Page 48 of Twisted Kings

“I warned her and she didn’t listen. Because of her influence, you’d grown weak, a pampered little prince.”

“I was a kid!”

“No, Cassian, you were and are a mafia heir.” He drained his Scotch and placed the glass down on his desk. “I made a mistake with your upbringing. I should have brought you into the business sooner. Vasily had the right idea. His son is an asset, whereas you…” Dad sniffed derisively, like I was a massive disappointment to him.

Not that I gave a shit what he thought. If anything, being a disappointment worked in my favor. Maybe if he believed I was no use to him, he’d leave me the fuck alone.

“Sorry I’ve let you down, Dad.” The sarcasm in my tone was impossible to miss. Dad glared.

“Because of your antics, our family is in the press far too much. It’s bad for business. If you hadn’t fucked that little whore, my deal with Bale-Lyon would still be on the table. Bale-Lyon was useful to me, but you couldn’t keep your dick in your pants!”

“Just following your example, father.”

“Pfft. At least I’m not stupid enough to get caught on camera.”

The whole sex tape thing still pissed me off, even though Milo had filled me in on everything. Knowing Thea had had little choice in planting the drugs should have made it easier to forgive her, especially as she hadn’t done what her father’s man had ordered her to do. But I still felt betrayed.

I thought we’d had a genuine connection. But no, she was the same as every other woman in my life. They all wanted to use me.

“That wasn’t my fault.”

“Perhaps not, but choosing to fuck around after I’d warned you not to was!”

“Did you find out who planted the camera and released the video?” I asked innocently.

The grinding of teeth told me no. “The hotel security footage had been wiped by the time I got my guys on it. And it was impossible to track where the video came from.” He waved his hand dismissively, and I hid a smile. Dad was good at most things. He had a brain like a steel trap - nothing escaped his attention. However, technology was not his strong suit, which I knew for a fact irked him immensely.

I shuffled in my chair. “Are we done now?” I still wasn’t sure what he wanted from me.

“Far from it.” The crocodile smile returned. “Like I said, it’s time you were more involved in the day-to-day running of our business, which means you have work to do.”

“I’m busy with college.”

He growled, and I smirked. Winding up my father never got old.

“Vasily is having problems with his son. Kyril has gone off the grid, and he needs to come back to the family.”

Kyril was in Ireland.

“I don’t know where Kyril is or what he’s doing.” A lie, but I was almost certain my father didn’t know about my burner phone. If he did, he’d have punished me by now.

“You and Kyril are friends. This is why I placed the two of you in the same apartment at Abernethy.” My brain kicked up a gear. I’d always assumed Kyril’s arrival was random, but now I knew Vasily Orliov was working with my father, Kyril’s presence in our apartment made a lot more sense.

“And Dario Peretti? Was that your doing as well?”

“No. I still don’t know who had a hand in that, but he’s not important. The Italians don’t have much influence these days.” The dismissive tone of his voice told me he had no clue Francesco di Luca was behind the sex tape.Interesting. Maybe my father wasn’t as all-powerful as he thought.

“I need you to get in touch with Kyril and find out where he is,” Dad continued. “No doubt he’s been distracted by pussy.” Dad sniffed derisively as if the idea of a woman being important enough to distract the son of a mafia boss made no sense.

“I’ll see what I can find out,” I replied, having no intention whatsoever of doing anything. If Kyril wanted to stay under the radar, that was up to him. Frankly, I didn’t blame him. My mother was the only thing keeping me here.

23

Cassian

Once I reached my room and closed the door behind me, I pulled out the burner phone to call Kyril. He needed to know what was happening. I could have used my iPhone, but something told me the burner phone was safer. Dad was no tech expert, but it didn’t mean he hadn’t paid someone to install spyware on the damn thing while it was in his possession.

“Your father is looking for you,” I told him when he picked up the call.

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