Page 124 of Vicious Little Games

I know she loves me, so why does she keep insisting that I go back to New York? It can’t just be that she wants to be Dante’s heir. There’s something that I’m missing, something she won’t tell me.

God, she’s so fucking confusing.

And how the fuck does she think I will ever be able to just up and leave her in a few weeks?

38

Cass

“So, let’s hear the full report,” my father says as he takes his chair behind the desk in his office. “Was it just me or did it smell like smoke down in the lobby? Not cigarette smoke but the kind from the place literally burning down.”

“You set that cigar fire, didn’t you?” I ask him as I take a seat as well.

“Why would I burn down my own casino?”

Crossing my legs, I say, “I don’t know. Maybe to teach us a lesson, to see how we would handle a crisis, oh and to get the insurance money?”

“Are you accusing your own father of arson and insurance fraud?” he asks narrowing his blue eyes.

“Yes, I am.”

“I wasn’t even in the city,” he points out. “Which is step one of getting away with it.”

“Noted,” I reply with a puff of laughter.

“So, what else happened?” he asks, crossing his arms over his chest.

“There was a third-shift workers strike.”

“Oh, yeah?” His brow lifts as if in genuine surprise.

“That wasn’t you?”

Daddy shakes his head. “Nope. Definitely wasn’t me. How did you handle it?”

“I didn’t. Cole did,” I admit. “He gave the employees everything they asked for within minutes to get them back to work.”

“Fuck,” he mutters while reaching a hand up to rub his temples. “That boy is going to bankrupt me if I make him my heir, isn’t he?”

“No.”

Dropping his hand, Daddy stares at me silently. I’m almost afraid he can see the truth about me and Cole on my face. Then he asks, “No? You’re actually going to defend your enemy?”

“He’s not my enemy, he’s my competition,” I clarify. “And I don’t think he would intentionally bankrupt you if you put him in charge. I do think he would give away half if not more of your wealth to charity.”

“Like mother like son, huh?” he mutters. “Vanessa gave her father’s inheritance away.”

“She didn’t need it now that she’s married to you.”

“No, I guess she doesn’t, does she?” He frowns a moment before saying, “She’s putting a lot of trust that our marriage will last.”

“It will, won’t it?” I ask him.

“Yes, it will. I didn’t think about it in those terms. Her confidence in our marriage makes me love her even more.”

“Anyway,” I groan with a roll of my eyes. “Other than the strike and the fire, mostly it was only minor emergencies like staff calling in sick at the last minute.”

“Such a shame,” my father remarks with a small grin that I know means he was behind the staff shortage.

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