Page 38 of Seeking Vengeance
Christ, she looked like a caged animal in full-on panic mode.
“Yes,” he said gently but firmly, “we do.”
There was a knock at the door. Sean growled as Nicki made another attempt to slip by him.
“Leave it,” he said. This was much more important.
“Sean. Hey, Sean, I need to talk to you, man,” Nick’s voice called through the door.
“Oh fuck,” Nicki muttered again.
If it had been anyone else, Sean wouldn’t have considered answering the door, but the rage he felt at Nick for what he’d done wouldn’t let him ignore it.
“Go into my bedroom, close the door, and wait for me,” Sean commanded. “We are not finished.”
For a moment, he didn’t think she would comply, but then she nodded her head and went. Sean pulled on a pair of jeans and answered the door.
“Nick.”
The kid looked like he hadn’t slept in days. He was wearing the same clothes Sean had seen him in two days earlier. There were dark circles under his eyes, his skin was pale, and his pupils were no more than pinpricks. Sean narrowed his eyes suspiciously.
“Can I come in?” Nick asked, shifting his weight from side to side.
Sean stepped to the side, giving him room to enter. As he did, Sean sniffed, instantly registering the lingering scents of alcohol and weed smoke, but judging by the kid’s eyes, he’d gone more hard core than that. Sean was pretty sure if he rolled up Nick’s sleeve, he’d see a few holes that hadn’t been there before.
Nick looked around briefly, vaguely, then landed with some effort on Sean.
Nick cleared his throat. “I’m looking for Nicki. Have you heard from her?”
“Lose her, did you?”
Anger flashed in Nick’s eyes, but the kid had apparently managed to retain enough brain cells to tuck it away. “She didn’t come home last night.”
Sean was about to point out that there probably wouldn’t have been a problem if he had bothered to be there for his sister, but before he could, Nicki stepped out of the bedroom.
She took one look at her brother and the shape he was in. “Ah fuck, Nick. No.”
“Nicki?” he said, surprised to see her.
“You promised, Nick,” she said, her voice barely more than a whisper.
“What are you doing here?” Nick asked. When she didn’t answer, he looked at her, then Sean, and then back at her as it became clear. “Fuck!”
“I buried our mother yesterday, Nick,” Nicki said, her words taut with anger and disappointment. “And I did it alone.”
“So, you came to him? Tohim?!” Nick’s eyes were wild.
“Where else was I going to go? Where wereyou? Damn it, Nick! I can’t go through this again!”
“Did you fuck him, Nicki? Did you?”
Nicki lunged toward Nick and pushed him back.Hard. “Fuck you. The last thing I need is your shit right now.”
Nick reached out to grab her, but she was quicker. She spun around and bobbed up behind him, kicking him in the back of his knee once, taking him down to the floor.
“Enough!” Sean bellowed.
He reached out and pulled her away from Nick, out of striking distance. She tried to shrug away, but he held on to her arm in such a way that any struggle on her part twisted her into a painful position.
