Page 64 of Tempt

Nicki glared at her brother. Her expressions were so different from Theo’s. It was fascinating to see, but it was really hard to keep from staring.

“I. Don’t. Want. To. Be. Here.”

“I. Don’t. Care,” Theo replied. “Thank you for listening to Higgins.”

“He’s lucky he still has his balls attached.”

I snorted at how she repeated exactly what Higgins had just said.

She glared at me and I immediately shut up. Then she glared at Theo. “I told you I didn’t want to see him. Ever.”

Part of me wanted to pop some popcorn, pull up a stool and enjoy the family drama, but since that would be in poor taste and probably not terribly helpful, I decided to carefully examine her drawings instead.

I wasn’t exactly an art expert, but to me they were nothing short of brilliant. The detail was impressive considering she was only using a single charcoal pencil to create all of it. Every sheet was a variation on the same thing—some sort of duality. Light and darkness. Fire and water. Heaven and hell. And in the middle of each one was the same devil-angel symbol holding the two halves apart.

“I wasn’t in town,” Theo sighed. “I couldn’t stop him.”

“You could have sent Martin.” She sat up and swung her legs over the side of the bed.

Theo barked out a laugh. “You think I could have stopped Darcy Higgins from bringingyouhere? You really don’t know the man, do you?”

The temperature in the room was dropping fast. If things kept up like this I was going to need a parka. She and Theo were locked in some sort of staring contest—and neither of them was winning. Then Nicki suddenly shook her head and nodded at me. “So this is her?”

I froze and turned on my heel. I was happy to stay out of a conversation between brother and sister, but I wasn’t about to let her talk about me as if I weren’t standing right in front of her. I stuck out my hand. “Hi, I’m Allison.”

Nicki arched an eyebrow. “I know who you are.” Then she turned back to Theo. “Let me guess, brother dearest, you want us girls to talk while you ‘manly men’plot and plan how you’re going to be dastardly and protective of the womenfolk.”

Oh, snap. Nicki may be an actual recluse, but she was feisty. I really liked her. I tried not to laugh, but I couldn’t help the smile plastered to my face as I crossed my arms and looked at Theo. “Well?”

Nicki grinned. “I like her.”

Theo rolled his eyes. “I don’t think I like the two of you knowing each other.” Then he waved us out into the kitchen.

* * *

I quickly learned two things:I really liked Nicki’s dark sense of humor, and Higgins was secretly a soft teddy bear of a big brother. Well, at least to Theo and me. He was something quite different around Nicki. He usually kept the equivalent of the entire continent of Antarctica between them, avoiding eye contact, or saying anything that would upset her. But when he wasn’t acting like Public Enemy Number One, he was the sweetest, most protective, love sick, brokenhearted man I’d ever met.

Seriously, the level of emotion coming off those two was palpable and more than a little overwhelming. I almost felt likemyheart was breaking and I barely knew the two of them.

Theo filled everyone in on what was happening with Toni. Higgins blew a gasket and Nicki sat quietly in a corner listening with her arms wrapped around her middle.

“You need to have him publicly drawn and quartered. Make an example of him. No one will come after us ever again.” Higgins ran his hands over his face.

“The next couple of weeks are going to be complicated,” Theo said. “After I clear my team we’ll be able to go home, at least.”

“You mean I won’t be forced to live here forever? Thank god.” Nicki wasn’t happy about any of this.

Theo gave her a look. Responding to her digs only seemed to cause more problems, not less. “There are a lot of moving pieces right now, but the plan is to draw Toni out and beat him at his own game. When this is over, this time, it’s over.”

Nicki snorted. “It’s never over, Theo. Not ever. This will hang over us for the rest of our lives. It doesn’t matter if it’s Toni or anyone else. The ghosts of the past will haunt the four of us until the day we die. There is no penance that will free you, brother dear.”

Theo sat staring at the coffee table as Nicki stood up and left. She didn’t look at me or Higgins—just Theo. Driving home a point I didn’t fully understand. She left behind a black hole sucking each of us in one by one.

“It’s not true,” Higgins voice was low as he spoke. “She’s just so angry she can’t see past the pain.”

I didn’t know what to say or do because I didn’t really know what anyone was talking about anymore. So I just sat there with my knees drawn up under my chin, listening.

“Or maybe she’s the only one who’s thinking straight,” Theo finally said. “Maybe we want to be free of the past so badly that we can’t see reality.”

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