Chapter 27

27

Cole

T he SUV is so quiet on the way home that I have to break the silence.

"Why are you really seeing the munchkin man again tomorrow? We both know you're not the least bit interested in fucking him," I say to Cass.

She keeps her gaze out the dark window. "I told you. I'm ready to settle down and get married, have a home of my own. And stop calling him that."

"Bullshit. A few weeks ago, you were just looking for a good time with…anyone," I say, barely holding back the word "guards." "Now all of a sudden you want to be tied down. It doesn't make any sense, Cassie."

"You don't need it to make sense because it's none of your goddamn business," she snaps at me.

I consider that for a second, before asking her, "Do you seriously think it will give you a leg up on becoming Dante's heir if you have a husband to help you shoulder the burden of running the city?"

"Hell, no. Whoever I marry won't have a say in how I run things illegally or legally."

"So, what role exactly will this man play in the marriage?" I can't help but question her plans regarding her future husband.

"I don't know yet. Watch the kids while I handle business?"

"You want kids?" I say in complete disbelief.

"Yes." Now her gaze turns to me. "Why do you sound so surprised?"

"I don't know. I guess…I just don't see you as a mother. Sophie, yeah, sure. But you…"

"Why the fuck can't I be a mother too?"

Wow. It's been a while since the bitchy Cass came out to play. Guess I hit a nerve.

"Uh, maybe because you have one hell of a temper. The first time your baby won't stop crying you'll probably shake the shit out them."

"Fuck you."

Maybe it's a trick of the streetlights, but I could almost swear her eyes glisten before she looks away.

Is she crying?

No, that's ridiculous. Cass doesn't get her feelings hurt about anything. Unless, maybe she has her feelings hurt about everything which is why she sometimes gets so damn violent.

Right now, I think I not only hurt her feelings but she's legit angry at me for what I said.

"Cassie, why are you so pissed off at me?" I ask. "What is it about a comment on hypothetical mother shit that upset you?"

"Just because I'm a bitch who can kick your ass and every other man's in this SUV doesn't mean I would ever hurt an innocent baby!" she shouts.

"Whoa. Okay. Point made," I reply. "I shouldn't have assumed. I guess I was just surprised that you were being serious about wanting kids."

"Why? Because you don't?"

"No, I don't. At least not anytime soon. I would need a real job, steady income, time to sow more wild oats before I could be a halfway decent father to some kid."

"Then we have two entirely different futures planned out. My plan includes becoming my father's successor. I'm his daughter, and since one of my sisters is still missing and the other cries at the drop of a hat, I'm the only one who is up for the task."

"You seem to have forgotten that not only am I your competition, I'm Dante's handpicked choice to be his successor."

"Not anymore. He recently told me that I've impressed him."

"Good for you. Is that all this competition is about? Getting Daddy's approval? Because he's going to expect you to do the actual job of running shit if you win."

"I know that. And I can handle anything that comes my way."

"Just because you can handle shit, doesn't mean you should."

Sighing heavily, she turns back to me. "What the hell does that mean?"

"It means, while you're making business decisions in your ivory tower, you'll never understand how those decisions impact others, all the hundreds, if not thousands of middle-class workers like Annette that Dante currently employs. I will never understand how someone could sit on billions of dollars instead of doing something decent with it."

"You mean like charity?" Cass asks, not sounding like she's being sarcastic but she's trying to understand.

"Yes. Charity. You know why my mom won't give me more of my grandfather's inheritance than what I need to cover basic tuition and fees?"

"No. Why?"

"Because I bet she's already given it all away."

"Given it away? To whom? "

"I don't know. To help the homeless or needy kids in Vegas. All that blood money she got from my grandfather can finally do a little good. I'm not saying all of Dante's money should be handed out, but I think he could do more than sit on it in his fancy penthouse at the top of his hotel and casino."

"So, if you become my father's heir, you'll give most of his money away?"

"I didn't say that."

"What about the fentanyl trafficking?" Cass asks.

"What about it?"

"Would you stop that too?"

"I don't know enough about it to say either way yet. But as long as Dante is earning off illegal businesses, his ass is on the line. I don't think I can see the benefit of running a drug business with the threat of prison constantly hanging over my head."

"So, you think he should stick to legit businesses?"

"Yes, I guess that's what I'm saying."

"I agree," Cass replies. "I wouldn't want to continue the fentanyl. Not necessarily because drugs are bad and kill people. I just wouldn't want to pay for the consequences of getting caught dealing it and be thrown in prison for years. Especially when I have a family. Daddy is lucky he hasn't been arrested yet."

"I'm sure Dante takes plenty of precautions, greases the right hands, pays feds to look the other way, that kind of thing."

"Nothing is foolproof, though."

"No, it's not," I concur. "Have you told Dante your thoughts on going legit if you become his heir?"

"No."

"Why not?"

"Because I don't want to disappoint him," she says, eyeing me again across the dark back seat.

"He won't be disappointed in you if you don't believe the benefits outweigh the risks of drug trafficking."

"I didn't care about the potential consequences of getting caught before…" she says and then stops abruptly.

"Before what?"

"Before this competition started. Now, I think I can understand why Vanessa kept you away from your grandfather. She knew that was the only way to keep you safe from him and from becoming him. It's why she doesn't want you to win."

"I get it, I do," I tell her truthfully. "But I can handle it."

"If you say so."

Sighing, I try to blow out some of the tension growing between me and Cass. Then I get an idea. "Are you hungry?"

"A little."

"Then let's go find something to eat. Mike, can you take us by a grocery store?"

"A grocery store?" Cass repeats in surprise.

"You've never been in one before, or ever shopped for food, have you?" I ask her.

"No. Food just appears in our fridge or on the table at dinner time," she says. "If I want something, I let the house manager know, and it arrives moments later."

"Must be nice to avoid the lines. But let me show you what you're missing out on."

Her brow furrows as the SUV pulls into the lit-up parking lot. "Why? It's not like I'll ever have to shop for my own groceries."

"Just humor me."

"Fine," she agrees.

Cas s

The outside of Smith's supermarket doesn't look like much. But a few minutes later when we walk inside, my jaw gapes open at the rows of freezers stretched out before us. There's an entire row dedicated to ice cream!

"I didn't know ice cream came in all these flavors!" I remark as I try to read the labels of the containers through the glass doors. "Is there an aisle of soda like this one? Or what about some chocolate? Does chocolate get their own section?"

"That's what you want to see? Ice cream, soda, and chocolate out of this whole store?"

"Oh, maybe some peanut butter too!"

Chuckling, Cole says, "Follow me."

He leads me to an entire section filled with candy bars.

"Oh my god. There are so many to choose from and they all look so damn good." When Cole laughs at me again, I tell him, "Daddy doesn't ever let us have junk food."

"Well, grab what you want. It's on Annette. I doubt the guards would tell Dante that his adult daughter is hoarding candy in her room like a kid at Halloween."

"You don't think Daddy will ask for the cash back or the rings?" I question Cole.

"Nope."

"How can you be so sure?"

"Because it was never about the money. For Dante, it's about punishing the betrayal."

"So, you're going to keep it all?"

"Mostly. The rings should cover all I need for now, so we'll spend the cash."

Half an hour later, we pull up to the checkout line with a full buggy. I watch as the cashier swipes each item over a scanner that beeps, automatically adding it to our total, which is pretty cool. Not that I would admit that to Cole.

"We're also going to be purchasing some gift cards," Cole tells the cashier .

"We are?" I ask him.

"How many and for what amount?" the twenty-something woman asks, looking tired and bored. I guess the scanning and beeping would get old after a few hours.

"Twelve cards with five hundred on each."

"Five dollars on each?" the clerk looks up from her task for his clarification.

"No, five hundred dollars," Cole corrects her, causing her eyes and my own to widen.

"Why do you need a dozen gift cards with that much money on them from this store?" I ask him.

"Because it can buy a dozen people groceries for nearly a month if they are stingy, and they will be since we're giving these cards to the women's shelter," he answers while counting out bills from the wad of cash he seized from Annette.

I'm sure it's a stupid question, but I want to know the answer. "Why do women live in a shelter?"

"Because they don't have anywhere else to go. Most have kids and are running from abusive husbands or fathers."

"Like your mom did?"

He pauses his counting. "Something like that. But unlike my mother, most of these women can't afford to leave the city where those abusive assholes are living. It's usually only a matter of time until the fuckers find them again."

"So why not buy plane tickets to get farther away?"

Cole blinks at me like I'm stupid. "Because these women may not have IDs with them, which you have to have for planes. And if they had the money for tickets, then they won't have anywhere to go once they relocate, no job either. Starting over is expensive. I don't have enough to give them for all that yet."

"Yet. So, you're saying that you really will sell everything off if Daddy makes you his successor?"

"I would sell every property of my grandfather's in a heartbeat. Dante survived without them before, so his financial structure doesn't really need them."

"And all the employees that will be out of a job? I thought you cared about the middle-class."

"Those people can be hired at the casino or put up in Dante's condos and shit until they figure it out."

"You sound like you've planned it all out."

"Just some thoughts I've had when I think about what I would do if someone gave me a billion dollars to spend however I wanted. My mom got a lot of Yuri's money and probably gave it up. Someday, I would like to track down all of his offshore bank accounts and empty them out too. I bet his buddies know where they are. They're probably living off it right now."

"I'm sure Eli could help get them to talk. I wonder why my dad hasn't had him try yet."

"Because he knows it will start a war. First, we would have to pull the rug out from underneath them, then we can question them."

"Well, you should hurry, or you'll have to wait until Eli's back from his ‘vacation.' Unless you're going to torture them yourself?"

"I will if I have to," Cole says. "But I doubt there will be time to do any of this shit before I have to go back to New York."

"Because you think you're going to lose to me?"

"Because win or lose, I'm going to finish my degree. I'm too close not to now."

"Right," I say, knowing that and hating it all the same. I've gotten so used to seeing him all the time. Teasing him and arguing with him is fun. I'll miss having him around when he has to go back to school.

"I'm sure Dante will wait for his successor to take over in a year, if not longer," Cole says. "He's just making plans right now."

"Probably. But you won't have to worry about coming back to Vegas after you graduate," I assure him. "Because he's going to choose me."