Fire & Glass
---
📖 Until You Beg
Chapter Thirteen – Fire & Glass
By Peace Lovie
---
Zariah stepped into Cassian's private boardroom like she owned it.
Because now—she did.
Cassian stood by the long table, flanked by two of his men. Papers were scattered everywhere, laptops open, phones buzzing.
But when she walked in, everything stilled.
---
"She's here," said Andre, the security chief.
Cassian didn't need the announcement.
He'd felt her presence the moment the elevator opened.
"Where's Elias?" she asked, sharp.
"He's downstairs. Running background on Luca's new shell companies."
Cassian studied her—hair up, black fitted dress, eyes cold.
Dangerous. Beautiful. Untouchable.
"You ready for this?" he asked.
Zariah stared at him.
"I was born in fire."
---
The plan was brutal:
Isolate Luca's network
Leak his offshore accounts
Trigger federal attention
And frame him for the deal her father died over
Cassian didn't like it.
Too risky. Too messy.
But Zariah?
She thrived in it.
---
"You wanted me in this world," she told him.
"Well, now I'm here."
---
At 3:47 p.m., the news broke.
Luca Ventresi under federal investigation.
Fraud. Trafficking. Weapons. Ties to foreign crime lords.
Zariah watched it unfold from the penthouse, a glass of champagne in hand.
"You started the fire," Cassian said beside her.
She smirked.
"I just gave it oxygen."
---
But fires don't stay in one place.
An hour later, the penthouse alarms blared.
---
Cassian's guards moved fast. Zariah dropped her glass, spun toward the door—
"Down! Get down!"
Gunfire.
Glass shattered.
She hit the ground as two masked men stormed in.
---
Cassian dove over her.
Shots cracked. Screams. Smoke.
One attacker dropped. The other fled.
---
Cassian pulled her up roughly, checking her body with shaking hands.
"You're hit?"
Zariah blinked. "No. You?"
"Fine," he rasped. "Stay here."
But she followed him anyway.
---
They chased the second man through the emergency stairwell. Blood on the wall. A radio buzzing.
When they finally cornered him on the 12th floor, he was holding something.
A phone.
Streaming.
Live.
To Luca.
---
Cassian ripped off the mask.
The man was young—barely older than Zariah.
"Why?" Cassian barked.
"He said you'd kill her," the man gasped. "That she wasn't safe with you."
Cassian's fist clenched.
Zariah stepped forward.
"He's lying."
The man looked at her, wide-eyed.
"No. He showed us proof. Voice recordings. Threats. He said you'd betray her—just like her father."
---
Zariah froze.
Cassian didn't move.
Then—quietly—Zariah said:
"Delete it."
"What?"
"The proof. Whatever Luca sent you. Show me."
---
The boy hesitated.
Then handed her the phone.
She opened the file.
And heard Cassian's voice.
> "Zariah's becoming a liability. If she steps out of line, I'll handle her. One way or another."
---
Silence.
Cassian didn't speak.
Zariah looked at him.
"I never said that," he whispered. "He spliced it."
But doubt crept in.
Slow. Icy.
Because it sounded real. Too real.
---
She threw the phone. It shattered.
The boy was taken away.
Cassian tried to touch her arm—she stepped back.
"Zariah—"
"Don't. Not right now."
---
Later, she stood by the balcony, blood on her heels, glass in her hair.
Cassian stood behind her, silent.
She didn't turn around.
---
"You said you'd fall with me," she whispered.
"I did."
"Then why does it feel like I'm falling alone?"
---
He said nothing.
Because even he didn't know the answer anymore.
---