Page 15 of Vicious Little Games

Sighing, Vanessa tilts her head and says, “Honey, you should be more careful. Just because you have a small safety net now, that doesn’t mean you should be wasteful with money.”

“Oh, trust me. I was furious about it,” Cole mutters before stabbing his fork into his lettuce harder than necessary.

Oops. Guess he wasn’t happy about his device being ruined. He shouldn’t have been talking shit. Everyone knows I have an awful temper. My hair color serves as a literal warning flag to not fuck with me. Cole apparently hasn’t received that message yet since he was still talking shit in the hallway.

He acts all tough and unconcerned with my father’s consequences, but I’m sure it’s just that—an act. After the close call earlier, Cole won’t even think about touching me again.

And if he does, the next time my knee won’t miss his balls.

Cole

“So, sweetie, what are your plans for the week?” my mom asks me after we finish our entrée. Some Italian pasta that had a ton of nasty tomatoes in it. I hope we won’t have to have many of these stuffy dinners together this summer.

“Oh, um, could you make a deposit to my account? If not, maybe Dante can give me a job in the casino?”

She blinks at me silently, waiting for me to provide more information, just as I was afraid of. “Why?”

“I was thinking about going car shopping.” I come up with the lie off the top of my head. I can buy a clunker, then send the rest of the money to Amber.

“Car shopping?” My mother makes it sound like I just said I was going skydiving without a parachute.

“Yeah, Mom, you know, shopping for a car so I don’t have to walk everywhere?” I withhold the word finally. Having to stay on campus or use public transportation for the past three years sucked. Now that she inherited all that money, maybe I can at least get a car out of Amber’s blackmail.

“You don't need a car, sweetie. I recently sold mine because I never drove it anymore.”

“Why did you sell your car?” I ask mostly because it was a piece of shit that was falling apart so it couldn’t have been worth more than a few hundred bucks.

“Dante's guards drive me wherever I need to go.”

“It's safer,” Dante says from the head of the table. “And as I told you earlier, you'll be assigned two guards and a vehicle which will be available any time you need it.”

“Wait. You're putting guards on me all the time, and they have to drive me around everywhere?”

My mom says, “Of course. The city can be dangerous, especially now that we're part of Dante's family.”

“I didn't have guards shadowing me at school, so why do I need protection here? Nobody even knows who I am.” Nobody will recognize my face, not unless I don’t come up with the cash Amber wants.

Seeing my mother wince before she lowers her eyes is all the answer I need. Especially when Dante lifts a single eyebrow and gives me a look that says, “You really think she would leave you unguarded after what happened last summer?”

“You had people watching me all year on campus? Great, add one more lie by omission to your giant fucking pile.”

Cass laughs from her seat next to mine and says, “Welcome to our cage, golden boy.”

“We weren't spying on you,” my mother replies. “The men were there just to make sure nobody came after you.”

With a shake of my head, my jaw clenched tight, I tell her, “I can't believe you.”

“Life is different for us now, sweetie. You had to know there would be some...uncomfortable changes.”

“Uncomfortable? I'm going to have constant babysitters reporting my every move to you and Dante? That’s way past uncomfortable. It’s invasive and unnecessary.”

“You should be glad you at least get to leave the casino whenever you want,” Cass remarks, her eyes lowered to her glass of red wine she gulps down.

I knew her father was strict, but he really doesn't let them leave the casino without his permission?

“Can you leave here whenever you want?” I ask my mom.

“Sure, I can. But I learned my lesson about complaining about guards and not taking my safety as a priority when I was kidnapped.”

---