Cassandra was twisting her bony almost translucent hands waiting for Freddie. What is taking that useless idiot so damn long! Unable to control her rage she picked up a porcelain statue of a majestic black horse standing on its hind legs. As she was about to throw it the housekeeper hurried over and snatched it from her hand.
“Madam! The Master loves this statue! It’s a priceless treasure! If you were to break it he would be very upset!”
“Moron! Do you have eyes! Can’t you see I am very upset!”
“Yes..yes, but you don’t want to anger your husband. Aren’t you anxiously waiting for his return?’
Cassandra slapped the elderly man’s face twice with a surprising amount of strength. He gritted his teeth from the stinging pain and held on tightly to the statue and bowed, “This servant knows he should watch his words, but I am only thinking of you.”
Her eyes had a malicious gleam and she smirked, “I am the only priceless treasure in this house! Hand me the statue.”
The housekeeper had no choice but to stretch out his thin arm and hand her the beautiful statue. He winced and his heart ached as she smashed the rare porcelain statue on the marble floor.
The shattered pieces flew everywhere and the horse’s broken head landed on the tip of his leather shoes. He inwardly cursed Cassandra, why did the Old Master force the poor boy to marry this heartless and selfish woman!
Cassandra felt much better listening to the tinkling sound as Nico’s favorite ceramic sculpture spintered. Watching the pieces dance on the floor she laughed, “Look what you did, you clumsy old man!” She shook her finger, “Tsk..Tsk.. My husband will be very angry…you will be lucky to keep your job!”
There was a knock at the door and Cassandra sneered, “Get the door. You can clean your mess up after I leave. If Rafael comes back, say I am sleeping and don’t want to be disturbed. Got it?”
“Yes, Madam.”
A maid coming down the stairs with a spray bottle of cleaner and cloth witnessed the ugly scene. The middle aged woman stood motionless on the third stair and bent down.Ducking her head and gasping for air, she hid hoping the scary woman wouldn’t see her. Oh my God! Poor Mr. Townes.
She waited until Cassandra left with Freddie, afraid to move for fear of being discovered.
After the front door closed she hurried over to the old man picking up pieces of porcelain. She looked at his red and swollen cheek with pity and sighed, “I will clean up. You should put ice on your face.”
Out of the corner of his eye he had seen Mildred‘s gray bun through the railing on the stairs. He knew she was hiding so as not to be punished also.
Noticing her worried expression he said in a low voice, “You needn’t worry about this old man. A little slap is nothing and I have worked for the Kostros family since before the young masters were born. I won’t lose my job.”
Mildred shook her head and raised her voice full of indignation. “ Mr. Kostros is such a kind and gentle man.That woman is poisonous. I wish he would divorce that little bitch.”
The old man glanced around and breathed a sigh of relief, “Shhh! If any of her people heard you…just keep your thoughts to yourself.” You might not see the light of day. They will tell the Madam…she will turn black to white and complain to Rafael Kostros that you are disrespectful to her. He will..well..let’s not think about his volatile temper.
In a low voice she whispered, “Such a waste of a beautiful work of art. I will get a broom and finish cleaning up the mess, please go take care of your injury.”
Freddie had a buzz after finishing four airplane sized bottles of vodka. He handed her the white roses when she got in the car. “I thought you might like them since you are upset.”
She inhaled the fragrance from the fresh roses then tossed them out the window. “I hate roses.”
“…”
“Drive to the slut’s apartment.”
He really wanted another drink, “What if she is home?”
“She isn’t. I have someone watching her apartment and studio. I want to see if there are any clues where that whore and my Nico are.”
“Do you really think he is having an affair with the woman? From all my investigation Maya Hart is an art consultant and Mr. Kostros hired her to restore some Chinese art.”
He inwardly praised himself for not pointing out the truth. Any man married to you would seek out a normal woman to be with.
” With such a beautiful woman like you as his wife, why would he?” I should flatter the crazy bitch who knows how this day is going to go. Nico Kostros wouldn’t dare have a mistress. The Old Man would have a fit.
Cassandra put on a pair of large Fendi sunglasses, “I have my reasons to be suspicious.” He hasn’t been the same since the fire. I know he blames me. We haven’t had sex and he avoids me unless Rafael guilt trips him into coming home. Even then he won’t touch me.
They pulled up to a two story red brick apartment building where Maya lived and Cassandra said, “Go over to the black car parked by the tree and get the key.”
Freddie did as he was told and walked over to the car. The man in the driver’s seat rolled down the window of the smoke filled car. “Fucking shit, she came to check herself?”
Freddie stared at the man’s face, “Lou Farris! What the hell are you doing here?! I thought you were the head of security for the Mayor.”
The man handed him the key. “Who can say no to the crazy bitch who controls Diamond Industries. I shouldn’t complain, the pay is twice as much and all I have to do is investigate her imaginary enemies. Haha..like this Maya Hart..nothing points to her having an affair with Nico Kostros.”
“I know right. We should get a drink sometime.”
“Sure.”
Freddie walked over with a complicated expression while playing with the key in his hand. Unbelievable!
He opened the back door for Cassandra and she stepped out. She was wearing a black coat, a dramatic floppy black hat and a face mask. Combined with the designer sunglasses Freddie thought she looked like a celebrity avoiding the paparazzi. Ridiculous…
After unlocking a wrought iron gate they entered a courtyard.There was a wooden bench under a willow tree and a small garden with a couple stone tables. Cassandra scoffed, “What a dump.”
Freddie glanced around and thought the area was rather comfortable looking. They walked down through the courtyard and walked up stairs to the second floor.
When Freddie opened the door Cassandra rushed in and stared at the simply furnished living room. With her hands on her hips she growled, “Bitch, I will find out where you went with my husband!”
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