Fatal Alliances [✓]

17

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

MALIA

IT WAS FOUR AM AND I WAS BAREFOOT. I found myself staring at the open refrigerator in front of me, blinking at the lights and items on the shelves. Everything was perfectly organised, courtesy of Romi Nikolai. He insisted on making sure that Imaani and I always had our stomachs filled to our hearts content and there was nothing that we fell short of.

Abruptly being woken up by nightmares resulted in me being thirsty. I knew exactly what I wanted and went for it, pulling out one of many apple and pineapple juice cartons; twisting the cap and simple drinking from it because it was labelled Malia in Mademoiselle Katherine's fancy, cursive writing.

Despite the fact that I had initially arrived on this island and particularly Mateo's humble abode reluctantly; these last 5 nights had been exceptionally good, granted the owner of the residence himself didn't show his face much.

At first I had been very curious and pestered Romi what exactly it was he was doing behind closed doors and why he was constantly behaving so secretively, but he insisted whatever it was would make me feel sick to my toes and have me wanting to run away —so I give it up.

Mateo made it law not to cross paths with me, yet he did have Romi warn me on an occasion about the fact that I was playing songs too loudly and it was distracting him —even though we spent our time in complete different ends of the colosseum of a mansion he owned.

Me being me, I chose to turn up the music even more and crank up Desi Girl, determined to help his men get their groove on too. They looked tortured as they walked by, not making direct eye contact. I took it they weren't a big fan of Bollywood and shot them glares, while pointing my fingers at them. One smirked as he walked past, and I recognised him from the time I had been held against my will by Mateo, he'd been patrolling outside of the shower that time.

He made it a point to look my way and meander my profile, which gave me a huge sense of satisfaction, going as far as whispering words of praise at me. He undoubtedly liked what he saw but alas, I never saw my greatest fan again after that, and I wondered where he disappeared to.

Giving in, I tried to enjoy what the Costello residence had to offer, wandering the luscious green gardens during the mornings, as I sipped fresh juice and seriously eyed some attractive chaps that were religiously patrolling the grounds. Sometimes I winked at them, but they weren't always returned.

I placed the carton of juice in the fridge and chuckled quietly to myself as I closed the doors at my train of thoughts. Only when I turned around, my laughter halted as I narrowed my eyes at the person in front of me.

"Izaac." I bit out, unimpressed and annoyed, no doubt.

"Sofia." He nodded at me, before his eyes scanned my body, leaving me feel very much tense.