Chapter 25

25

Cass

W hen 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."

"Good. Thank you."

He heads for the kitchen, and I say to his back, "But you can't keep me caged up forever either."

He shifts to face me again. "I know that now. You're all grown up. The past few weeks that much has become abundantly clear, even though I wish you were still a little girl I could keep close."

"You make it sound like I'm up and leaving."

"Won't you? If I make Cole my heir?"

"Are you going to make him your heir?" I ask, holding my breath.

"I'm still giving you both time to prove yourselves to me. I haven't made up my mind. While at first, I may have thought Cole would be a good fit, now I really can't decide which of you would do a better job of running things."

I want to beg him to send Cole back to New York. He can't win. He can't stay here. If he does, the Russians may kill him for being a traitor and siding with my father. Cole's about to finish his business degree. He could live a normal, legitimate life, away from the crime and violence. He would be so much safer. Vanessa was right to keep him in the dark about her family.

"Everything okay?" my dad asks.

"Yes, fine. I, um, I was just thinking that you should find me another man to date since I didn't feel a romantic connection with Alistair."

Tilting his head at me, he asks, "What's the rush, Cass? I didn't think you would want to settle down for years once you had a small taste of freedom. "

"I'm growing up. Having someone to always be there for me...it doesn't sound so awful."

"Then I'll talk to Vanessa, and we'll decide who to set you up with next."

"Okay. Thank you."

"Is Cole giving you a hard time?" he asks before I can escape out the door to the patio.

"What do you mean?"

"I know he's probably just as competitive as his mother."

"No shit," I remark with a chuckle.

"I just don't want him taking things too far to try and win, like convince you that you aren't up for all this."

Shaking my head, I tell him honestly, "No, he's never made me feel like that. He'll be good at the business side of things. And at understanding regular people, even if the Russians won't accept him."

"You mean the working class? Of course he's better with them," Daddy says. "Cole has had twenty years of being poor, scraping by to make ends meet. With one word, Vanessa could have changed that. He could've grown up living in a mansion, being waited on by servants, going to the best schools money could buy. And while he may not appreciate Vanessa's sacrifices, the sacrifices he also had to make, one day he'll be thankful to have experienced what he did because he'll never take anything for granted."

"And you think me, Sophie, and Madison do?"

"Sophie never cared much for material things. And Madison, by now, the money she took from me must be running low. She'll learn plenty of lessons from having to earn a living to get by. You, however, still don't know what that's like. Not that I do either. I'm not saying that as a criticism. It's simply an aspect of life that we hopefully won't ever have to experience. Just remember that one day, everything you know and love could disappear as fast as your mother did. There are some things out of our control, things that no amount of money can buy. So, I guess it's good that you're ready for a relationship, to find the things that are more important in life than money and power."

"If you say so, Daddy," I tell him, needing to end this conversation before he sees the tears welling up in my eyes.