Page 185 of The Monster and the Masochist

It was subtle, and she was good at hiding it, but I could tell her feet were killing her.

I kept an eye on her as she made her way around the room, politely greeting and smiling at guests as she networked.

Nolan and I had reached a sort of amicable camaraderie, and I was beginning to think maybe he wasn’t a complete fucking douchebag. He hadn’t checked Cass out once since we entered. Honestly, he seemed more interested in getting to know me, which surprised me.

Our conversation had moved from MMA to boxing, and I was genuinely enjoying myself when a couple of well-dressed women walked past us to get some appetizers from a nearby refreshment stand.

“Looks like cuntzilla is on an ass-kissing rampage,” one of the women said, and her companion snickered.

“God, I was really hoping she would fumble that case, and the partners would finally get rid of her.”

“No kidding. Honestly, I feel bad for Nolan. I can’t believe he’s stuck working with her day in and day out. He must be miserable.”

I frowned.

These bitches weren’t talking about Cass, were they?

I glanced at Nolan, who was staring at the duo with an equally dark expression on his face, confirming my suspicions.

Without thinking, I took a step toward the women. I was ready to absolutely lay into them for talking about Cass like that, but Nolan grabbed my arm, stopping me.

“Don’t. She won’t appreciate you making a scene,” he said, and anger flared in my gut.

“Are you fucking kidding me? I’m not going to just stand here and let them talk shit about her like that,” I hissed, and he pursed his lips and nodded.

“Cass is well aware of what our junior associates think about her. You think I haven’t tried to fight this battle before? If you know her, you know she doesn’t want that. You need to be professional if you’re going to fit into this world.”

He gestured to the paparazzi peppered throughout the hall.

“Any one of these jackals would love to cover a story on how Cassandra’s wife went ape shit at a fundraiser. One wrong word, and you’ll be all over the tabloids by tomorrow morning.”

His words made me hesitate.

He was probably right, but I was still so fucking furious.

“Hey, baby, still having fun?” Cassandra’s uncharacteristically chipper voice hummed next to my ear, and I jumped, surprised by her sudden proximity.

She took one look at my face, and her expression darkened.

“What’s wrong? What happened?”

“She heard Stacy and Deb call you cuntzilla. She’s understandably pissed,” Nolan said wryly, and I glanced at him, my frown deepening. They were talking about it as if it were a regular topic of conversation between them.

How the fuck had they just normalized the fact that Cass was basically being bullied at work?

Cass rolled her eyes and shot the two women in question a glare.

“Bitches,” she muttered before seeming to lose interest in them and turning her attention back to me.

“I’m done making my rounds. Want to head out soon? I love these shoes, but they’re pinching the shit out of my feet.”

I stared at her, completely baffled. She was so bubbly and happy right now, which wasn’t something I got to see very often, so I wanted to enjoy it while it lasted… But… I was having a hard time letting go of what those women said about her.

I’d literally wanted to beat the crap out of them for talking about her like that, and it was making my fucking eye twitch that I was the only one who seemed to give a fuck.

“They shouldn’t be allowed to just say shit like that about you, Cass. It’s fucking bullshit,” I snapped.

She frowned, cocking her head to the side as if she genuinely couldn’t understand why I was so worked up about this.