The Substitute Bride

"Quill, Cassie just got here. How about we let her have some rest first?" Gamora piped in, noticing the embarrassed look on her friend's face.

Quill raised his eyebrow and said in a slightly infuriated voice, "Cassie doesn't know our rules and we can understand that. You have been with me for so long. How could you not know?"

Gamora was terrified by his harsh tone. Of course she detected the warning behind his words. 'There is no such a rule. Quill just wants to get Cassie drunk and take advantage of her, ' she mused.

To avoid displeasing her boyfriend, Gamora closed her mouth and moved away from Cassie.

Cassie watched as Gamora walked up to the couch. Apparently, her friend intended to stay out of this and she had predicted that. However, she was still disappointed in her friend's actions. She glanced at the people in the booth discreetly.

She could tell by their attire and jewelry that those men were from rich or powerful families. And she knew that she couldn't afford to mess with them. 'Gamora knows these people. Why did she invite me here? How could she treat me this way?' she thought to herself.

Cassie instantly regretted accepting her friend's invitation; she wanted to compose herself and somehow change the situation she was in.

She focused back on Quill. Biting her lip, she decided to play coy with him. "Quill, you'll not ask me to drink more after I down this glass of wine, will you?" she asked.

Seeing her act cute, Quill became more fond of her and decided to let her go after she drank the wine. Waving his hand, he replied, "Of course, I won't. Just drink."

Upon hearing his promise, Cassie was slightly relieved even though she was unsure whether he would change his mind or not.

She picked up the glass and with a little raise of her chin, emptied the glass of wine with a swig.

"I'm impressed. I underestimated you. You are really good," Quill praised her, laughing and clapping.

The rest of the group complimented her as well. All of a sudden, the comfortable atmosphere filled the booth.

One of the men got up from his seat and made his way to Cassie. Offering his ha

she thought.

At this point, she wasn't worried about herself. She was worried about Nick.

'He is no match for them.'

"Who the hell are you? How dare you get in Shawn's business!" Quill barked menacingly, narrowing his eyes at Nick.

Before Nick could respond, Cassie spoke up. "Who are you? Who give you permission to meddle with my business?"

Nick was stunned to find that she was talking to him.

The rest of the group had no idea what was going on. 'Obviously she doesn't know him. Did this guy come here to rescue a damsel in distress?' they wondered.

Nick didn't know why Cassie was pretending that she didn't know him especially when he did such a noble thing and stopped the guy from slapping her a second time. He had been standing by when the others were throwing hurtful comments at her and when the guy slapped her the first time, he tried hard to control his anger. When the guy went to slap her again, he broke in and stopped him.

But Cassie was acting as if she was blaming him for getting in her business.

'Did I make a mistake? Does Cassie know these people? Is she closer to them than to me?' All of these questions started to cloud his mind.

An indescribable feeling rose in him.

Nick lowered his arm and released his grip on Shawn's wrist.

Shawn decided to let him go because he hadn't done too much harm to him. "Apologize to me and get lost!" he hissed at Cassie's rescuer.