Resurrection

The Cassidy's

P.O.V: Roman

I was pulled from a deep sleep by the sound of Lillian's voice, I rolled over slightly and tried to open my eyes. My head was pounding, we had gone hard last night, but it had been good.
"Roman!" I heard Lillian call more urgently this time, I forced myself to sit up then and blink my eyes open.
"Yea?" I managed to get out as I rubbed my eyes with the palms of my hands.
"Roman, come here." The tone in her voice set me on edge and I quickly stood grabbing my shirt which I had clearly discarded at some point and pulled it on.
"What's wrong?" I asked as I headed towards the open door.
"Good morning Mr. Godfrey." I heard the Sherif say as I blink a few times as I tried to orientate myself against the bright morning sun.
"Morning Sherif, what can I do for you?" I asked as I ran my hand through my hair slowly.
"It looks like you had a rough night." He commented and I just nodded as I quickly reached up and wiped my nose quickly to make sure that there was no coke left under it. "Where were you this morning between the hours of one and three?" He asked seriously and my brow furrowed.
"We got home just before two, and we were here ever since." I said seriously and he nodded as he jotted it down.
"It's just a formality to check."
"What is this about Sherif?" I asked still trying not to grimace at the sun which was making my headache worsen ten fold.
"Justin Dalton and his wife Tiffany were found dead this morning in a car rented by your company two miles from your Mill." He said and I glanced down at Lillian who inhaled deeply.
"That's terrible." I said softly, I wasn't as compassionate as I would have been before he tried to come onto Lillian the night before.
"I have been told that you and Mr. Dalton had a bit of a run in last night at your party." He said and I sighed.
"It was not a run in, he was drunk and he was trying to come onto my fiancee, he was aggressive and I asked him to leave, he left on his own volition." I said seriously and Lillian nodded in agreement.
"H-how was he found?" Lillian asked softly.
"He was found in the back of the SUV you rented, both him and his wife were completely drained of blood, and the driver was missing."
"I can find out who was driving them." Lillian volunteered quickly.
"That would be very helpful Miss. Cassidy." He nodded and Lillian hurried upstairs to our office.
"You don't think we had anything to do with this do you?" I asked seriously then and he shook his head.
"In all honesty Mr. Godfrey, I think you and your associates were a little too wasted to do anything last night, as I say it is a formality." I nodded and sighed as we waited for Lillian to return.
I eventually heard her head downstairs, I turned around and watched her as she headed over.
"The drivers name was Christian Whitehead." She said as she handed the Sherif the documentation she had on the rental.
"Thank you both for the help." He said as he folded the documentation and pocketed it quickly, he tipped his hat before heading back to his cruiser. Lillian closed the door quickly then and leaned against it slowly as she sighed.
"You okay?" I asked softly as I laid my hands on her shoulders gently.
"I'm fine." She sighed as she reached up and brushed some of her hair from her forehead. "I need to go get done." She said and I nodded as I let her hurry upstairs past me.
"Shit." I sighed as I headed back into the living room and started to tidy up the mess from last night. I brushed the remaining coke into my palm and washed it down the sink before I threw the burnt out joints in the bin and the empty bottle into the recycling. Destiny and Peter were both still sound asleep, they had still been awake after I had fallen asleep, so they were undoubtedly exhausted.
I started to make myself an espresso as I grabbed the jug of nutrient from the fridge and poured myself a cup. I took a quick sip as I tried to fathom what had happened that morning, but I knew why it had happened. Delphine was trying to get back at us for her little rat-bastard offspring, this wouldn't look good for the Institute, but anyone with half a brain would be able to see that we had nothing to do with it.
I finished up my coffee and took a quick sip before walking back into the lounge, I sat down on the couch where Lillian had been sleeping and sat down slowly. I pulled a cigarette from Peters pack which was discarded on the coffee table and lit up.
I leaned my head back and exhaled deeply as I heard Nadia wake up, the one great thing about this house was its thick walls. We were quite rowdy last night but she had been none the wiser, it was good to not have her hidden away in that padded cell of hers anymore.
I set my cup down and stubbed my half smoked cigarette out before I headed upstairs to her room. Maria was just about to pick her up when I opened the door slowly.
"It's okay Maria, you cant take the day off." I said as I walked over and picked Nadia up slowly.
"Are you sure Mr. Godfrey?" She asked and I nodded as I kissed Nadia's forehead gently, I heard Maria leave then and I smiled as I carried Nadia into the bathroom. I ran her a bath and got everything ready for her the way I had seen Lillian do many times before.
"Dada." She said softly and I smiled despite myself.
"Yea angel." I said as I undressed her slowly and laid her down in the bath as I started to wash her blonde curls.
"Where Lily?" She asked softly and sighed slightly.
"Lily is getting done, she'll be here soon okay? We are going to daddy and Lily's work today." It felt wrong for her to call me dad and for her not to call Lillian mum, but we had agreed that I wouldn't force it.
I finished bathing her then and slowly took her out and wrapped her plush white towel around her before picking her up slowly.
"This is different." I heard Lillian say and I smiled as I carried Nadia out to her room.
"I gave Maria the day off, so I'll take her with me to the tower while you give your speech." I smiled as Lillian held her arms out to Nadia who leaned forward slowly.
"You better go get done then hot stuff." She winked as she carried Nadia into her room to dress her. I smiled as I watched them before heading into our room to get done, I took my shirt off and examined my scared arms in the mirror and sighed.
I turned the shower on and slipped my pants off before getting in under the warm water, I was very hung over, but I had to be there for Lillian today. I had a quick shower and stepped out towelling myself dry with my large black towel. I headed into our closet then and pulled on a pair of black skinny jeans and a grey button down which I tucked in and paired with a black leather jacket and a pair of more casual boots.
There was no way in hell that I was going to actually go into work like this, I would be absolutely no use at all today.
I headed out after just brushing my hair out, I grabbed a pair of tortoise shell sunglasses from one of the shelves in the closet and slipped the on my head as I headed out to find Lillian. She had clearly woken the Rumancek's who sat with their heads in their hands.
"Morning guys." I said loudly and watched as they grimaced, I laughed to myself softy as I walked over to Lillian who was feeding Lillian some porridge. She looked amazing again that morning, she was wearing a grey silk v-neck dress with some sheer stockings and a pair of white Louise Vuittons. I watched as her ring glistened on her left hand as she finished feeding Lillian and went to rinse the bowl.
"You look amazing Lil." I smiled as I kissed her brow gently.
"Thanks handsome." She grinned as she smoothed her hair out before grabbing the car keys and tossed them at me before she grabbed Nadia from her highchair.
"See you guys." I called out loudly to Peter and Destiny.
"Fuck off Roman." Destiny groaned as I opened the garage door for Lillian.
She tied Nadia in and got into the passenger seat, she looked slightly nervous and I couldn't blame her, after what had happened that morning with Justin she'd be getting a different set of questions this morning than she had anticipated.
We drove in silence to the Tower as she fidgeted with her iPad on her lap.
"You're going to be fine Lil." I said as I pulled into my parking spot which was now next to one with Lillians name on it.
"God I hope so." She sighed as she leaned forward and rubbed her temple.
"I know you will, and remember if you don't want to answer something just say that we have no comment, you're in control babe." I smiled as I patted her thigh before turning around and retrieving Nadia from her car seat.
Lillian got out and started to head up towards the front of the tower where the conference was already set up. The reporters would have been there a good half an hour before the start just to make sure that they could catch anything juicy, like the youngest CEO of one of the biggest biotech companies showing up to work hungover, but I was way ahead of them, I just wasn't showing up for work today.
They started to snap photos as soon as the three of us headed up the stairs, Lillian fell back in line with me and I took her hand in mine as we walked.
I heard my name being called in every direction as I gently kissed Lillian before she walked up to the podium where Pryce stood. She introduced him calmly and said a few words for Justin and Tiffany before Pryce walked up and proceeded to tell the press what he had told our guests last night. He went into a bit more detail than he had last night and quite a few hands went up for him and he took all of the scientific questions, but then it was Lillians turn.
She put a small smile on her face as she stepped forward slowly.
"Are there any other questions this morning?" She asked calmly and the majority of hands shot up, she indicated at a young female reporter in the front row who stood up quickly.
"I'm Nicci Han on behalf of the Hemlock Times, we are wondering if you could give an official statement from the Tower about how your driver could just go missing after two high profile figures were murdered early this morning after your party." She went straight for the jugular and I sighed as I stood slowly and bounced Nadia on my hip slowly.
"As I have already said, what happened to Justin and Tiffany Dalton is a tragedy, and their families and loved ones have the full sympathies of us here at the Institute. As for the driver of the SUV which was transporting them back to their accommodation I have passed his information onto the Sherif this morning. The service we used last night was not owned or operated by Godfrey Industries, and as a result we cannot take any responsibility for the drivers actions. We will fully cooperate with the Sherifs department on anything they need." She said smoothly and I smiled as Nadia babbled slightly. "Any other questions?" She asked and practically all hands flew up, she handled a few more about the incident with Justin, she was doing great.
She then called on a young man in the back row who stood slowly and stated that he was from Forbes, they were doing another spread on me, it felt like a bit of overkill really.
"Miss. Cassidy, I was wondering if you could clarify rumours of your and Mr. Godfrey's engagement." Lillian glanced at me as he said it and smiled.
"Mr. Godfrey and I celebrated our engagement last night in at an intimate party prior to that at the Mill. We do not have any concrete plans as of yet, but we are engaged." She nodded and called on a young woman with navy blue hair, she was definitely interesting.
"Miss. Cassidy, how does it feel to have climbed the corporate ladder because of your partner?" She asked and Lillian inhaled deeply as she cocked her head to the side slowly.
"I apologise but what publication are you from?" She asked calmly.
"I am a blogger, and I'm here exercising my freedom of speech." She said and I scoffed as I watched her.
"Well as much as I admirer you exercising your freedoms ma'am this conference is reserved for recognised publications, any more questions?" Lillian asked and I watched as the quirky woman bristled at Lillians words.
"Mike Maddison, Fortune Magazine." One of the reporters said as he stood and glanced at his note. "You are the daughter of Calvin and Shannon Cassidy, am I correct?" He asked and Lillian looked somewhat confused as she nodded, he then turned his attention to the young blogger. "I only bring up your families fortune because of the question which was just asked, I feel like some light should be shed on the fact that you are in fact not a gold digger as a lot of publications are speculating. Your families fortune is in fact double that of the Godfrey fortune, am I correct?" He asked and Lillian looked as taken aback as I felt.
"That is correct." She said softly as she glanced at me again.
"Thank you Miss. Cassidy I just wanted to set the records straight." He smiled as he took his seat once again.
"I think that that is enough questions for today thank you." That last question had clearly shaken her slightly, I also found that bit of information quite interesting, she had said that she had money, and as a mater of fact she had barely used a cent of my money, but it had never really fazed me until now.
The reporters continued to try and get their questions answered as I watched as Mike headed for Lillian, I quickly walked over as I shifted Nadia to my other hip.
"I'm sorry for putting you on the spot Miss. Cassidy, I am doing a full spread on you and Mr. Godfrey." He said quickly and Lillian looked at him slightly surprised as she shook her head slowly.
"I appreciate you trying to set the record straight Mr. Maddison."
"It irks me when people assume that woman like yourself are only after men because of their money, I hope that I haven't opened a pandoras box for you by making that public knowledge." He said and I glanced down at him curiously.
"No you haven't, but I am certain that that information being public knowledge won't stop people from speculating, thank you though." She said softly and shook his hand before he headed off towards the parking lot.
She glanced up at me and sighed as she gestured for me to follow her into the tower. I did so quickly leaving the throng of reporters behind us, Pryce was still taking a few questions but I could tell that Lillian was finished.
We headed up to my office and I set Nadia down on the carpet to let her crawl around a bit as I closed the door behind me.
"So I guess I learnt something new about you today." I said as I leaned against my desk slowly.
"I didn't think that it would matter." She said softly and I raised an eyebrow.
"Were you just going to leave me to realise how loaded you were when we got married?" I had no idea why this bugged me so much.
"Why does my money worry you Roman? It is not as if I've been a freeloader, or that I've expected you to buy me anything, quite the opposite actually." She said defensively and I sighed as I ran my hands through my hair.
"What did your parents do?" I asked softly.
"My parents didn't do shit, they were practically hippies who lived off of the land. My grandparents were gold and diamond barons, who were very smart at investing.They actually disowned my father after he married my mother, but in the end they had no one else to leave the money to so it came to them, and when they died it came to me." She sighed as she rubbed her temple.
"You freaked out when he mentioned your parents names, why?"
"Because that is a part of my life that I would much rather leave a mystery." Her tone changed slightly then as she paced, I realised then that I knew practically nothing about her past at all.
"Why?" I didn't want to dig too much, but I also wanted to know more.
"Because Roman, their deaths can be linked back to me and Donovan." She said simply and I stared at her wide eyed for a moment.
"What do you mean, did the two of you kill them?" I asked softly as I walked around and sat behind my desk.
"My mother and my father were immortal, and they controlled us Roman, we'd never get out under their hold unless we did something. They were cruel, and sadistic people who hurt others because they could, that was not what I wanted, and neither did Donovan, so yes we killed them, and I hate myself everyday because of it. Their deaths have never been solved and I've always been painted as the poor lost little girl who lost her parents at the tender age of sixteen. We did it the night my father brought me back, and that is why I hate the twelfth of December, it is the day that I became a monster just like them." Tears filled her eyes as she said it and my heart broke as I quickly walked up and pulled her to me.
"Hey, you're not a monster okay? You did what you needed to do." I said gently as I rubbed her back gently.
"I sure as hell feel like one Roman." She sniffed.
"Well you're not, my biggest regret is not getting rid of my toxic mother sooner, you saved yourself and your brother from a lifetime of heartache." I said trying to make her feel better, I didn't realise just how painful her past really was. It made sense now why her and Donovan had been on the road for years, it had a lot more to do with her past than just her supernatural heritage, she was actually running from her parents death. "You can stop running now Lil." I said softly and she peered up at me then. "You're safe now, whatever happened then happened, you don't have to worry about it anymore, okay?" I said and she nodded as I kissed her brow gently.
"I love you Roman." Her voice broke as she said it.
"I love you too babe." I said as Nadia crawled over to us, I picked her up slowly and quietly hoped that she'd never feel the way Lillian and I did about our parents.