Page 49 of Kill, Sleep, Repeat: Vol II

Her breath catches, and for a moment, I see the vulnerability she tries so hard to hide. But then it’s gone, replaced by the cold, calculating woman I know too well.

“You don’t know me as well as you think,” she says finally.

I can’t help but smile. “Oh, Charlotte. I know you better than you know yourself.”

We sit there in silence for a beat, the weight of everything unsaid hanging heavy between us. She doesn’t tell me to leave. She doesn’t tell me to stay. But then, it’s there—the shift in her expression. Something has clicked.

“Wait a minute. What did you just say?”

I raise an eyebrow, feigning confusion. “I’m sorry?”

“No, Michael. You said it was going to be for the best…”

“Oh, right. That.”

“What did you mean?” She swallows hard, as if bracing for something she doesn’t want to hear.“What’s going to happen next?”

42

SOPHIE

“Mom?Dad?”

Malik stands next to me, his eyes darting between my parents and the lifeless body on the floor. “Wait, I thought your dad was dead.”

He’s staring at everything—at me, at my family—as if I’ve somehow pulled off the greatest con of the century. Like everything I’ve told him has been an elaborate performance. And honestly, with how this is, I don’t blame him.

“He is. Hewas,” I say, my eyes still trained on the dead man. He doesn’t even look like a real person anymore, just a limp, bloodied sack of flesh crumpled in the middle of the room.

Dad, unfazed, steps forward and opens his arms to hug me. “Sophie.”

I take a quick step back. I know this is the point where I’m supposed to freak out, seeing my dad alive—but we have bigger, more pressing matters right now.

“Look—” I start, rubbing my temples, my head spinning in a way I really don’t want to deal with right now. “I don’t know what the fuck is going on, but we have a problem.”

My parents exchange a brief glance, some silent communicationpassing between them. Like they’re debating whether or not they need to give me the rundown about why my dad is here alive, and not dead as they’ve allowed me to believe for thepast three years, or if they can get away with pretending everything’s fine.

I shift my gaze back to Malik, who looks like he’s about to lose consciousness. His face is pale, his mouth hanging slightly open, and I swear I can see his brain trying to process everything at once.

“Your father took care of it,” Mom says, and there’s something about her tone that suggests she’s just talking about picking up the dry cleaning or getting the car washed.

Malik blinks, jerking his gaze away from the corpse. “So, your dad is alive and, uh, he just killed someone?” His voice cracks as it climbs several pitches. “No big deal?”

I roll my eyes. This is nothing. This is Tuesday for my family. But I can’t explain that to Malik right now without going into way more detail than I have time for at this moment.

I glance at my parents, both of them acting like none of this is unusual. Like they haven’t spent the last three years letting me believe my father was dead, only to pop up again, alive and well. Like I didn’t just spend three years mourning a man who didn’t die, but who was instead… doing this shit? Killing people. Hiding out. Whatever.

“Your mother ordered a hit on me,” Dad says, like he’s reading my mind. “But we’ve worked it out and now everything is fine.”

Mom cuts her eyes to him. “We haven’t worked anything out.”

“I don’t have time for this,” I say, and I almost feel like I’m talking to myself at this point. “The reason I’m here is because we have another problem. Hayley’s on the boat.”

My parents blink at me like I’ve just dropped a bomb, which, to be fair, I basically have. They exchangeanother look—this one more meaningful, like they both know the exact level of chaos this is going to cause.

“What the hell is she doing here?” Dad asks, staring at Mom. His voice is calm, but I can see the hint of frustration behind his eyes. He never liked Hayley’s rebellious streak, and now it’s going to bite us all in the ass.

“She followed me. She followedus,” I say, “and now she’s on the lower deck with a bunch of people she shouldn’t be with. Drunk. Being...Hayley.”

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