Chapter 3

3

Cass

I stand stock-still outside of the bastard's new bedroom a few minutes to seven, waiting for him to emerge. My father prefers that we dress up for family meals, so I accommodated that request tonight. When I'm sitting down at the table, the long-sleeve, electric blue dress will look rather modest other than the surplice neckline that accentuates my breasts in the push-up bra. It's when I stand up that it gets sexy. Because of my above-average height, and my open-toed, leather mule sandals covered in silver glitter, the mid-thigh, diagonal hem is a little scandalous where it's highest on my right leg. But I plan to be sitting before my father arrives late to dinner like usual. No, this dress is just a tease meant for the bastard I'm going to threaten.

As soon as his bedroom door opens, he steps into the hallway, and I pounce on him. Slamming my palms into his broad chest, I push his back against the wall .

Rather than look alarmed or concerned in any way, Cole smirks down at me. "Ready for round two already, cocktease? Too bad there's not enough time to even tongue fuck you again before dinner."

Oh my god. He's insane for even saying shit like that aloud in my father's house. There may not be any cameras in sight but I'm not entirely certain that my father hasn't planted bugs in the walls to record every word whispered.

"The only thing I want from you is for you to keep your fucking mouth shut so I don't run mine."

Cole runs his tongue over his lips. "Keep my mouth shut about what? You're going to have to be a little more specific."

The asshole is taunting me, trying to make me talk about what we did earlier, which I refuse to do. Ever.

I lift my right leg to slam my knee up between the cocky bastard's legs to humble him fast, but he's expecting it. Cole's hand shoots out, grabbing my raised leg. His fingers dig in hard enough to leave bruises there too. It also causes my short dress to rise several inches, especially when he turns my knee out, revealing, well, all of me to him.

"Where the hell are your panties?" he murmurs before I jerk back out of his grip and tug the hem of my dress back down. When I look back up at his face, his golden jaw is clenched tight. His green eyes darken as if he's more pissed about my lack of underwear than he was about me trying to drown him.

"Thongs are the most uncomfortable article of clothing in this world."

"Panties come in all different shapes and styles, you know. And you were just wearing a thong earlier."

Ah, so he did watch my ass when I walked away. "Only because my father won't let me swim naked."

"Jesus," Cole says as he rubs his hand over his scruff while blatantly looking me up and down. "You're not a cocktease. You're a fucking walking, talking Venus Cocktrap. That pretty red fuzz covering your hot, wet pussy is just begging for a dick to poke around and get snared inside, isn't it?" His long index finger traces along his top and bottom lip making me wonder how it would feel to have that same finger running around the lips between my legs.

"You're an idiot." I hate that my cheeks are warming in embarrassment by how casually he talks about that part of my body right to my face. Not to mention the thoughts in my head.

"That's the best insult you could come up with?" he asks. "You're not flustered are you, Cassie?"

"It's just Cass, never Cassie. And stop trying to change the subject," I tell him. "If you talk, I'll talk."

"Oh, right," he snorts. "You came to warn me to keep my mouth shut about how you're screwing your father's guards. And if I don't, I'm guessing you'll tell him what we did at the pool?"

"What you did." I glance back toward the dining room and kitchen to make sure nobody is around to have heard his loud mouth.

"What we did," he repeats, drawing my attention back to his arrogant face. "There were two tongues in my mouth after you tried to kill me. And I'm not the one who climbed you and humped you like a horny little monkey, am I?"

I swallow my annoyance at the vivid reminder, and tell him, "Next time, I'll hold you under the water until you stop fighting."

Crossing his arms over his chest, Cole leans his back against the wall, his full lips spread in a shit-eating grin. "Right, well, until then, you seem to be under the assumption that I'm scared of Dante."

"You should be," I warn him.

"I don't give a shit what you tell Daddy, cocktease. I can handle anything he dishes out. Dante may string me up in the basement and slice up my skin while Eli watches and jerks off, but he won't ever kill me. All your tattling will do is cause my mother pain and put a strain on their happily-ever-after mafia marriage." His army green eyes roam slowly up and down my body again. "Is that your goal here? To get rid of my mother? Because she probably wouldn't leave him for giving me a beating. She may even say I deserved it. Do you think your guards will get off that easy? I don't. And it is more than one, isn't it?"

Before I can answer him, the sound of footsteps on the stairs have us both glancing over to the kitchen. Two sets apparently.

"I missed you today, butterfly," I hear my father's deep, rumbly voice say to Vanessa.

"You could've joined me in the spa. The mudroom has this bench that I think you would like…"

Shit! I should've gone to the dining room and sat down already. Now, my father and Vanessa will wonder why I'm outside Cole's bedroom wearing the shortest dress I own.

But it's too late to do anything but take a few steps away from his door heading in their direction.

Vanessa appears first, dressed in a white dress much more conservative than mine, followed by my father in his typical black, perfectly tailored suit. They both glance down the hallway briefly in our direction before their gazes jerk back a second time.

"Cole?" Vanessa squints at him then covers her gaping mouth with her palm. "What…how?" She looks to my father who smiles down at her.

"Surprise," my father says. "Cole flew in today and is staying with us for the entire summer."

"The entire summer!" I can't help but voice my outrage. I thought he was only here for the weekend. The entire summer means weeks. Months. Dammit, now my father is looking at me, at the hem of my skirt.

"Cass, what the hell are you wearing?" he asks as Vanessa jogs past me in her heels to throw her arms around Cole's neck, my dad and I temporarily forgotten.

"A dress," I mutter.

"What are you even doing down here? Oh, I bet I can guess," he grumbles. "Sweetheart, you need to get off Cole's dick."

"What?" I exclaim. Oh god. He knows! Eli or a guard must have seen us. And if he strings Cole up to torture him in the basement, there's nothing to stop Cole from running his mouth about his assumption of who I've been fucking to make the beating stop.

My father scrubs his hand down his face, his eyes looking heavy and exhausted when they drop. "That came out wrong. I meant, leave the boy alone. At least for a few days. You can give him hell after he's settled in, because if you run him off before the weekend is over, Vanessa will be very upset."

Oh, my god. He didn't mean for me to literally get off Cole's dick. It was just a very unfortunate, and incredibly accurate, choice of words.

"I don't want anything to do with him," I assure my father. "Why are you letting him stay in the penthouse? Before he would just stay in a hotel room."

Lowering his voice, he steps closer to me to say, "Cole is Vanessa's son. He's my stepson and your stepbrother now, Cass. You will behave like siblings, and only like siblings. I've warned him that if he touches you or Sophie, he'll fucking regret it."

"You wouldn't actually murder your wife's only son, would you, Daddy?"

Straightening the sleeves of his suit jacket, he says, "If I did, I sure as hell would do it in a way that kept my hands clean."

Wow. He's basically telling me that if he finds out Cole touched me that he'll have someone else kill him and make it look like an accident.

I knew it.

Cole should be very scared of my father finding out we fooled around in the pool. While I may have been the one humping him, he had two handfuls of my ass, and left bruises on my wrists. That was another reason for the long-sleeved dress tonight.

My father glares down the hall. Glancing back at Cole, I see Vanessa is still hugging her much taller son, but his arms are still hanging by his sides. At my father's persistent stare, he reluctantly lifts a hand to her back.

"I'm so glad you're home! "

"This isn't my home," Cole replies while eyeing me and my father. "But I'll stay here until the fall semester starts."

"I can't tell you how happy I am to see your handsome face. I didn't think you would ever speak to me again. I know you're still upset…"

Gently pushing her an arm's length away, Vanessa wobbles in her heels as Cole says, "I'm starving. Is it time to eat?"

I knew Cole hadn't been around much the past few months. He didn't come home for Thanksgiving or Christmas, which obviously made Vanessa so sad I saw her crying half a dozen times. But I had no idea he missed the holidays because he was angry at her. He didn't know who she really was until we got back from the island and our parents told us that Yuri Petrov, Cole's grandfather, was dead. I could see being upset with my father if he kept his entire previous life and name a secret from me.

So why did Cole decide to come back to Vegas now?

My father must have manipulated him into staying here since Cole doesn't act like he's forgiven Vanessa yet.

Giving the mother and son a moment alone, I slip past my father to head into the dining room where perfect Sophie is already sitting.

Fuck.

Did she sneak upstairs while Cole and I were arguing? Did she see us or hear anything we said? Everything that was said? God, this is why I told Cole not to talk about it!

"How long have you been sitting in here?" I ask my sister.

She shrugs and tosses her long raven hair over her shoulder. "Ten minutes or so. Daddy said there was a surprise tonight."

"God, you're so pathetic." I shake my head when I take my seat across from her. "The surprise is just Cole is visiting for the summer. No biggie."

Sophie started sitting beside Vanessa at the dinner table, after she took Madison's seat when she first moved in, which was fine with me. My father always sits at the head of the table, which means…there's an extra place setting next to my chair for Cole .

Dinner should be fun while he's here since we'll be sitting close enough for our legs to touch underneath the table. Grabbing his dick during dinner could be fun too. Not that I want to touch the monstrosity, but because it would freak him out, make him nervous.

The more I think about it, the more certain I am that Cole's big dick would never fit inside of me; therefore, it couldn't possibly feel good. Getting fucked by the cocky bastard would only be painful, so I'm going to stop thinking about it, and forget how that maid on the island seemed to enjoy it. She did fall to her knees afterward. Maybe she was faking her orgasm and was actually in agony. I should've asked her before we left.

Has Cole seen her since we got home from the island? She probably works for my dad in Vegas somewhere in the hotel, casino, or one of his other rental properties. I bet she would be easy to find…

Nah. Cole is no doubt a playboy who probably doesn't even remember the poor girl's name.

I clench my teeth together, hating how much I don't want him to remember her name or anything else about her.

The jackass strolls into the dining room ahead of Vanessa and my father with a confident swagger, heading right to the chair next to mine. He pulls it out and sits down, wafting his warm, clean laundry scent in my direction, especially when he scoots his chair ridiculously close to mine. I scoot mine away in the other direction making him chuckle softly.

It's so annoying how he thinks everything I do or say is hilarious.

After everyone is seated, the servers bring out the salad, and my father says, "As I've already mentioned to Cass, Cole is visiting us for the summer. Sophie, do you have any problem with him staying on the second floor?"

"I think it's great," my little sister says, flashing our stepbrother a smile. If I didn't know just how na?ve and innocent she was, I would think she's flirting with him. But no, that's just Sophie trying her best to win the daughter-of-the-year award from Daddy .

"Cass?" our father asks, even though I've already made my position clear.

"It's fine. Whatever." Bitching would only raise my father's suspicions. He would demand to know why exactly I don't want him staying here. As much as I threatened Cole that I would tell him about the pool, explaining to my father we kissed, and he grabbed my ass after I tried to drown him won't go over very well.

Although, kiss seems too mild a term for how our lips and tongues attacked each other. What did Cole call it? Tongue fucking? Yeah, that's a better description. It was a deep, fast, and furious clashing of tongues while he pulled my hair that had me so turned on, I was trying to ride his big dick through his jeans.

"Cole has agreed to abide by my rules of not going up to the third floor," my father says, interrupting the replay in my head. I really should've worn panties because now I'm soaking wet again. "Do I need to tell you not to go down and torment your stepbrother on the second floor?"

The fact that my father is looking right at me while talking about "going down" on Cole is so wrong because now I'm imagining that scenario. Would he even fit in my mouth? Doesn't matter.

"You just told me," I point out to my father when he pauses for my response. "And I won't."

"Please don't break Dante's rules," Vanessa says to her son. "Please?"

"Yeah, Mom. I'll be on my best behavior," Cole snaps.

His best behavior obviously includes looking at my bare pussy and making loud commentary about how slutty I am in the hallways.

Does his mother actually believe Cole is the saint he pretends to be when he's around her? I've known from the moment he stepped foot in the penthouse that he was trouble. I think the first thing he ever said to me was when I was lying on a pool float just like earlier today. He dove in, swam up to me and asked, while everyone else was of course out of earshot, if the curls on my cunt were the same pretty color as the hair on my head. When I told him it was, he asked me if he could lick it to see if it tasted spicy like a red pepper or sweet like watermelon. I flipped him off, then my father invited him to the poker tournament that got bombed.

Well, I guess Cole finally got his proof of the color today. He'll never find out how I taste, though.

I can hear him now, giving me a play-by-play of the flavor, smell, texture, and moisture levels the entire time he's licking my pussy, leaving me no choice but to suffocate him between my thighs.

We all dig into our piles of rabbit food in silence after that, until Vanessa says, "Will you try to respond to my calls and texts while you're here?"

"Sure, Mom. As soon as my new phone comes in."

"You bought a new phone? What happened to your old one? You haven't had it long."

Oh, yeah, the old phone I destroyed when I tossed his arrogant ass into the pool. I honestly thought all the new phones were waterproof nowadays.

Cole doesn't even blink in my direction. He just tells his mother, "It got a little wet."

My stupid core clenches at his choice of words, drenching my bare pussy.

Sighing, Vanessa tilts her head and says, "Honey, you should be more careful. Just because you have a small safety net now, that doesn't mean you should be wasteful with money."

"Oh, trust me. I was furious about it," Cole mutters before stabbing his fork into his lettuce harder than necessary.

Oops. Guess he wasn't happy about his device being ruined. He shouldn't have been talking shit. Everyone knows I have an awful temper. My hair color serves as a literal warning flag to not fuck with me. Cole apparently hasn't received that message yet since he was still talking shit in the hallway.

He acts all tough and unconcerned with my father's consequences, but I'm sure it's just that—an act. After the close call earlier, Cole won't even think about touching me again .

And if he does, the next time my knee won't miss his balls.

Cole

"So, sweetie, what are your plans for the week?" my mom asks me after we finish our entrée. Some Italian pasta that had a ton of nasty tomatoes in it. I hope we won't have to have many of these stuffy dinners together this summer.

"Oh, um, could you make a deposit to my account? If not, maybe Dante can give me a job in the casino?"

She blinks at me silently, waiting for me to provide more information, just as I was afraid of. "Why?"

"I was thinking about going car shopping." I come up with the lie off the top of my head. I can buy a clunker, then send the rest of the money to Amber.

" Car shopping ?" My mother makes it sound like I just said I was going skydiving without a parachute.

"Yeah, Mom, you know, shopping for a car so I don't have to walk everywhere?" I withhold the word finally . Having to stay on campus or use public transportation for the past three years sucked. Now that she inherited all that money, maybe I can at least get a car out of Amber's blackmail.

"You don't need a car, sweetie. I recently sold mine because I never drove it anymore."

"Why did you sell your car?" I ask mostly because it was a piece of shit that was falling apart so it couldn't have been worth more than a few hundred bucks.

"Dante's guards drive me wherever I need to go."

"It's safer," Dante says from the head of the table. "And as I told you earlier, you'll be assigned two guards and a vehicle which will be available any time you need it."

"Wait. You're putting guards on me all the time, and they have to drive me around everywhere?"

My mom says, "Of course. The city can be dangerous, especially now that we're part of Dante's family."

"I didn't have guards shadowing me at school, so why do I need protection here? Nobody even knows who I am." Nobody will recognize my face, not unless I don't come up with the cash Amber wants.

Seeing my mother wince before she lowers her eyes is all the answer I need. Especially when Dante lifts a single eyebrow and gives me a look that says, " You really think she would leave you unguarded after what happened last summer? "

"You had people watching me all year on campus? Great, add one more lie by omission to your giant fucking pile."

Cass laughs from her seat next to mine and says, "Welcome to our cage, golden boy."

"We weren't spying on you," my mother replies. "The men were there just to make sure nobody came after you."

With a shake of my head, my jaw clenched tight, I tell her, "I can't believe you."

"Life is different for us now, sweetie. You had to know there would be some...uncomfortable changes."

"Uncomfortable? I'm going to have constant babysitters reporting my every move to you and Dante? That's way past uncomfortable. It's invasive and unnecessary."

"You should be glad you at least get to leave the casino whenever you want," Cass remarks, her eyes lowered to her glass of red wine she gulps down.

I knew her father was strict, but he really doesn't let them leave the casino without his permission?

"Can you leave here whenever you want?" I ask my mom.

"Sure, I can. But I learned my lesson about complaining about guards and not taking my safety as a priority when I was kidnapped. "

"You were kidnapped?" My mom gives Dante a wide-eyed oh shit look. "When? When were you fucking kidnapped, Mom?"

"Right after the bombing," Cass informs me since the rest of the table is as silent as a tomb. "A few days after you left," she adds. "I mean, after you and your mom left the casino because of the fight with my dad."

Kidnapped. Jesus.

Stabbing my fingers through my hair, I give the locks a tug. "Wow. I can't believe you were...and that you didn't tell me about that either."

"I didn't want you to worry."

"Worry? You could've been killed or worse. Did they do worse?" I ask even though I'm not sure if I want the answer. It's crazy how fast all my anger at my mother evaporates after hearing the word "kidnapped."

She gives me a small smile. "No, sweetie. Dante had his guards keeping an eye on me, thankfully, even though I didn't want him to. It was Yuri's men who grabbed me. That's how they found out I was still alive. I didn't know Dante and his men would come for me so fast, so I spilled the beans about my birth name to make sure the Russians kept their hands off me."

"I can't believe this," I mutter, running my fingers through my hair again. My grandfather really was a piece of work. My mom wouldn't have been so lucky if she hadn't been his daughter. He would've killed her, probably after letting his men rape her. I'm glad that son of a bitch is dead.

"Welcome to the mafia," Dante grumbles. Killing my grandfather is one thing he did that I approve of. I bet he and Eli made that fucker suffer too. "You can never be too careful, so trust no one but the people sitting at this table."

I guess that doesn't include psycho Eli since he's apparently not allowed to eat with the family. And I'm not entirely sure Cass can be trusted not to kill me.

The fact that she came to warn me before dinner in that skimpy dress means she must be seriously concerned I'll tell Dante about her and her escapades with the guards.

I can't wait to find out who they are, but I won't be turning him, or them, over to Dante.

It can't be anything serious like a relationship, could it? Cass wouldn't have attacked me in the pool if she didn't care about the sons of bitches. But how do they feel? Are they just using her?

I'm going to figure out who they are and then I'm going to get answers to all of those questions.