Chapter 20

20

Cole

" T oday's challenge isn't going to be fun," Dante tells us when he calls us to his office, along with Eli. It's been a few days since Cass survived her poisoning, or whatever made her sick, and this is the first competition since the shooting range.

For half a second, I thought Cass might have been knocked up, by me or one of the guards. But the doctor said she wasn't, and Cass was fine the rest of the night. The next morning, when I had eventually fallen asleep, Cass woke me up with a repetitive slap to my face to wake me up, sending me back to my room without any interest in morning sex.

"What are we going to be doing?" Cass asks her father impatiently with her hands braced on her hips. Even in black leggings and a blue tank she's sexy as hell. She's still skipping training with Saul, so I have no idea what she's been up to the past few days. As far as I know she hasn't been on any more dates .

As for myself, I've been hanging out at the sports bar with my guards, playing poker late into the night with the old men and flirting with Inessa. I haven't asked Cass to tag along, figuring I would have more luck infiltrating without her. Not to mention that I don't want to take a chance that someone might poison her again. Cass can think what she wants about why she got sick, but I would put my money on the Russians.

"A man who betrayed me, who betrayed Vanessa, putting both of our lives in danger, has finally been dragged back to Vegas," Dante explains to us. "You're both going to interrogate him. Make him tell you all about himself, what he did, and who else he may have run his mouth to before my men caught up to him in LA. And once you get all the information you can get out of him while making him suffer for his sins against our family, you'll decide if he lives or dies and how to end him if you go that route."

The way Dante talks about killing people so easily will take some getting used to. The fact that the man who is about to be in a world of hurt caused my mother pain means it's a little easier to stomach. Still, I can't help but ask, "What if one of us wants him to die, and the other thinks he should live?"

"His fate is ultimately up to Eli. He will be in charge of this competition. No guards will be joining you. Eli will oversee every aspect and choose the winner based on questions, technique, and your final decision. You should both know that he will thoroughly enjoy every second of torture." Eyeing the sadist, Dante adds, "Eli has been warned that his dick better stay in his pants unless he wants me to saw it off and shove it down his throat."

"Yes, sir," the blond man, dressed like a GQ model in his gray suit, agrees with a mock salute.

"You'll have until tomorrow at this time to complete this...assignment."

On the elevator on the way down to the basement with Eli, he tells me and Cass, "I'll save you both some time. The man hanging in the basement is Gavin Perkins. He's a twenty-eight-year-old stripper from a ranch in Wyoming. He became Dante's enemy when he set up Vanessa's boyfriend Mitchell to sleep with some of Kozlov's whores, thinking they were freebies, running up a debt he couldn't pay. The debt was the reason the thugs beat up Vanessa when Mitchell of course couldn't pay it back on time. He also humped Vanessa on the floor in front of everyone in the strip club when her ribs were still bruised from the beating. That's when Dante intervened."

"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.

Eli adds, "I also fucked him while he was strung up."

Cass grins at that. "I didn't know you were gay."

"I'm not gay; I'm bi. I fuck men and women, sometimes at the same time," Eli responds nonchalantly.

"I doubt Dante would want you talking to his daughter about who you fuck," I can't help but point out.

Eli removes his attention from Gavin to look me up and down. "What about you, blondie? Do you play for both teams?"

"Nope. I'm firmly in the hetero camp, thanks. Not that I care what you or anyone else does. People should fuck whoever they want and screw the rest." I can't help but glance at Cass when I say that.

"Since you and Gavin have a history, would you really let me or Cole kill him?" Cass asks the sadist.

"You gotta do what you gotta do," Eli mutters, definitely tipsy if not full out drunk on whatever was in the now empty flask. "It's your call. I'm just here to supervise and judge you on your decisions."

"So, then you don't have an opinion?" I prod him.

"No, not really. It's more like I know Dante's preference, how he would like this to go after spending nearly a year tracking the bastard down to drag him back here to Vegas. Whichever one of you gets closest to his decision wins. What is the current score of this little competition to be Vegas's next top dog anyway?"

"There's still plenty of time left to decide," I remark.

"I'm ahead," Cass tells him with her chin raised proudly. "The hand-to-hand event was a draw, but I easily won the round at the shooting range."

"You were able to tie Cass in hand-to-hand?" Eli asks me.

"It was a draw," I repeat. "We fought against the instructor. I sucked and Cass hurt her ankle in the first few seconds."

"You hurt your ankle the first few seconds?" His eyes narrow at Cass who nods. Eli then studies her from head to toe before saying, "I find that very hard to believe. I know you're dangerous. I've seen you training with Saul and the employees. You're deadly. Nothing would hold you back, especially not a sprained ankle. You threw the challenge, didn't you?"

"No, I didn't," Cass mutters way too fast as she moves closer to Gavin as if to get away from the conversation.

Considering Eli's assessment, the fact that he knows Cass better than I do, I follow the feisty redhead. "Is he right, Cassie? Did you actually hurt your ankle or what?"

"Yes, I hurt my ankle! It may have just been a sprain, but I didn't want to make it worse. You know, in case I ever have to actually defend myself. "

Oh my god, she's so full of shit. How did I not realize that before now?

"Right, like that day would come the same week as a sprain," Eli says sarcastically, not buying her lies either.

Cass crosses her arms over her chest defensively. "It could have. I've started dating guys, you know."

"Oh, I've heard. The casino rumor mill is all abuzz about you being on the market."

"And? What have people been saying about her?" I can't help but inquire.

"Oh, this and that," Eli responds then chuckles. "Most male employees say they would give their left nut to hit that. Apparently, you caused a raucous a few weeks ago. Even though you live in the penthouse, only a handful of staff had ever seen or even heard of you or your sisters before Sophie got married and you attended the fundraiser here in the casino a few days later. I can't even repeat what has been said about the dresses you wore to both events and then one out to a bar the other night."

"People are talking about me and my dresses?" Cass asks, sounding surprised.

"Yes, people are talking about you, which is why your father has been sick with worry lately. The photos from the wedding were everywhere online."

The wedding was also when the Russians saw photos of me. "Where do all these photos of us show up?" I ask Eli.

"Page Six loves when rich people get married. Someone from the wedding must have sent them the photos, and they published them. The gold dress was coveted by men and women. Was there a reason why your tits were out, Cass? Like did the dress shrink up or something in the wash?"

"You should watch your fucking mouth before Dante cuts out your tongue," I warn him.

Eli shrugs and laughs. "Dante won't care if I ask her a question. And I'm the only one who cuts out tongues around here. It's a bloody business."

"I think Dante would care that you asked his daughter a question about her tits."

"My dress was a little snug, that's all," Cass huffs. "It's not a big deal. I gained weight before the wedding."

"Why? Depressed that Lochlan didn't want you?" Eli asks her.

"I could've had him if I wanted," she replies.

"Oh, yeah? Cocky. I like it," the man says with a smirk.

"Could we please get back to the torture and murder?" I grumble at the two of them before Eli whips his dick out and Cass gets on her knees.