Robert, do you mind if—”

  “You want me to go so you can call over your fuck buddy?”

  “What?” she asked breathlessly.

  “I heard you downstairs, Cassidy. Don’t think I don’t know what you and that guy were doing in the study.”

  “We weren’t doing anything,” she lied. “I swear.”

  “How long, Cassidy? How long has this been going on?”

  “I don’t know what you’re talking about, Robert,” s
he said slowly, backing away back to the bathroom door.

  “Don’t fucking lie to me, Cassidy!” he roared and stood up.

  “Please, Robert—”

  “You’re a fucking whore!” he yelled and closed the distance between them in a few strides before she had a chance to get into the bathroom.

  “I’m not a whore! I love him, Robert! I don’t love you, I never did. I don’t know where you got the idea that I did.”

  “Shut up! You’re a lying bitch!” he said, hitting her across the cheek.

  She yelped at the contact and tears welled up in her eyes. “Don’t you fucking touch me,” she said seriously. “I will scream as loud as I can if you do. The staff will call the fucking police.”

  “Aw, sweetie, I gave them the night off. I told them I wanted to celebrate with my fiancée, and they thought that it was a good idea.”

  Tears fell down her cheek when she realized everyone in the house was gone. Maybe she should have asked Andrew to stay. Robert was scaring the shit out of her.

  “I thought we had a good thing going, I thought you and me were something special,” he muttered, angling his body so that it blocked her way into the bathroom.

  What was she supposed to say? Should she lie to him? Maybe he wouldn’t do anything stupid if she could calm him down. “We did, I just—”

  “You cheating lying bitch!” he said, grabbing hold of her throat and squeezing hard.

  “Let go of me,” she struggled to say.

  “He’s the reason you never wanted me. You betrayed me for him!” he yelled, throwing her across the room, away from the bathroom.

  She put her hands out in front of her, trying to break her fall but cried out from the pain when she landed hard on her left wrist.

  Robert walked over to her and picked her up by her hair, and she screamed from the pain. “Does that hurt? Well, it’s what dirty whores deserve.”

  Cassidy pulled back her right arm and punched him with all her might.

  He yelled, and she was satisfied to see his nose bleeding. “You fucking bitch! You broke my nose!” he yelled and hit her across the face. He grabbed her by the forearm and threw her against the wall. She fell down to the ground. He pulled back his leg and kicked her a few times in the stomach. She cried out, wishing the pain would stop. He kicked her more before pulling her up.