Chapter 22

22

Cole

A fter a full day of disposing of a dead man's body, I am beat. I just want to fall into bed and sleep, but Dante is waiting for us when we walk into the penthouse.

"Well?" he asks.

"Have you spoken to Eli?" Cass asks.

"He was drunk out of his mind. All I could get out of him was that I should ask the two of you what happened to Gavin."

Great, is Eli trying to set us up? Or is he giving one of us the chance to claim the victory?

Before I can figure out how to play it, Cass tells her father, "You shouldn't have asked Eli to kill a man he had been in a relationship with."

Whoa.

I'm so damn shocked at how she just chastised her father that I almost laugh.

Dante is not amused. "I don't remember asking your opinion."

"Well, he did what you wanted. The least you owe him is a vacation."

"I'll take your opinion under advisement," Dante replies sarcastically. "Now tell me what happened."

"Cole and I were both ready to kill Gavin this morning, but he was already dead," Cass explains. "We disposed of him in the desert."

"No kidding," Dante mutters. "You both look like you've been rolling around in dirt."

"Even worse, digging in that dry ass shit," Cass replies. "Can I go shower now? I feel disgusting."

"Who deserves the win?" Dante asks, looking between us.

"Eli," I suggest. "He killed him."

"Cass?" he says as she starts to walk away.

"Guess it's another draw. I'm still ahead overall."

Turning to me, Dante says, "Are you good with a draw?"

"That's fine with me," I agree, eager to go get a shower and wash the fucked-up deed from my skin as fast as possible.

While I would rather crash early tonight, there's another poker game in the sports bar, and I'm still trying to get in good with the Russians. I shower again since I still feel gross, before heading out.

From the top of the stairs, I spot Cass's date talking to Dante and my mom in the foyer. I watch him for a moment before I quietly back track up the stairs to the third floor.

Breaking into Cass's bedroom is easy enough since she didn't bother to lock the door.

After hearing the door shut, she steps out of the bathroom wearing a short sapphire blue, spaghetti strap dress and matching heels that elongate her beautiful, toned legs. "What do you want, Cole? I'm about to leave. "

"Oh, I know you are," I say while letting my eyes roam up and down her body no less than three times. When I force myself to stop and meet her pale green gaze again, I ask, "Have you seen this prick? He looks like a little boy playing dress up in his daddy's suit. You've got at least five inches on him."

Cass doesn't look disappointed like I had hoped after my incredibly accurate description of the man waiting downstairs. No, she grins while strolling up to me and palming the bulge forming in the front of my jeans, taunting me. "Maybe he'll have five inches on you where it counts."

"Ha. Funny. But we both know that'll never fucking happen," I reply. "He's definitely not worth you leaving here looking that good. At least turn around and let me bang you against the wall one good time before you go."

That remark has her removing her hand and taking a step back, her arms folded over her heavy tits straining the top of her dress.

"Get out of my room. And stop picking the lock for fuck's sake."

"I would find your rejection more believable if you had actually locked your door, or weren't standing in front of it now, blocking my way out," I tell her before I lean in and swipe my tongue over her painted red lips, tasting her lipstick.

Just like I knew she would, Cass moans and then her back slumps against the door. Her lips part for me, letting my tongue slide inside and coax her tongue to come play with it.

After about a minute of kissing her deeply with my body flattening hers to the door, a silent demand for more than our tongues to fuck, Cass's palms clamp onto my shoulders. She pushes me down to my knees, and I easily go. I don't bother hiking up her dress, I just dive underneath her short skirt to tongue the crotch of her panties.

Blue thong panties to match the dress and shoes.

"A thong for this fucker? I thought you hated them." At the light touch of my tongue teasing her again, her thighs open wider, giving me better access to the ache. I hook a finger in the crotch of her panties to tug them aside and attack her clit. Cass moans and tips her hips forward, inviting me to keep going. Her palms both pressing on my head through her dress demand that I don't even think about stopping until she comes.

I swear I have her gasping, her legs trembling, and her pussy gushing for me in record time.

Good thing it was quick, and she was quiet, because someone knocks on her bedroom door that she is still pressed against while I'm lapping up her endless arousal.

"Cass, are you ready? Alistair is here," my mother informs her.

"Ye-yes," she answers her voice still shaky but her palms still clutching my head. "I'll be out in…just a second."

I gently bite the inside of her thigh making her yelp.

"Everything okay?" my mom asks while Cass slaps at my head through the material.

"Yes, just twisted my sore ankle," the beautiful liar replies.

"Okay, I'll let him know you'll be down soon," my mom replies. Then she adds, "He's so cute and sweet. I think you'll like him."

I finally pull my head out from underneath Cass's dress to stand up. With a huff of annoyance Cass has to reach down and fix her panties that I left askew over her cunt on purpose.

"Have fun on your date with the munchkin man," I tell her quietly while licking the taste of her from my lips.

"I wonder if he's short enough to eat me out without kneeling. That could be fun."

"You're so full of shit. You don't want a man who is smaller than you."

"How would you know?" she asks.

"Because you love trying to climb me like a fucking tree. And don't think I've forgotten the night of the wedding either, you know when you jumped me, then rode me hard and fast like a rodeo star?"

That was the last time we had full-on sex, wasn't it? And it was months ago. Jesus.

"I was drunk that night," the woman lies with a straight face.

"Bullshit, Cassie. You didn't touch a drop of alcohol. "

"How do you know?"

"Because I watched you all night, and I tasted your lips and tongue, remember?"

Shaking her head, she says, "I told you that we have to stop this, Cole."

"This?" I ask as if I don't know exactly what she's talking about.

"Don't come to my room again or I'll tell my father."

Now that fib makes me snort. "No, you won't."

"Want to bet?" she says, sounding dead serious.

"Why?" I ask, wanting to know her reason for putting a halt to us fooling around when she obviously enjoys herself.

"I told you."

"Because I'm your enemy? Your competition? You're so full of shit."

"And you're just a horny frat boy who can't keep his dick in his pants."

"Oh, yeah? In case you haven't noticed, my dick hasn't seen any action in weeks. Since the wedding actually. I'm the one who just went down on you, making you scream and come on my tongue."

"You only did it because you're expecting something from me in return."

I can't deny that I want to fuck Cass or have her get on her knees for me again, but that's not all this is.

Is it?

I'm so damn confused and hard without any sign of relief in sight while she's going on a date that I don't say anything in response. I just step away from her, going to her bathroom to clean up and give her time to slip out of her room so I can sneak out. The bedroom door opens and closes softly as Cass takes the hint and leaves.

I hate every single night that she goes out with some random asshole while I'm left wondering if she likes him and if she'll kiss him or fuck at the end of the night.

Or worst of all, if she'll marry him some day.

Cass

I hate that Cole was right.

I can't get past my date's height no matter how nice he may be. Too nice, actually. I would walk all over him, literally, and he would probably beg me to imbed my heel into his flesh a little harder.

I need someone who will challenge me, not back down in a fight. Which is stupid logic. I should want to be with someone who always lets me win, right?

Beggars can't be choosers…except, no, I can't marry Alistair James. I couldn't even spend one night with this man without worrying I would break one of his bones.

It's Cole's fault for being tall as fuck and strong enough to pick me up and carry me. Not to mention that he's also spoiling me with amazing orgasms. He's so much better than the guards who were just…eh. After five minutes with Cole, it's impossible to forget a second of it, and not crave more. Constantly.

Other than tonight, I had been holding strong, not caving, and fooling around with him because he's my competition. I can't get distracted from my goals. I have to prove to my father that I'm capable of handling anything he throws at me.

And if he thinks Alistair is worth a date, then I'll try my best to feel something for him.

"So, what is it that you do?" I try to make chitchat with the quiet man sitting across from me in the casual Japanese restaurant, my guards observing from the sushi bar. I don't mind that things are more laid back than in the fancy restaurant Theo took me to the other night. The customers here aren't as snobby or staring at us.

"I was a cop for a few years with Vegas Metro, and now I own my own PI company. "

"Oh?" I say in surprise since he seems too small to be a cop. Under his suit jacket, he must have a few muscles. "So why did you leave the police department?"

His fingers drum on the table like I make him nervous. Or more likely, my father has made him uneasy after reading him the riot act before I came downstairs to meet him. But when he speaks, he does so confidently. "Because there was so much corruption in the force that it felt like I was constantly being pulled in two directions. Brass would tell us to fight crime in the city, but then they would trash cases that were slam dunks because someone paid them off to look the other way. It was exhausting to figure out who I could trust, who was there for the right reasons. So, I left."

"Isn't PI work sort of similar to police work?"

"Yes, but at least now I know who I'm working for upfront. I can refuse the cases I don't want. When my mentor retired, I took over his agency, so now I'm my own boss. It's the best of both worlds."

"What sort of cases do you take?" I ask as I clench my fists in my lap. I'm trying to resist the urge to grab my phone from the purse hanging on the back of the chair to bitch out Cole for possibly ruining all other men for me.

"Nothing shady," Alistair says. "Mostly it's just cheating spouses, stolen property, missing persons, like your sister, Madison." He winces and adds, "Sorry for blurting it out like that. It must be hard..."

"No, it's okay," I assure him since mentioning my older sister doesn't come close to triggering me. She's most likely out in the world living her best life with her newfound freedom. "You've been working on finding Madison for my father?"

"Yes, ever since the night she left. Along with every other PI in town."

I can't say I'm surprised that my father would go to such drastic measures in his search for a girl who doesn't want to be found by him.

"And there are no new leads?"

Alistair shakes his head. "No. I'm certain your sister left the city in private transportation of some kind within days of sneaking out. The possibilities are endless since we don't know if she left that night, or the next day. There's no surveillance video of her after she left one of the kitchens in the Royal Palace."

"Well, she couldn't have just disappeared, right? I mean, she's obviously still alive. Maybe she used a disguise?"

"That's the belief since we haven't…you know, found her body. Sorry."

I nod and take a sip from my glass of water. "Missing people are nothing new in my life. My mother disappeared when I was a baby," I admit.

His fingers stop drumming momentarily when he says, "I know. I'm sorry."

If he apologizes one more time for anything I'm going to kick him in the shin. But his response was so quick I ignore his constant apologies to ask him, "How did you know about my mother?"

Giving me a small, sad smile, he says, "Your father hired every PI in town for that case too."

"But that was twenty years ago. You were only what, five?"

"Seven. And you're right, I wasn't aware of the initial search, but Baker, my mentor, he had the case file when I went to work for him two years ago. It's still open."

"Still open? As in you're still getting paid to look for my mother?"

He nods. "Charlotte Maye." The sound of her name makes me feel like I've been dunked in a tub of ice-cold water. "The cash reward for her and Madison on top of the yearly retainer fee is enough to have all the PIs hoping to find new evidence. Not that the money is the only reason," he quickly adds. "An innocent woman going missing is always taken seriously by private investigators."

"There's a reward for finding her?" I knew my father would likely offer every penny he has to find Madison, but for my mother? I thought he just moved on to Sophie's mom and forgot all about her.

"Mr. Salvato is offering millions of dollars not only to find her but just for new evidence. There hasn't been any in years, though. Again, I'm sorry."

"Wow," I murmur, unable to hide my surprise. I even forgive the PI for his millionth apology of the night.

"I could give you a copy of the file if you want," he offers quietly.

"Seriously?"

"Sure. I don't think your father would mind. But just in case, could we just keep it between us?"

"Yes, absolutely," I assure him. "Thank you, Alistair."

"You're welcome, Cassandra."

"It's just Cass. Not Cassandra," I tell him with a genuine smile.

While there may not be any explosive sex in our future, and probably not any wedding bells, it's impossible not to like Alistair James.

I can see why Vanessa encouraged Daddy to pick him for my blind date. He's a nice, decent man who would treat any woman like a queen.

But I just can't see myself with anyone who doesn't make me horny and homicidal all at the same time.

Maybe there's something seriously wrong with me.

I blame my mobster father and missing mother for making me so fucked up that I don't want a happily ever after like everyone else.

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.