Page 74 of Vicious Little Games

No, I want a love that’s so intense it has the potential to drown me, to pull me under and refuse to ever let me go. A soul-deep, violent type of love that lasts not just this lifetime but survives whatever comes next.

And I hate that I can never tell the one person I think I could potentially have that with the truth.

23

Cole

Tonight’s poker game at the sports bar will no doubt be just like all the others—a bunch of smug assholes speaking in Russian, trying to con me out of more money by cheating. I think Inessa is even in on it since she wanders through the room constantly to refill drinks and shit, most likely to peek at my cards. But what these fuckers don't know is that I hustled rich frat boys for the past three years to make a little side money. I'm not some sucker they can fuck over every single time.

Not that I would let them see how I really feel about them. No, I continue to lose, to let them think I’m a stupid kid. After all, I'm supposed to be working my way into their group, pretending I want to know all about my piece of shit grandfather.

All I need to know about Yuri Petrov is how awful he treated my mother. Dante told me that he starved her and beat her for an entire week last summer demanding that she tell him where I was. No telling what he did the first sixteen years of her life.

I’m certain that Yuri’s men are no different from him. None of them treat women very well. Just while I’ve been at the poker games, I’ve seen them smack female employees around and shit. The “escorts” around here are so out of it they don't even know where they are anymore. Why anyone would want to screw someone so spaced out, I have no idea.

“Back again so soon?” Inessa says when she comes up beside me at the bar. I’m having a beer since it’s only ten. I have two hours to blow but came here to distract myself rather than sit in the penthouse thinking about Cass on her date.

“I can’t seem to stay away,” I reply with a smile rather than the truth which is that I need to find out who wants Dante and his entire family dead.

“You’re early for the game,” she remarks. Resting her forearm on the bar she brushes it against mine. “I could keep you company down here or upstairs if you want.”

My balls are still blue and aching from not getting any relief after going down on Cass, but I don’t want to fuck Inessa. I should want her. Cass constantly rejects me lately, and she told me to quit coming to her room, which means I should take the hint that it’s over and done, whatever we were doing. And sure, Inessa is beautiful, but she’s also still the enemy.

But mostly, she’s just not Cass.

Taking a long swig of beer, I try to figure out how to let her down gently. “Sorry, Inessa, but I…can’t.”

“Can’t or won’t?” she asks with a tilt of her head, her pretty blue eyes narrowed at me.

“Can’t.”

“Do you look so sad and lonely because you’re having a spat with the redheaded girl? Salvato’s spoiled daughter?”

“What? No. Why would you think that?” I ask in confusion.

She shrugs as if to say it’s obvious that I want Cass. “Aren’t you two together?”

“No. Cass is just my competition.”

“Competition for what?”

Moment of truth time. Here goes nothing. Dante told me it was fine to tell them, but I haven’t done so yet. Now is as good a time as any. “A competition to see who will be your next boss.”

“Oh.” Her brow furrows as she considers that. “Salvato is going to hand over the bar to you or her?”

“Don’t sound so excited,” I reply with a chuckle at her obvious contempt. “And not just this bar, but everything he owns in the city, including all the Russian establishments.”

“Well, I think you would be great. I just don’t see the others here tolerating a woman in charge. If not for my marriage to Anton, they wouldn’t allow me to help manage this place. Not that I’m allowed to do much.”

“Cass can handle it,” I assure her. “She could handle anything.”

“I could help you win over the others and defeat her, you know. Unless you’re loyal to Salvato?” Inessa says, but I barely hear her because I’m thinking about Cass.

And thinking about her only makes me want to see her, to crash her date. Is she home or still out with the munchkin? What if she doesn’t come home but instead goes back to his place?

The odds are low. Still, thinking about another man touching her feels like I’m burning alive from the inside out, even if the chance is small.

“You know what? Tell the guys I can’t make the game tonight, but maybe I’ll catch the next one,” I say to Inessa before walking away, heading for my guards who are playing a game of pool. They can still keep an eye on me from the billiards room while giving me some space, which I appreciate.

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