Seeing Cassandra, Tony was overwhelmed with mixed emotions. All these years, he had been searching for her, wanting to avenge his parents.
Yet she had sold Jasper Industries and vanished entirely. More than a decade had passed without the slightest word from her.
He had thought she was dead, starved to death like a beggar on some street in Europe. That was why he no longer felt troubled about meeting her in his dreams; instead, he felt that everything was over.
But now, when the living, breathing Cassandra appeared before him with a fully armed elite guard, he did not know what to say.
Should they exchange pleasantries after so many years apart? Or was it a fight to the death between enemies?
Tony, usually so sharp-tongued, fell silent. Hugging his car battery, he sat weakly back down on the bed.
"Now that's more like it." She walked over, set the lantern in her hand on the small table, pulled out a cigarette and lit it between her lips. After taking a deep drag, she exhaled smoke and looked Tony up and down as though inspecting merchandise. "You look thinner than you did on television. Or maybe those two little models you had your arms around made you look fat."
"Kill me." Tony turned his head away. "I've always wanted to kill you. You feel the same way, don't you? Now I'm in your hands. You won."
Cassandra revealed a strange smile. She reached out and scratched Tony's chin, making his mustache rasp beneath her fingers. "No, Tony, my dear. I'll let you live—live in agony, just like me. You have no idea how much I suffered after selling the company, how much effort it took to build Shadow Industries into what it is today. You're still useful to me."