Brianna Acero and the Second One's Return

67. Cassie defends my honor

"How is that possible?" yells Diana, whirling towards her father in shock, fury written all over her face.

Her cheeks are red, and her teeth are clenched so tightly together that I fear she will never be able to open her mouth again.

When we got back to the Mar the first thing Diana demanded was to see her father. When we made it to his office, we found Team A, Mara, and Jayson and Cassie all sitting around and chatting while they kept an eye on Khan, who was too busy looking at his computer to notice much else. Diana slammed the door closed with such brute force that I was surprised it didn't fly off its hinges, but it sure did cause the President to jump. He smiled at first, but then he noticed her outraged expression and stiffened. Now we all watch as Diana paces in front of her father, watching him like a predator would its prey.

"Diana, sweetheart, calm down," says the president, reaching out to try and soothe his daughter. But she moves away from him, flinching as if he'd burned her, putting her hands up and leveling him with an icy stare.

"Calm down?" she looks at the floor and laughs.

"Calm down!" she shouts "You expect me to calm down when I learned that my uncle, who is supposedly dead, has miraculously come back to life, and has been murdering innocent people? And you didn't think to share this little piece of information with me? You didn't tell me anything, nothing about how Elite's basically have a target painted on all their backs, or the pain they were all suffering because of our messed up family?" She spits at him, words lined with poison.

"And how was I supposed to know that Dominic was alive?" Roars the president, watching his daughter with sorrow in his eyes. "I had to watch him die Diana, my brother! Do you think I wished for any of this?"

Diana groans in frustration, burring her hands in her hair and pulling at the roots, before she turns her anger towards the person closest to her. Me.

"And you," she says, pointing an accusing finger at me, poking me in the chest so hard it hurts.

"Brianna," she seethes, as if my name has personally offended her. "All this time, you have been lying to me. Has our entire friendship been a lie? Did you just try to get close to me so you could spy on my father? This," she says, gesturing between the two of us, "this is why I don't trust easily. I was stupid to think that this time would be any different."

Hurt starts to shine through all the anger, and I swallow at Diana's accusations, taking her blows with as much dignity as I can. But on the inside, I am hiding behind a wall of shame, because everything she is saying is true. Except for one part, one key component to this entire situation.

"I never meant to hurt you," I say softly, not wanting to raise my voice and worsen the already bad situation. "I really do think of you as a friend, and I'm really glad to have gotten to meet you."

She snorts, smiling, but there is no warmth behind it.

"Well I'm starting to regret ever meeting you."

Ouch.

I can't say that didn't hurt a little. Cassie, who had been listening in on our conversation squares her shoulders and steps in front of me, standing eye to eye with Diana.

"Well that's your loss princess, because Bri is the best person you will ever have the pleasure of meeting. You should feel honored just for standing in the same room with her."

I put a hand on my best friends' shoulder before she continues, stopping her in the middle of her rant. She turns to me, frown etched into every feature. I convey to her with my eyes that which I cannot with words, my gratitude for her being here, my feeling of relief for her standing up for me, but also the need to solve my own problems myself.