EVIL QUEEN - Rebel Hart Page 0,21

Deon’s voice was defensive and short.

“No, I—” I shook my head. “We’re not doing this. Nikita has always been that way. Maybe you knew this Cherri, but this is new to me.”

“I get it. Just don’t let anything happen to her, okay?”

“I won’t.”

“Good.”

“Okay, have you ticked all your boxes? You can tell me why you called now? Did you find dad?” I asked.

“I haven’t found him yet, but I’ve enlisted some help. How much access to Connor’s company do you have?”

“All of it. They won’t fucking leave me alone.” It’d been hours since I checked my email, but I shuddered to think of what awaited me there when I did finally check it. “Why?”

“A guy I was locked up with has some people on the outside who are good at tracking, and I’m told that your dad is probably using money from somewhere. An offshore account, a credit card no one knew about, a non-profit foundation, something.”

“I’ll look into it. They’ve been begging me to come in and look at the finances. I’ll take the opportunity to see what I can find. Where do I call you when I know? No number showed up on my phone.”

“Just wait for me to call again. I’m afraid of being tracked, so I ditched my old one.”

I didn’t like that very much but understood the practicality of it. “Fine, but can it not be months this time?”

“I’ll do my best.”

“Thanks.” The conversation was nearing its end, but as odd as it seemed, I didn’t want it to. “Um, given you do track down our father and get rid of him, what are you gonna do after that?”

Deon sighed. “I’m trying not to think that far ahead.”

To try and make my next statement lighter, I forced a laugh. “You could rise from the dead. Come home, marry Cherri, and run the family business with me.” Then I laughed some more.

Deon didn’t say anything for a long thirty seconds, and then he just said, “Don’t say stupid shit,” and hung up the phone.

I stared down at the ended call in shock. Was it really so stupid an idea to suggest that he’d just hang up on me? That was how our first conversation in months ends? How our first cordial conversation in years ends?

“Wow.”

What was I supposed to do next? I had to look into my father’s company, but that wouldn’t be able to happen until tomorrow or maybe even the weekend. There was also no way of knowing how long it would be before Deon called again. I felt like a sitting duck, and I didn’t like it.

Before I could stop myself, I’d navigated to Nikita’s number and pressed the button to call her. For as long as I could remember, she was the person I called when I felt lost. She often knew the way forward, and even if she didn’t, being around her brought a certain clarity that I couldn’t get from any other source. More than any of that, I just wanted to see her. I wanted to kiss her and assure her that she was the only person I loved. Even if she didn’t believe me, just saying it would make me feel better.

“It’s Nikita.” Her voicemail was simple and understated, just like she was.

“Hey, I know you’re mad at me, but I just heard from Deon and wanted to hear your voice or see you, or… I don’t know. Nikki, I need you to know that I love you more than myself. Even just these past few hours of not being with you have sucked. I want to see you, but I get it if you don’t want to see me. Just know that I love you and only you. Okay? I don’t feel that way about Cherri. I never did, but taking care of her is just something I have to do. Anyway. I’m done. I’m on my way home from dinner now. I’ll see you tomorrow, I guess. I love you so much. Bye.”

I turned and was surprised to see Brayden and Kyle’s cars still sitting in the restaurant parking lot, but I was ready to go. I finally started up my car and made my way home. It would be the first night of many that I’d spend without Nikita in my bed, and I doubted I’d get much sleep, so on the way home, I stopped for a cup of coffee and planned to spend the night digging into what of my dad’s company I