Page 55 of Vicious Little Games

“Prison would be a better punishment. Lots of people would try to kill him in there, every day of his miserable existence.”

“Do it,” I say with a smile.

“Yeah? His family won’t be a problem?”

“Nah. Fuck them. If his father knew what he was doing, then he deserves to rot in jail too.”

“Agreed,” Cole says. “So, it doesn’t look like there will be any wedding bells in your future.”

“He’s just the first; he won’t be my last date,” I tell him before I force my feet to walk out of his bedroom.

18

Cole

August and Mike took the pervert’s phone to the police station, telling them he dropped it at the casino while visiting over the weekend.

We haven’t heard anything about charges yet, but those things take time. I’m sure the cops will have to make sure the videos and shit were on the phone before the guards took possession of it and aren’t just setting the fucker up.

I bet it’ll be enough to get search warrants for the stores, which will lead them to the cameras and who put them there easily enough.

And while all that is fine and dandy, I still can’t figure out what’s going on with Cass, why she’s so damn set on dating more assholes and refusing to get naked with me again.

That’s where my head is at when the four of us are finishing up another family dinner tonight.

“After Flynn’s attack on Sophie, he told us that the Russians were funding him. It looks like they’ve finally decided to retaliate against me for killing Petrov,” Dante remarks as soon as he finishes his tiramisu.

“How will we find out if they’re the culprits?” my mom asks him, her brow pinched in concern.

“Well, butterfly, you’re not going to like it, but we could send Cole and Cass to some of the Russian businesses–”

“No.”

“All they would have to do is talk to employees, ours and theirs, see if anyone seems suspicious or angry at me personally.”

“I said no,” my mom repeats as if he didn’t hear her the first time. “It’s too dangerous.”

“All in a day's work in the mafia,” Dante replies. “Besides, the kids will take their guards with them and be armed at all times. Cass has proven to me that she can take care of herself. Cole too.”

“It’ll be fine, Mom,” I assure her. I mostly just like the idea of time with Cass outside of the penthouse walls. It’ll sort of be like our own date. “They’re bound to love me, right? Yuri’s charming, handsome, long-lost grandson come to fill his shoes?”

“Don’t make me barf up my tiramisu,” Cass mutters.

Glancing at her plate, I point out, “You barely touched it.”

“Cole’s right. He’ll probably be relatively safe,” Vanessa huffs. “Cass can make her own decision, but she will be in more danger...”

“I'll do it," she says right away. “Just tell us what you want us to do.”

“Okay,” Dante says, looking uneasy thanks to my mom pointing out the danger to his daughter. “My people were placed in charge of each establishment a year ago. There are still plenty of Russians around though, mixed in with more of my employees now. Petrov owned bars with casinos and whores, golf clubs, restaurants, and of course he has drug dealers in every establishment.”

“I thought prostitution was illegal in Vegas,” I remark.

“Oh, it is,” Dante responds. “And it’s why I don’t deal in them. Petrov got around the law by calling his girls ‘escorts.’ When I took over, I got rid of most of them, only keeping a few for his regulars. I don't particularly like being in the flesh industry, and Lochlan would probably prefer if we didn't cut into his business. But for now, there are still a handful of whores. They don't take any new customers upstairs, only vetted regulars, so we don't have to worry about the police doing any type of sting operations. Now that Lochlan has finally given me his law enforcement contacts, the blackmail he has on the higher ups, it's no longer much of a concern.”

“So, you want me and Cass to just wander into some of these businesses and hang out, chat up whoever is chatty?” I ask him.

“Exactly. By being on the ground, you will hopefully see or hear things the others could've missed. Especially you, Cole. I don't want you to hide the fact that you’re Yuri’s grandson, or my potential heir. Brag about it, act like you hate me, do whatever it takes to get in with the Russian holdovers. We need an inside man.”

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