Page 107 of Heirs of Havoc

“Uh, yeah.” Chaya nods, her dreads decorated with gold twine. She glances at Dom for help, but that's not happening. Not when he's drilling imaginary bullets in my head. “When he picked me up, I asked what happened to his shirt. He said Vlad made pasta.”

Feliks snorts from behind me before I clarify, “Is that what this is?”

“Mia," Dom warns.

“What happened Dom?”

“Pasta,” he repeats, jaw tight. “And for that, I need a goddamn answer.”

“You mean an answer to what the fuck I’m going to do with my life since I killed my father for you?”

“Woah.” Chaya’s voice lowers. “You, you what?” She lets out a nervous chuckle like I’m joking and I wish I was.

“That’s right Chaya, I went to get Dom from my father like we said, but when he came back to get me, my father tried to kill him.” Fighting the bile rising inside me, I spit out the words. “So I shot him.”

“You’re fucking careless,” Dom growls.

“And you’re so not worth it.”

“So, does this mean we’re not going on vacation?” Chaya asks.

My head whips to her. “Wait, what?” Why is she talking about a vacation when I told her I'm a murderer?

“Yes! Yes, you are!” Lev pipes up. “We’ll hold things down here, but you and Chaya sound like you have a lot to catch up on, right, Dom?”

“I want an answer,” Dom repeats, ignoring his friend. “I’m not gonna keep fighting off your father’s men for you.”

That explains the “pasta.”

But that doesn’t change one fact. “I killed for you.”

“And I died for you.”

That proves to me that, once again, Dominik Federov only gives a shit about himself.

“Uh, you sure you don’t want me to come back?” Chaya sounds even more nervous than before.

“No.” Pulling the towel around me, I move towards her. “Lev’s right. I need to get the fuck out of here. Away from him.” Pulling her wrist, I drag her out of the room with me, leaving with a slam.

* * *

The boys' idea of a vacation with my best friend is exactly what I need to clear my mind. But my mind won’t clear.

“Check out that hottie." Chaya lowers her shades at the boy across from us, his muscles moving as he hovers the net over the pool. She sips on her margarita, straw hat covering her dreads. “Wait, nevermind, you already have four.” She giggles into her glass as I groan.

“I don’t know what I’m gonna do, Chaya.” My back falls against the poolside chaise, the sun beaming down on us from above.

It’s hard to believe Chaya’s still here after everything I’ve told her over the last forty-eight hours. But she is. And Dom’s right. She’s in way too deep. She knows too much and if my dad’s men are after me, chances are, they’re after her too.

I’d be more concerned about our “vacation” if it wasn’t for the air-tight security this place has. With the way they’ve treated us with room service every morning, and with dibs on the best amenities, it's clear they're more afraid of Dominik than I am. I’m grateful Chaya agreed to spend her school break with me. I don’t know what I’d do if it wasn’t for her. While this isn’t on my dime, I hope it makes up for the trauma I've given her.

“What do you want?” she asks.

My world stills. “What do you mean?”

She blinks, her eyes shifting to my glass of champagne before they come back to mine. “Literally that. What do you want? Do you want to go back and face your life as a Merlo? Or do you want to stay with Dom, Vlad, Lev and Feliks? You come from money, but four hotties at your beck and call?” She whistles, the alcohol doing most of the talking for her. “To me, the answer is simple.”

“It’s too complicated.” A server replaces my glass of champagne the minute I’ve finished, my eyes on the lake in the distance. We’re about an hour from Clementine, but my problems feel too close to home. “Besides, I’d be betraying my entire family.”

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