Page 64 of Vicious Little Games

“So, my dad is just jealous of him?” Cass asks.

“Did you miss the part about this guy being responsible for my mom getting beat on by Russian assholes?” I ask her.

“She had a few bruises, but it wasn’t anything major. And that’s how she ended up catching my dad’s attention. He moved her into the penthouse while her face was all fucked up.”

“That’s not all,” Eli says as the elevator finally reaches the basement. He leads the way into the empty concrete level to the man hanging naked off to the side underneath the florescent lights. It’s such an odd sight that I almost miss it when Eli says, “Gavin here also ran his mouth about Vanessa and Dante, which got back to Petrov.”

“Ran his mouth about what?” I ask. “How did it get back to Yuri?”

“I’m sorry, Eli! Please don’t kill me!” the man cries, tears streaming down his face. Part of me even feels sorry for him.

Or it did until Eli says as he stares up at the man, “Gavin saw a private photo Dante sent me of him and Vanessa looking…cozy together in bed. He brought it up with Mitchell when he apologized for setting him up–”

“I only told Mitch that Vanessa looked happy with Dante because he was worried she was being held against her will! The mobster was obsessed with her!” the man shouts. “That’s the truth. I swear. Please don’t kill me. I’ll do anything. Anything!”

Turning to me and Cass again, Eli says, “Whether he had good intentions or not doesn’t matter. Mitchell then informed Petrov that Dante and Vanessa were a real couple, and that Dante was in love with her.”

“And that was bad why?” Cass questions Eli.

“Because your dad and his mom had a plan to act like she was his hostage only, turn Vanessa over to Petrov to reunite with his long, lost daughter so she could get close enough to kill him.”

“But Yuri knew they were lying straight away,” I say in understanding. “Which is why Yuri kept my mother locked in a shed for a week without food and beat her every day for hours.”

“Ding, ding, ding,” Eli deadpans. “We have a winner folks. In this world, even small secrets can have catastrophic consequences if they get out. The information Mitchell got from Gavin here could’ve cost Vanessa her life. Thankfully, Dante came up with a brilliant plan to rescue your mom, which included the silent skills of me and a few friends.”

“So, we should kill him?” Cass asks, causing Gavin to sob louder.

Eli pulls a flask from inside his suit jacket and takes a big swig. “Should you kill him? Should you kill me for letting the asshole see the image? That’s the question that has to be answered, isn’t it?”

Thirty minutes later of standing around, listening to the man’s explanation and pleas while Eli gets drunk, Cass comes up to me and asks, “Which way are you leaning?”

“Honestly, I don't know yet,” I admit. “My mom could've died because of him, but I don’t think he meant any harm.”

“Thank you! Yes, thank you, Cole. I didn’t mean any harm to Vanessa, I swear. I was in love with her. You have to let me go, Cole. That’s what Vanessa would want you to do!” Gavin shouts, making me want to punch Eli in the dick for telling him our names. For some reason, when the captive begs me personally, it makes it harder to want to hurt him.

“He fucked up and he should pay.” Cass looks over at the restrained naked man and sighs. “But he's so damn pretty.”

“So, you think we should let him live just because he's pretty?” I scoff at the sentiment, mostly hating that she’s not wrong. I may be a straight man, but I’m not blind. He’s got a perfectly tanned, sculpted body with a movie star handsome face. I bet he made a killing stripping.

“That's the same reason why I couldn't cut him up,” Eli interjects with a sigh as he climbs onto a work bench while staring at the man. “I thought the bastard was so beautiful I couldn't ruin even an inch of his skin. Now I think I want to flay him open from head to toe.”

“Seriously?” I ask.

“Please, Eli,” Gavin begs. “Please don't let them kill me. You can fuck me however you want as many times as you want for the rest of your life!”

“Wow,” I mutter.

Cass raises a single red eyebrow at Eli. “Does my father know you fucked him?”

“Oh, yeah. Dante walked in when I was edging him with my mouth the night he humped Vanessa on stage.”

“You...edged him with your mouth?” Cass repeats.

“He sucked his dick but wouldn't let him finish, pulling off every time he got close,” I explain to her.

“That's it,” Eli says, pointing his finger at me.

“I knew what he meant,” Cass huffs.

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