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As I drifted off in Havoc’s arms, I had to admit to myself that he was my kind of crazy.
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
RAINA
I woke up alone and disoriented. For a moment, I wasn’t sure where the hell I was. The handcuffs on Havoc’s abandoned pillow reminded me.
Sitting up with a groan, I stretched and rubbed my wrist where the cuff had been chaffing me. Thankfully, he’d removed them before leaving the room. Since it was Saturday morning, none of us had classes. Male voices drifted up the stairs. It sounded like all three of them were in the kitchen. Shit, what time was it?
Since I had no idea where my phone was, I grabbed Havoc’s tablet off the dresser. Just past ten in the morning. Early still but not super early.
After emptying my full bladder in the attached bathroom, I climbed back into the warm bed and got comfy with the tablet. I was in no hurry to go downstairs and deal with the Gods in hangover mode. Instead, I propped the pillows against the headboard and helped myself to Havoc’s social media.
I’d checked out some of his stuff the last time I’d snooped through his tablet. This time I dug a little deeper. With the door cracked open, I could hear them downstairs. I doubted he’d catch me with it. Even if he did, why would he leave it lying around without a password if he had something to hide?
I scrolled through photo after photo. Most of them were stupid party pictures of drunken shenanigans. Nothing of interest. Earlier photos were from his time on campus. As I scrolled, the pictures began to get older. Havoc looked much younger. He was a teen in most of them. I recognized his dad in several pictures. Everyone in the city knew who Maverick Alexander was, especially me and my family.
It wasn’t Maverick who caught my attention though. No, it was the giggling brunette on his lap in the background of one photo that made me gasp and do a double take. Was that Nikki?
I zoomed in on the photo. It made the details a bit grainy but there was no doubt in my mind that was Nikki. My father’s wife. The woman I’d killed in self-defense.
A sick sensation formed in my stomach. Did Havoc know about this? He was in the photo too, in the foreground with a younger, much less tattooed Gage. What the fuck was going on here?
I sent a copy of the photo to my email before putting the tablet back on Havoc’s dresser. Needing some time to think, I grabbed some clean clothes from my bag in Gage’s room and washed up in the bathroom. Slipping into jeans and a t-shirt, I tried to calm myself down. It didn’t work.
By the time I descended the stairs to the main floor, I was furious. Havoc had to know something. That meant he’d been keeping it from me all this time. Claiming to protect me from a stalker that was most likely one of his father’s men. I doubted Maverick would bother doing that kind of dirty work himself.
“Ah, there she is. Our sleeping beauty.” Knight greeted me with a wink and a smile. “We saved you some pancakes.”
He nodded to the island counter where a plate stacked with pancakes sat next to a bottle of syrup. Not feeling like food with so much tension coiled in my stomach, I went through the motions of fixing myself a coffee.
“Thanks. I’m not hungry right now.” I took a sip of coffee. That hit the spot. Unfortunately, it did nothing to quell the anger brewing inside me. Finally, I spat, “Hey, Havoc. Care to tell me why you didn’t say shit about your dad being involved with Nikki?”
The chatter at the table came to an abrupt stop. Havoc glanced up from his pancakes with a frown. “What the fuck are you talking about?”
“I’m talking about the picture on your Insta of Nikki sitting on your dad’s lap. Are you seriously going to play dumb? I know you’re an idiot but not that much of an idiot.”
My tone was sharp enough to cut glass. It brought Havoc out of his chair in a flash. His fork hit the plate with a loud clatter.
“First of all, I have no idea what the hell you’re talking about. Second of all, you better watch your mouth, Raina. I’ll spank that ass so hard you won’t sit for a month.” Havoc strode toward me, his expression furious.
Both Knight and Gage watched the scene unfolding before them with growing curiosity. Knight shoved his chair back, ready to get up if Havoc and I tried to kill each other. Depending on what else he said, it may happen.
Spying my phone on the kitchen table, I left my coffee and went to grab it. Havoc pivoted to follow. I opened my email and pulled up the photo, showing it to Havoc.
“That’s Nikki.” I pointed to the dark haired woman on Maverick’s lap. “My father’s dead wife.”
Havoc stared at the photo for a minute before shaking his head. “That’s some chick my dad banged a few times. Her name was April. I don’t recall her being around much.”
“No, Havoc. This is Nikki. I don’t know if that’s her real name but this is her. How did you not recognize her at my fake memorial service?” I thrust the phone at his face, forcing him to shove my hand away.
“Fuck, I don’t know. She was blonde at the memorial. She wore a lot of makeup, and she was crying with her head down a lot. I was seventeen back then. Not really paying much attention to the women my father brought home. Nobody cared. Not even my mom who was usually banging the pool guy. Are you sure this is her?”
“I’d bet my life on it. Trust me, Havoc, it’s her.” I paused, letting that sink in before adding, “You know what this means, don’t you?”
Gage let out a low whistle. “It means that either Nikki was playing both Maverick and Desmond, or she was working with Maverick and purposely got close to Desmond.”
I thought back to what Nikki had said about wanting everything my father had. She’d needed me out of the way first. The only person who had enough power to conquer this city with my father out of the way was Maverick Alexander.
