Page 138 of Masters of Secrets

Nodding, Cassidy reached up to wipe away some of her tears before they could slide down her cheeks.

“I know. I’m lucky in that way. Patrick said Drew and Naomi would help me get a job, too. Something where it won’t be easy to track me down. They even… well.” She coughed. “Let’s just say they said they could even get me a new name if I wanted.”

“It sounds perfect.”

“Sort of.” Cassidy’s face crumbled. “But my friends are here. I’ve made friends here. I like living here.” And friends were all Cassidy had. Her parents had been killed in a car accident when she was in her early twenties. She had no siblings. While she had two aunts, an uncle, and several cousins, they were spread out across the country, and she’d never had much contact with any of them, even when her parents were alive. She hadn’t had a close family, which was why she valued her friends so much.

All of which were things they’d talked about in previous sessions, so Julie knew how hard it would be for Cassidy to leave.

“You won’t be far enough away to prohibit visits. And there are definitely ways to keep in touch, even without social media. You can talk with your friends every day if you want.”

“That’s true. It won’t be the same, but…” Cassidy perked up a little. “And I know there’s a club in Pittsburgh.”

“The Outlands.” Julie smiled at her. “It’s a very nice club, especially since the renovation. Kind of a cross between Marquis and Stronghold.”

“I heard Master Mitch’s dad owns it.”

“He does.” Master Gavin. Incredibly hot and with a very slight Scottish accent that made the submissives swoon. Julie had met him. Even felt a little swoony herself, though she had no desire to do the submissive thing, and he was utterly devoted to his formerly ex-wife, now wife again. “He runs a tight ship, just like Master Patrick.”

And sometimes assholes slipped through, but they all did their best. That was all they could do.

Cassidy nodded but didn’t say anything. Giving her hand a little squeeze before letting go, Julie sat back.

“You don’t have to decide anything right now,” she reminded her. “There is still time to think about it.” Probably. She hoped. But it was a big move—literally—and she didn’t want Cassidy to do something she regretted later because she felt time pressured to make a choice.

There was always the chance that Don could get hit by a bus tomorrow, though they probably wouldn’t be that lucky.

“Right.” Cassidy nodded and took another deep breath. “If I… if I did move, could I keep seeing you?”

“Of course!” Julie was touched as she suddenly realized that part of Cassidy’s hesitation was not wanting to leave Julie. Of course, it wasn’t quite the same as not wanting to leave friends behind, but it still warmed her to know she was part of Cassidy’s decision-making process. “We can do video appointments. I also won’t feel hurt if you decide you want to meet with someone in person. I can make you a list of recommendations if you decide that’s the case.”

“Okay, thank you. I’d want to stick with you for now. If I moved.”

Julie could hear the change in Cassidy’s voice just from having talked it through with her. She didn’t sound as uncertain. And the addition of “if I moved” was more of an afterthought than a caution. If Julie was a betting woman, she’d be putting all of her money on Cassidy taking the leap. She just hoped it was far enough of a leap to get the woman away from that asshole Don.

The fact she was probably going to be doing video appointments with Cassidy from now on—because she’d been forced to change her life thanks to a shitty man—made her want to scream. She hid it behind a smile for Cassidy, though. Now that Cassidy was actually looking hopeful about the future, she didn’t want to ruin that for her.

She was in a seriously bad mood, though. Maybe she should cancel her date with Connor.

Chapter Twenty

Julie

Canceling might have been the better idea. Julie had hoped that the drive to Connor’s would help even out her emotions, and it had a little… but she was still pissed. At the world. At society. At men. Even knowing Connor was nothing like that asshole Don didn’t totally help because then she just felt guilty about subjecting him to her bad mood. He didn’t deserve that. He sure as hell hadn’t earned it.

But here she was. As much as she’d wanted to go home and just rage privately, she hadn’t wanted to cancel the date.

Especially after he’d texted her a picture of the brisket he was smoking. He’d smoked a whole brisket for her. That was expensive. And time-consuming. She would have felt so bad about canceling, knowing all the time, money, and effort he’d put into dinner with her.

I’m mad at the world, and everything I can’t do to right its wrongs didn’t seem like a good enough reason to hurt his feelings.

At the same time, she could feel how on edge she was. Connor deserved a better date. A better version of her. One that was focused on him and properly appreciative of everything he’d done for her. Not one that was distracted by how shitty the world was and how unfair it was that Dickhole Don got to run around harassing and intimidating Cassidy with impunity.

Closing her eyes, she took several deep breaths. In through her nose. Out through her mouth. In through her nose. Out through her mouth. While she did so, she pictured balling up all her negative energy, all her anger, all her frustration and sending it straight into orbit into the sun to explode in fiery demolition.

Too bad she couldn’t do the same thing to Dickhole.

Stop it. You’re ruining the exercise.