Page 69 of Shâhzâdeh

Xerxes glanced down at me as though he remembered for the first time that I was supposed to be in bed. “I would grant you any desire of your heart,habibi. All but zhis one.”

“What do you mean?”

Xerxes nodded with his head toward Patrick. “He cannot leave this place.”

“Why not?”

“Because he has to die.”

My brows shot up because what normal person carried a tarp around just in case they needed to handle a damn body? “Die? Is that what the tarp was for?”

“No. Actually, zhe tarp was for you.”

“For me?” I backed up but Nev was behind me again.

“Xerxes, clean that shit up, honey.” She chastised him so sweetly I almost forgot I was supposed to be scared.

“Why were you bringing a tarp to me?”

“I did not do zhis. He did. When you left, zhere were certain idiosyncrasies about your date zhat put us all on high alert. All three of us, well six of us really.” He nudged the back of Patrick’s head with the butt of his knife angrily.

“Like what?” Damn my curious mind because I couldn’t not ask the question.

“The way he talked to himself now that you were absent. Or the way he quickly got on the phone to speak hurriedly with someone. As though they had to regroup because a plan had been foiled. So Shoaib and Quentin hunted down his car while we continued to eat. We had the server take your drink and test it—”

“How could you have that done so quickly?” I glanced around because who were these people that were equipped with all this weird shit? I thought I was well prepared with a first aid kit in my car but clearly I was wrong.

“Bars are becoming far more vigilant about that type of thing. And since the restaurant in question was part of the hotel, the one that we own, we make sure that the staff is equipped to check a drink non invasively for a patron and to handle a potential poisoning in case it slips by them.” Nevaeh gave me another squeeze as she explained.

“So let me guess, you were gonna roofie me.” I was looking down at him still upset to have agreed to go out with him.

“No. Your drink was filled with ecstasy.”

“Ecstasy. That’s new. Normally I’d have drinks laced with sedatives. Guess you’re not into necrophilia.” I was getting angrier especially as I could feel the people in the room begin to pity me.

“You are speakin’ far too flatly for my likin’, Vanya. It enrages me to zhink zhat you zhink of zhis as normal.”

“This was my normal. So nothing surprises me. My ex and his family… they tried to kill me. To mold me into what they wanted me to be. Shape me into something I was not. And they got so angry when they couldn’t get the me out of me they wanted. The six of you in this room have been more family to me than the Kennedys ever were. You don’t even know me, but you still looked out for me instead of allowing this piece of shit to do whatever he was going to. Hell, I’m sure Xerxes would be more than happy to cut them a check for the money they spent on my upbringing. Of course I’ve more than paid them back in blood, haven’t I, Patrick?”

“Ziba, I need you to speak and I need you to speak quickly. Before I lop off his head and no longer care about zhe why of vhat he did.” He rotated his wrist like he was warming up the joint so that he could do the deed with one swoop.

“If he’s friendly with them then he’s a bad person too and he should die.”

“That’s a big turnaround fromXerxes please don’t kill him.” Midas was eyeing me again and I was sure I looked like a hypocrite but I couldn’t help it.

Midas was nodding and I appreciated that he wouldn’t press me further. “If you understood then you would understand.”

“I get it. You don’t want your information exposed into a room full of people you don’t know.”

“Precisely that.” And I didn’t want Xerxes to see this me. The one who was broken. Who couldn’t stand up for herself. The one who was beholden to people who meant her no good for years. It gutted me to stand here and talk about this and think that he wouldn’t see me the same after all this. “So what was the plan? Blackmail after you got your jollies off?”

“I don’t know about any of that. I was just told this would be something that you were in to. Role playing and—”

“Role playing only works when both people are in on it. If only one side knows about it then it’s assault. It’s rape. It’s a crime. So you can’t hide behind the idea that you’re somehow innocent. Nobody unknowingly drugs someone else. Your motive as soon as you did that was nefarious. Right, Xerxes?”

“You are right as always, Vanya.”

I nodded feeling his confirmation shore up my emotions that had been so far out of control. “Good. When you are done with however you are going to do this, I’m going to need a new place to live. It may take me a few days—”

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