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“Niko, do you think my father had something to do with my mother’s murder?”
My gaze whips in her direction. Shit. I should have known at some point the story of what went down with her mother would come up. The longer she hangs around with us, the more she understands how our world works. And the more she realizes life holds few coincidences.
As she’s processing this, she has questions. Lots of them.
And my mind is racing, formulating answers. I want to be careful. She’s going to hear some things she doesn’t like. Things that hurt. This is sensitive shit.
I study her before I answer. “Are you sure you want to talk about this, Charleigh?” I ask, settling into an easy chair in the corner of her room.
I don’t want to be tempted by being any closer to her.
Yeah, right.
“Look,” she starts, “you told me all about having a different dad than Vadik and Kir. You trusted me with your story. You can trust me with this.”
Trust her, sure. But can she handle it? The truth?
“Okay, Charleigh,” I say, knowing she will be a different person as soon as she hears my thoughts. “Yes, we think your mother was murdered because of something your father did.”
I do know it wasn’t by our faction. We don’t take out family members. But that’s all I know.
And a second later, I hate myself for telling her. It’s as if I’ve snatched away the last shred of goodness she has.
She stares blankly. Not moving, not speaking.
Until she says, “Will you spend the night with me, tonight?”
* * *
CHAPTERSIXTY-THREE
Niko
“You’re moving her again? But she just joined you in your suite yesterday.”
Dominika is pissed. Pissed that we dare to show Charleigh any sort of preferential treatment in moving her out of the club and to our compound, where we will start staying again. Security is much more robust there, and we’ll all be safer.
Not just Charleigh.
Things are heating up with Dimitri, and we are taking no chances.
But Dominika feels that if there are any favorites to be played, it should be her. That’s how she was with my dad for years, and she is still, incredibly, entitled. While I didn’t know they were together when my father was still alive, I had vague suspicions, and after my parents were gone, my brothers confirmed what I thought.
Papa’s dying left Dominika high and dry. I mean, she still has her job at the club—Uncle Mikey kept her on because it meant he had to do no work, and we keep her on because the club needs the continuity that only she can provide. You’d think this would be a win for everyone, and yet Dominika still feels shortchanged, something she makes little effort to hide.
Papa didn’t name her in his will. Is it wrong to leave out a years-long mistress from benefitting from your estate?
I can’t really say. I can only surmise Dominika wasn’t named because Papa didn’t want my mother to know, in case he went first.
Which is ridiculous. As if my mother had no idea. Of course, she knew. Mistresses are a cross to bear for women like her. But he kept her spoiled, showering her with his love. And she kept her mouth shut.
To be honest, Dominika is lucky we don’t can her ass, she’s such a pain. But our father would not want that, and besides, she does fulfill her purpose.
Today she’s especially rattled to find that Charleigh will no longer be subjected to her whims. As if Charleigh pulled one over on her. What she doesn’t understand is that it’s not about Charleigh, per se. The girl is a very valuable asset to the club, and there’s no limit to what we will do to protect that.
To be completely vulgar, it boils down to what we can exchange for said asset. It’s transactional. Nothing more. I don’t like it, but that’s the way it is.
Which is what makes Dominika’s pettiness all the more irritating. If she understood our business at all, she’d see that. She’s missing the point. It’s shortsighted of her.
