Page 77 of Vicious Little Games

“And what information was that?” I ask him.

“Since you’re probably going to keep stalking me until I tell you, fine. I’ll tell you what’s not a secret. Charlotte Maye was a live-in nanny for Dante Salvato. She was twenty-one, the same age as Cass, when she disappeared. She didn’t have any guards shadowing her, so wherever she was headed that day, she was alone, likely unarmed, and she wasn’t seen or heard from again.”

“Fuck,” I mutter. I can’t imagine how hard it must be on Cass to have the ghost of her mother haunting her after finding out all this new information tonight.

“Is this the part where you tell me not to see her again?” Alistair asks.

“Bingo. No wonder Dante hired you. You’re very perceptive,” I tell him.

“Have a good night,” he says with a wave before he turns around and walks back to the office.

“Are you gonna tell us what this horseshit with Cass’s dates is all about or not?” August asks.

“Not. And you both better keep your mouths shut,” I warn them. “After today, I know a great spot in the desert to bury dead bodies.”

25

Cass

When I get home from my date, Cole is still out, likely playing poker with the Russian mobsters again.

I could’ve sworn I heard my locked doorknob turn when I was going through my mother’s missing person file again, but if it was Cole, he didn’t break in, he just walked away.

The next morning, I’m heading outside for a swim when my father finds me. Thankfully I’m wearing a cover-up over my skimpy bathing suit he wouldn’t approve of.

“Morning. How did your date with Alistair go?” he asks, already dressed for the day in a button up and suit pants, but no tie or jacket yet.

Turning to face him, I tell him the truth. “Oh, it was fine. He's...nice.”

Daddy arches one black eyebrow. “You say that like it's a bad thing.”

Clutching my button-down cover up tighter so he won’t see how much skin it’s hiding, I tell him, “No, I like that Alistair is nice, but I guess he's just not my type. We did talk about how he was looking for Madison.”

“Yeah, Baker, his former boss was my go-to PI for years.”

“Alistair told me that you hired Baker to look for my mother too.”

Glancing down to adjust the sleeves of his suit jacket, he says, “I did. Not that he had any more luck than the others. But he always gave me an update every six months to tell me there was nothing new.”

“She didn't have any guards,” I can’t help but blurt out.

My father’s blue eyes lift to my green ones. “How did you know that?”

“I saw the file.” I don't tell my father that I'm in possession of the file in case he tries to take it from me or punish Alistair for giving it to me. After all, I did promise the PI that I wouldn't tell him about it.

“Back when Charlotte, your mother, lived with me, my father was still running things. I asked him to put guards on her, especially after what happened with Maria, Madison's mother. But he refused.”

“Why?”

Sighing heavily while staring out at the patio, he takes his time answering me. “My father told me that he couldn't afford to hire men to babysit all of my...girlfriends. He said that if I cared about a woman, then it was my responsibility to protect her. I did care for Charlotte. I was with her longer than anyone else. She was a good mother to you and to Madison before she...disappeared. She was too kind for this world, and breathtakingly beautiful. You look just like her.”

If I had to bet, my father sees the face of a woman he failed to protect every time he looks at me, at Madison, or at Sophie. While Sophie’s mom was initially believed to have died from complications of childbirth, it seems like she could’ve been murdered by someone Yuri Petrov hired instead.

“When Madison left, it must have been like bad déjà vu, huh?” I ask him.

He nods, face solemn. “It was my worst nightmare on repeat. I won't rest easy until I know Madison is alive and safe.”

“I'm sorry,” I tell him, thinking Alistair’s constant apologizing may have rubbed off on me. “I won't bitch about the guards again or leave unarmed.”

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