Page 109 of Vicious Little Games

Less than two minutes later, my guard, Brian is his name apparently, walks through the open office door in his usual black suit.

“Hey, Bri.” Bri? Maybe Eli gives everyone nicknames. “Thanks for meeting with us,” Eli says to him, still seated in my father’s chair like he’s king for a day. “Quick question. If I strung you up by your ankles from the chains in the basement, put a knife to your dick, and asked you who Cass here is fucking, your answer would be...”

“Cole.” He blurts his name out in less than a second.

“Oh my god!” I exclaim, jumping to my feet to turn to face the man. “How did you...”

“You two have been making eyes at each other all summer,” he replies simply.

“Making eyes?”

“Yeah, eye contact, as in the look that says, I can't wait to fuck you again.”

“That…that is not true!” I argue.

“I've been talking with Sam, August, and Mike, trying to figure out how to handle this when Dante finds out.”

“And he will find out,” Eli says confidently. “I can't believe he hasn't noticed yet.”

“Wow,” I huff before sitting back down, elbows on my knees, face buried in my hands. Everyone knows. It’s only a matter of time…

“So, what is the plan?” Eli asks Brian. “Since I'm now in the same category as being fucked over by their stupidity.”

I look up in time to see the guard shrug his wide shoulders. “Our plan is to deny noticing anything, let the boss assume that they were better at hiding it than they were, so we never noticed anything. It's not like we are ever inside the penthouse. And they've never fucked in the SUV or while we’re guarding them, so we figure we should be clear.”

“Well, hell. Good for you all, but now I’m fucking screwed,” Eli grumbles. Pushing the executive chair back a little, he props up his feet on my father’s desk, crossing them at the ankle as if he has nothing to lose. “I live in the penthouse. I won't have the same plausible deniability as you four. Dante will know that I know and kill me for not telling him. Which means…” He looks at me then heaves a heavy sigh. “I have to tell him.”

“No, Eli!” Surging from my chair, I plant my palms on the desk in front of him. “You don't have to say a word! I swear that once my dad and Vanessa are back, it's over for good.”

He scoffs at that. “Yeah, right.”

“It is. Cole is leaving for New York soon. Once he’s gone, it'll be like it never happened, especially since I plan on marrying Alistair or someone else soon.”

“Why in the world would you marry...” Eli trails off then grits his teeth. “Brian, leave and shut the door,” he orders the guard like he’s his boss. When the door shuts, he holds up a finger to me. “No, nope. Don’t tell me. I am fucking done trekking through your piles of shit-filled mines, woman. You swear to me it's over when Dante gets back, and I'll keep my mouth shut about you and Cole…and everything else.”

“I promise,” I agree, even if it sucks to even think about him not coming to my room again after this week. Straightening up again, I ask him with a calmness I don’t feel, “Now, will you help me with the reservations or not?”

“Fine. At least that won’t get me killed.”

“Oh, that was the other thing. I’m also going to need your help killing someone.”

Eli slams his head onto the desk again followed by each groaned word, “Jesus. Fucking. Christ.”

34

Cass

While Cole is still knocked out from the night before, his scruffy golden jaw making him even hotter than usual, I search for his phone. It’s still in his pants pocket so I retrieve it and go through it to try and find any messages from the woman blackmailing him. It’s not too hard to pick her out since her contact name is actually “cunt.”

Once I’m caught up on their conversation, I send her a quick text telling her to come to Vegas to get the rest of the money, that the flight and hotel will be covered, and someone will even pick her up from the airport and contact her with all the travel details. Then I copy down her phone number and delete the sent message before blocking her.

This bitch has bothered Cole for the last time.

Then, well, the next trick to pull off will be a little bit trickier. I decide to make the calls from my father’s landline in his office after I compile the list of names and numbers. The first phone call of twenty will be Norman Lopez.

Clearing my throat, I try out my best apologetic assistant voice when his receptionist patches me through.

“Hi, Mr. Lopez. This is Mr. James Singletary’s secretary. I am such a ditz. You were supposed to be invited to Mr….” I check my notes to remind me of the name, “Singletary’s Sigma Chi reunion this weekend in Las Vegas. I just realized when I didn’t see your RSVP that I accidentally left you off the email list. Mr. Singletary will be furious and probably fire me if you aren't able to come. He was looking forward to seeing all of his college buddies. Please tell me you don't have plans this Friday and Saturday!”

---