Page 99 of Vicious Little Games

“Sure, hon. Is it about the competition? Because you’re killing it! Your father has been blown away by how well you’re doing.”

“It’s not about that, but I’m glad to hear that,” I say. “The question I have for you is sort of personal.”

“Personal? Okay, hit me,” she says, pushing her plate away.

“Why haven't you ever told Cole who his father is?”

Vanessa’s green eyes that are a little lighter than Cole’s widen. “Oh. Wow. That was probably the last question I expected you to ask me.”

“Sorry. You don't have to tell me if you don’t want to.”

“No, no, it just caught me by surprise.” Her brow furrows. “Why do you ask?”

Fuck. Why am I asking? What reason do I have for caring? I come up with an explanation as fast as I can. “I heard him talking about trying to find his father the other day. It seemed important to him. And I guess I can relate since I wish I could find my mother, even if she's…dead.”

“Right, well…” She wraps her fingers around the mug of coffee sitting in front of her. “It's not that I've intentionally kept Cole's father's name from him.”

“You haven't?”

“No. I was young, and stupid, and I guess I didn't want him to know that his father could be one of several men I slept with during that time period. And I don't recall their names. That's horrible, isn't it?”

“No. I'm not...I wouldn't slut shame anyone. It was more than twenty years ago.”

“It was irresponsible,” Vanessa replies with a heavy sigh. “But I was embracing my freedom for the first time in my entire life. I felt sexy and wanted. Most likely Cole's father is one of three men I slept with at the Sigma Chi fraternity at the University of Southern California.”

Well, fuck. Cole already knew all that.

“I've told him it was one of the guys in the frat. I just never explained that there were multiple men who could possibly be the one. That makes me a bad mother...”

“No, I doubt a son would want to know about his mother's promiscuity. But at the same time, he doesn't really seem like a prude,” I point out to her without mentioning that he pretends to fuck married women in front of their husbands and with their husbands in pornos.

“Oh, I know Cole probably wouldn’t bat an eye. Maybe I should tell him the truth. But it's not like it matters, though. Without a name...”

“You think it's a lost cause?” I surmise.

“Yes,” she admits, her shoulders deflating. “And I hate that for Cole. I always have.”

“But you’re certain they were a member of the fraternity?” I ask her.

“Yes. Definitely. One of them had a room there. His roommate was another…participant, as well as their friend, who I’m almost certain was also their frat bro.”

Okay. This is something. Just because the pool of Cole’s potential fathers is larger than expected, that doesn’t mean it’s an impossible task.

All we have to do is figure out how to get the men from the fraternity to all take a DNA test.

Should be easy, right?

Yeah, I’m going to need to make another plan.

31

Cole

Dante usually texts me and Cass first thing in the morning when we have a competition.

So, when I get a group text from Dante late in the afternoon telling us to come downstairs, I know this is the big one.

Dante either knows Cass and I have been fucking and that I’ve been sleeping in her room until five a.m. before creeping back to my bed. Or, and much more preferable, he knows I killed two of his former guards in hot blood.

---