EVIL QUEEN - Rebel Hart Page 0,55

did they look like?” Kyle asked.

“One of ‘em was a typical bodyguard type guy. You know, tall, built, the whole thing. He was wearing a zip-up hoodie and jeans, but it barely fit on him. The other guy was smaller, but he was still pretty tall. Similar clothes. The bodyguard guy had short black hair and a goatee, and the other guy had brown hair, also pretty short, and was cleanly shaven.”

“Blending in,” I said.

“Pretty much,” Jaxon replied.

“Do they sound familiar, Nathan?” Kyle asked.

“I mean, not specifically familiar. My dad kept a handful of guys around to clean up messes, and they were all similar. Black or brown hair and a couple of blonds. Close goatees or no facial hair at all. Muscular enough to be useful, but not so much to stand out. My dad knew what he was doing. I’d have to see them to be sure.”

Jaxon pulled out his phone, flipped through it a bit, and then slid it over to me. “They didn’t notice me at first, and I was able to get that.”

I looked down at the picture. “Neither of them looks like any of the guys my dad kept around.”

“Still, similar MO. Could be that he hired them,” Kyle said.

“It’s possible, but I don’t know what the point of that would be,” I replied. “Is that the only other time you’ve seen them?”

“Nope,” he said and looked straight at me. “Yesterday, when I was leaving Nikki’s house, they were there.”

I sat up straight. “They were watching her house?”

“They were down the road a bit, and they weren’t looking in my direction when I noticed them. It was almost like they were there just to be there, not necessarily to keep an eye on her, but then I pulled my gun on them and told them to fuck off, and they did.”

“So at this point, they definitely know you’re onto them,” Kyle said.

“Yep. I figure now we’ll see if we get different guys or if they stay the same.”

“If my dad’s responsible for it, they’ll stay the same,” I said. “He’s an intimidator down to his core. He’s probably fucking giddy, thinking we’re bothered by them.” I slammed my hand on the table, rattling it. “Where’s Nikki now?”

“Nikita can take care of herself,” Jaxon responded.

“I know that,” I replied. “Where is she?”

There was a beat of tense silence between us, and then he shrugged. “I asked her to sit with Colette while I was here.”

“Good. Thank you.”

Though it was quiet and kind of uncomfortable, we received and ate our breakfast, and both Jaxon and I appreciated what Kyle was trying to do enough to humor him whenever he tried to start different topics of conversation. Jaxon and I ended on as good of terms as possible for the circumstances. After seeing Jaxon off, Kyle and I got back in his car to drive back to my place.

“I knew you’d be worried about her,” Kyle said once we were driving. “I figured the best way to assure you that she was doing okay, if hurt, was by inviting Jaxon so that you could talk about it.”

“I fucked up, Kyle,” I said. “I mean, I really fucked up.”

“We were all shocked when you picked Cherri,” he said. “Jaxon’s right. I get that you’re trying to make peace with Cherri, but she’s obviously not being very receptive to that right now, and in the meantime, you’re fucking things up with Nikita. I miss Cherri too, but we all need to stop trying to get through to her right now. We need to have each other’s backs right now. When Cherri’s ready, she’ll come back.”

“Yeah. I just feel like I deserve that. Every single day of the rest of my life should be an apology to her.”

“You can’t live like that,” Kyle said. “I get it. Trust me, I do. I consider Cherri to be a friend, and I was just as frustrated as everyone else was when I heard what you did, but I don’t think it’s just the end. There’s a difference between retribution and damnation.” He shrugged. “I don’t know. This shit is so hard to navigate. You know what you did was wrong, and it was borne of your own mental instability. You’re in therapy, you’re on meds, you’ve apologized, you’re never gonna do it again, and you know it was wrong. Pay your dues, then make peace. There’s a future for you. I refuse to believe there isn’t.”

“Thanks, man,” was all I could say.