I raised my brow. Was she kidding?
“Four, then?” Nikki confirmed.
“I’ll be there.”
* * *
Nikki walked straighttoward me after passing through the entrance. Interesting. She knew what I looked like, and considering I wasn’t a public figure like my brothers, that meant she’d done some digging. I watched her approach, and she hadn’t been kidding. With her heavily drawn makeup and drop neck, skintight dress resting at her upper thighs, Nikki looked the part of a strung out prostitute. Clearly, she’d seen the worst humanity had to offer and had not dealt with it appropriately.
She seemed opposite of Rory in every way, yet they shared a past that had ultimately sent him into hiding. The question was why. I couldn’t tell by looking at Nikki if she was the victim or the villain in Rory’s life story, but I was sure she was the key to unraveling it.
She cast me a hard stare upon approach. Why did it feel like we were rivals? If she was his sister, why the competitive glare? Unsteady in her gait, Nikki used the edges of the table to slide into place across from me. It was easy to see she was being propelled by narcotics. Once settled into her seat, Nikki pulled her long hair to one side, revealing extensions in varying stages of falling away.
“I feel like I should bow to you or something,” she said.
“Bow?”
“Royalty. The famed McKallister family. Good for you.” Her compliment was steeped in contempt. She hated me and couldn’t contain it. “How Rory managed to snag you, I’ll never understand.”
“I feel like I’m the lucky one.”
She looked me up and down. “Uh-huh.”
“What’s that supposed to mean? Rory’s an amazing guy.”
“Oh, I know. That much isn’t in dispute. I just can’t figure out how the two of you ever crossed paths.”
“He didn’t tell you?”
She smiled, but under her heavy makeup, it looked almost predatory. “How much do you know about our favorite guy?”
“Enough.”
“But not everything? That’s why you agreed to meet me, right? You want to know?”
“Know what?”
“Why he left you.”
Oh, god. She’d hit the nerve. Rory and I had just reconnected, and while I planned to get the story out of him someday, I knew I was in for an uphill battle. Rory held his secrets tight. But Nikki… She was open to negotiation.
“I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t curious.”
“Good,” Nikki said. “That’s what I was betting on. We both have something the other wants.”
“And what do you want, Nikki?”
“A ticket.”
I blinked. “Like to the show?”
“Yes.”
“Why can’t you buy one yourself?”
“They’re sold out.”
“Scalper?”
