As she removed her glasses and rubbed her eyes wearily, a heavy sigh escaped Cassandra's lips. She sat at her desk, surrounded by paperwork. Contracts, bills from suppliers, accounts, anything that she could go through to see if there were any discrepencies, any clue as to whether Drummond had maybe managed to infiltrate her club. He may have been lying low for two years, yet that didn't mean that his reappearance was a spur of the moment decision, something he'd just thought of on a whim.

This would've been something that he'd have working towards ever since they'd been led to believe that he was no longer a threat to them. So far, she'd found nothing, everything seemed to be in order. However, in spite of knowing that she should feel relieved at that, Cassandra couldn't help but wonder if there was something she was missing.

Locking the accounts back up in the filing cabinet, Cassandra bent down to open up the bottom drawer, dragging out the staff logs past and present for Mezmer. When they'd first opened the club, herself and Jimmy had been responsible for handpicking those that worked for them. It had remained that way until Jimmy had felt that as manager, Taylor should have a say in who she was working alongside most nights of the week.

As far as Cassandra could assertain, Taylor was doing a sterling job. Yet it was the need for peace of mind that made Cassandra want to check every last detail of what was going on within the confines of her club. She sat back down, and began the slow arduous process of going through just who'd been in their employment these past two years.

Cassandra didn't skim the pages, she sat drinking in every last morsel of information about each employee. The buzzing of her phone dragged her from her concentration. She frowned when she saw who was disturbing her, then worry set in.

"Is everything ok with Emily?" she asked, dismissing the need to greet Brian in a more welcoming manner.

"She's fine Cass, I was just calling to see if you were ok and to find out where you were. For some reason your brother's concerned about you," Brian replied, trying to sound as though he could care less about her whereabouts.

"I'm at Mezmer and I'm fine, I'm just going over some paperwork."

"Cass, I'm not fucking dumb, I know you're worried. Look, I'm meeting up with Jimmy tomorrow to discuss everything, why don't you join us and we can help you," Brian offered casually.

"I don't need help Brian, I just need to make sure that all is well."

Cassandra could hear the tiredness in her own voice, yet she knew she couldn't leave any stone unturned, not until she was absolutely sure.

"We're all in this together Cass, it's about time you realised that."

"The only reason we're all in this together Brian, is because you bastards couldn't leave well alone, you got greedy and destroyed a man. If it wasn't for your need to have a finger in every fucking pie available, life would be peachy right now," Cassandra threw at him.

"Know what Cass, I think you misunderstood what we were trying to help you become over the years. It was strong willed and able to handle any situation, not a bitter twisted cunt." Brian snapped. "The offer's there, take it or fucking leave it."

The connection went dead as Brian cut the call short. Cassandra threw her phone back on the desk. As much as she hated to admit it, Brian was right. Everything about this fucked up situation had made her bitter. Yet she did nothing to rectify that. She allowed Brian to be an invisible weight around her neck, standing in between herself and any closure or happiness she may hope to find in the future.

Yet she knew the bitterness wasn't born from the past, or the events that had led to them being apart. It was aimed at herself, for allowing herself to wallow in moments of hidden selfpity, for regretting her decision to believe that she would be better off without him. Cassandra had always hoped that Matt would help her overcome all of that. All it did was keeper her closer to Brian and what she'd tried to leave behind. It was an endless vicious circle.

Cassandra resumed looking over the staff records, trying to fill her mind with something other than what was her own doing. As she read further down the page, she stopped briefly. She pondered on what she was reading for a moment, before retrieving her phone, hitting speed dial. On hearing Jimmy's voice she asked one simple question.

"When and where are you meeting Brian tomorrow?"

***********

Matt rested against the hood of his car whilst he waited for Cassandra to return home. He wasn't entirely sure what he was going to say when he saw her, all Matt was aware of was that he needed to know that he hadn't lost her. He was fully conscious of the mistakes he made, but at the time, Cassandra hadn't been such an important part of his life.He'd never intended for her to be. They'd worked together well, and Matt would be lying if he hadn't been attracted to her.

Yet Cassandra wouldn't have even glanced at another man when she was with Brian, or Brian another woman, in spite of the way he was now when it came to women. Back then, Cass had been all he needed. And that was how Matt felt about her now, even though he knew he was still competing with Brian in many ways.

Cassandra pulled up on her driveway, not acknowledging Matt's presence as she got out and headed for indoors. However, the open front door that she left behind her as she stepped inside was taken as a silent invitation to follow her. Matt shut the door quietly, finding her in the spacious kitchen, retrieving a bottle of wine from the fridge. He watched her intently as she took two glasses from the cabinet. Well, she wasn't intending on asking him to leave just yet then, he mused.

Cassandra handed him a glass, maintaining the silence. Matt felt like some dumb lapdog, hot on her heels as she made her way toward the living room. Before she had a chance to sit, Matt took her glass from her hand, settling it on the coffee table alongside his and grabbed her hand. His hazel eyes bore into her blue ones, as if trying to figure out just what was going on behind them.

"Just what are we doing Matthew?" she asked quietly.

Matt knew where this was heading, he had to pick his answer carefully. There had been times over the last few months when Cassandra had questioned what their relationship would do if everyone were to find out. Realtionship was a term he used loosely, because in theory it was nothing more than sex a couple of times a week. There was no courtship, there were no dates and being a couple in front of their friends.

Yet despite that, Matt loved her. He'd actually fallen for a woman he couldn't really have, because she would never allow herself to be his completely. It was at times such as these that Matt had discovered that distraction was the best form of defence, to prevent any inevitable doubts or arguments she might wish to raise. He cupped his large hands around her face.

"We're not letting my mistakes come between us," he murmured as his lips found hers.

Cassandra made a halfhearted attempt to pull away, that was quickly forgotten as Matt enveloped her in his arms. His hands slid under her top, his fingers light on her skin. Cassandra reached for his hand and led him towards the stairs. They fell through the bedroom door and onto the bed, a tangled mess of limbs, Matt kissing her feverishly. His lips strayed to her neck, sucking lightly near her collarbone, Cassandra tugged at the hem of his shirt. Matt sat up and pulled it over his head, tossing it to one side, sensing Cassandra's gaze on him.

"What?" he asked with a smirk. She didn't answer as her fingers trailed along the bruises that covered his taut stomach.

"Brian?" she questioned softly. tearing her eyes away from them to see Matt nod.

He went to kiss her again, only for Cassandra to move away from him.

"Cass?" he whispered.

"I'm tired Matthew, and when I look at those," she indicated towards the mass of purple and black on his abdomen "it just reminds me of why they're there."

"Don't do this Cass, don't push me away."

"I just can't be with you right now, I can't look at you without thinking about your mistakes....and mine."

Matt grabbed his shirt as he got off the bed.

"One day you might just realise what you mean to me Cass, and that I never meant for any of this to happen. And one day, you might also realise that holding onto the memories of a man that you chose not to be with is doing you more fucking damage than good. You need to let the fuck go Cassandra."

Cassandra hung her head as he walked out the room, tears of anger and frustration burning her cheeks as they fell silently. It felt as though everything around her was crumbling, and she didn't know how to make it stop.