The Devil's Favourite Obsession

Relying on Cassian’s promise, Cixi followed Binge out of the green room alongside Marion and Lily, both of whom were still unsure whether going with the mobsters was a good idea. Their minds were already colliding with too many questions about Cixi and Cassian.

As they walked farther away from the green room, Cixi’s gaze almost drifted back, wondering whether Cassian might change his mind and follow them. But she stopped herself, reminding herself that he had already made it clear — he had business to attend to.

And those two captives were more important.

She mentally shook her head, annoyed at herself for thinking about something she had no right to expect — for example, warmth from him, like some man who cared for his fiancée, which in truth she was not, and yet... still....

Why would she expect anything from a man who had already said he was not the boyfriend type and who had somehow forgotten her existence entirely?

Cixi silently scolded herself for clinging to his memory over the past six agonising months. Yet her traitorous mind drifted straight back to their kiss... and to the unmistakably possessive way he had just pinned her to the couch.

He confused her.

He frustrated her.

First, she had been frustrated because she could not find him, and now that she had, she was still frustrated.

What unsettled her most was not his long absence from the world, nor the fact that he was living underground while the police were searching for him.

It was that he had truly forgotten her.

Which meant he did not even remember their kiss.

Part of her felt profoundly relieved. Another part felt strangely cheated, as though she alone carried the weight of a memory that belonged to both of them.

She felt betrayed by her cursed fate. She would not have been surprised if her curse had something to do with Cassian forgetting only her... and that kiss.

Perhaps the easiest way to kill that memory was to replace it.

Overwrite the memory of his lips with someone else’s.

Maybe replacing that first kiss with another would finally silence the lingering ghost of it in her head. Would it really be so terrible if she allowed herself to be reckless for once?

Perhaps that recklessness could be tonight.

And the more she thought about it, the better the idea sounded.

Yes... that sounded reasonable.

Once they finished appeasing these mobsters, they would be free, and hopefully she would find a nice enough man to kiss.

Cassian would not care anyway.

That final thought settled it.

She was going to kiss someone else just to forget her first kiss.

Binge and his men led them straight into the VIP lounge.

Cixi and her friends followed. Instead of feeling special for being in the VIP lounge, the air inside felt stifling and hard to breathe in, and the presence of the mobsters made it even worse.

Marion, Cixi, and Lily squeezed together on one lavish leather couch, their knees practically touching, while the huge men claimed the opposite seats and the surrounding ones.

A server appeared the very moment they settled.

”What would you ladies prefer to drink?” the server asked politely.

”Cola,” Marion replied flatly.

”Virgin mojito,” Lily said.

”Orange juice,” Cixi added quietly.

Binge and his comrades stared at them as though they had asked for rat poison.

The man Lily had sprayed with pepper spray chuckled darkly under his breath, his eyes still swollen and red. ”Did they come to a nightclub or a kindergarten party? Or do they think we have no moral code?”

Another man muttered, leaning forward over his knees, ”Should we fetch those bottles of milk too?”

Although they wanted to retort, they said nothing. Instead, Marion bared her teeth in a forced smile, Lily pressed her lips together and smiled thinly, and Cixi laughed out loud so everyone would think they were all having fun.

That had been the deal, after all.

”You guys are so funny!” Cixi said, forcing out another fake laugh. This time, Marion and Lily joined in.

Binge smiled faintly, knowing they were doing their part, although his dark eyes still flashed with distinct impatience. He turned smoothly to the waiting server.

”Bring the ladies three French 75s,” he ordered, completely overriding their choices. ”And Dalmore 62 on the rocks for us.”

The server nodded politely and retreated.

Cixi exchanged a careful glance with Marion and Lily without saying a single word.

Cixi exchanged a careful glance with Marion and Lily without saying a single word. Only one question weighed on all their minds: how were they supposed to pull this off when all they wanted was to run away from these men and demand answers from Cixi about her relationship with Cassian — about how she had somehow become his fiancée, and when exactly that had happened?

However, this was not the time for that.

The server arrived with the drinks, and each of them took hold of a glass.

”What do you women do for a living?” Binge asked.

Lily answered at once. ”We are coffee sommeliers. We advise clients on which coffee best suits their taste.” Lily had always known how to dress up the truth whenever she had to speak about working in low-paid hospitality jobs.

”We have never heard of such a title,” said the man with the swollen eyes.

”It is a newer profession. It probably was not available in your time,” Lily replied, then took a sip of her cocktail to hide the insult she had just delivered so sweetly.

Marion cleared her throat before adding, ”I manage properties and oversee their maintenance.”

Lily gave her a quick wink before anyone noticed.

The men nodded as though they understood, then shifted their attention to the crowded dance floor.

”Dance?” one of them asked.

The women agreed, if only because that had been the arrangement.

”You are going to dance with me,” said the man whose eyes Lily had damaged with pepper spray.

Lily gave him a forced smile.

Binge did not need to say a word. Marion understood immediately.

Among the six men, one looked more poised and cultivated than the others.

Binge asked him to be Cixi’s dance partner.