Page 117 of Vicious Little Games

Holy shit.

Cass killed a woman because she loves me.

Isn’t that why I killed the two guards? Because I love Cass so much and hated the thought of anyone, especially those bastards, hurting her?

Is murder a normal human response when someone wrongs the person you love or are Cass and I fucked up, vicious killers because of our mafia genetics?

“I won’t ever tell Vanessa or Dante,” Cass promises. “Let’s just take a moment and pray that Vanessa doesn’t ever see you on any porn websites.”

Closing my eyes, I bow my head, and press my palms together in front of me to begin the prayer. “Dear heavenly father, I come to you in desperate need of your help. Please keep my mother off all porn sites for the rest of her life. And may everyone who knows I’m the Masked Motherfucker keep their fucking mouths shut. Amen.”

“Amen,” Cass repeats, a grin stretching across her face when I open my eyes again.

“Was that your first kill?” I ask her as I drop my arms to my sides and treat this with the seriousness it deserves.

“Yes.”

I study her face, looking for any sign of distress, or regret. I don’t see either which is a relief.

“Am I a bitch for enjoying hurting her and watching the life drain from her eyes, knowing she can’t ever touch you or threaten you again?”

“If you are, then I’m a bitch too. I felt the same way about the guards.” Pulling her to me for a hug, I tell her, “Thank you for taking care of that annoying problem for me.”

Cass doesn’t let me hold her long. She slips out of my grasp. Licking her lips, she glances toward the elevator as if about to make her escape. Instead of giving me an excuse and leaving, though, she says, “I wonder what my father would think about me killing someone.”

“If they deserved it, then Dante would be proud of you. And Amber deserved it. He expected you to kill Gavin for his betrayal.” After a long moment, I ask her curiously, “Are you going to tell him?”

She shakes her head without even taking time to consider it. “No. I can’t tell him without explaining who she was and why I did it. My father doesn’t need to know.”

“I don’t want my mom to know I’m a killer either,” I admit. “It’s pretty much what she tried to avoid since the day I was born. She didn’t want me to be a part of this mafia world of death and violence.”

“Too bad,” Cass replies. “You’re in it now and there’s no leaving it, not completely. You’re different. You’ve changed. You’ll be someone else when you go back to New York.”

Giving her a cocky grin that I know she loathes, I say, “Unless Dante makes me his heir.”

“If he does, you’ll still leave for school in the fall, right? August?”

“I don’t know,” I tell her honestly. Instead of saying I don’t want to leave her, I say, “I can’t risk him changing his mind once I leave, or having my mom change his mind when I’m not around.”

“Maybe…maybe you could run things for him on the East Coast and I can take over here,” Cass suggests out of nowhere.

Frowning at her, I huff, “Why are you always trying so hard to kick my ass back across the country? So, I’ll quit keeping you up all night? Is insomnia why you keep ending things between us? Because I can’t think of any other valid reason.”

“It’s not really all night,” she huffs. “It’s more like…half an hour.”

“Half an hour? You are so full of shit! Should I break out the timer app on my phone to keep track of how long I keep you awake begging me to go harder, faster? Bet it’s more like three or four hours.”

Cass braces her hands on her hips. “Do you always have to make everything a competition?”

“I wouldn’t have to if you didn’t provoke me by challenging me or making false allegations all the time. I like proving you wrong and rubbing my wins in your face.”

“Oh, I’m aware of how much you enjoy taunting me.”

“You do the exact same thing when you win, you know,” I point out.

“Only because you’re an arrogant prick who thinks he’s god’s gift to women.”

Chuckling, I tell her, “Maybe I should tie a bow around my dick to make it official.”

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