Page 77 of One Filthy Kiss

He’s coming for them, and he isn’t going to stop until he has finished what he started.

17

MEGAN

“Nikki? What are you doing here?”

I stand in the doorway of the cabin, trying to get my best friend into context with a backdrop of verdant mountains, cable cars, and Gio’s security team backing away now that I’ve confirmed my guest’s name.

“Auntie Nikki!” Amber comes up behind me and wraps her arms and legs around my best friend. “Are you on vacation too?”

“Well, I will be if your sister ever lets me in.” Nikki grins at me.

“Oh my God. I can’t believe you’re here.” I stand back and hold the door wide open.

Nikki walks in, Amber still clinging to her like a koala bear. She shrugs a small pink carryall over her shoulder and onto the floor and turns three-sixty while she inspects the cabin. She lets out a low whistle. “So, this is how the other half lives, eh?”

I laugh. “Are you going to tell me why you’re here?”

“Are you going to offer me a cup of real coffee and a cake?”

“How do you know I’ve been baking?”

This feels so surreal. I can’t believe we’re standing in a cabin in Stowe, which is quite possibly one of the most beautiful places in the world, discussing cakes.

“Um, this place reeks of sugar?” Nikki arches an eyebrow. “It’s a dead giveaway.”

Amber climbs off my friend and runs to the kitchen where she grabs a basket filled with confectionery. “We made chocolate slabs and brownies,” she announces with a proud smile.

“Well, hit me up with one of each.” Nikki follows her into the kitchen, pulls out a seat, and sits down, making herself at home. “I could murder a coffee, Meg. Do you have any idea how exhausting it is traveling by private jet?” She fans herself with her hand and adopts a plummy spoon-in-her-mouth British accent.

I follow them and switch on the coffee machine.

As if by magic, Ric appears. “Did someone mention coffee?”

Nikki eyes him suspiciously, sitting forward and instinctively moving closer to Amber.

“Nikki, this is Ric, Gio’s bodyguard. Ric, this is Nikki, my best friend, who still hasn’t explained why she’s here.”

They shake hands formally. “How long will you be staying?” Ric asks.

“As long as she’ll have me.” Nikki hooks a thumb in my direction. “Although the room service is shocking. I’ve traveled all the way from LA, and I still haven’t been offered any refreshments.”

“Okay, okay.” I can’t help giggling like a schoolgirl. “The coffee is coming.”

I glance up at the security camera set in the corner of the room and smile. Gio is behind Nikki’s unexpected arrival, and I want him to know that I’m grateful.

I hardly spent any time with her in LA before Gio whisked us away to New York, but now that she’s here, we can have some quality time together, catch up on all the gossip, and maybe even do some sightseeing.

For a few brief, giddy moments, I almost forget the reason why we’re here in the first place with a whole team of bodyguards and cameras following our every move.

I shrug off my resignation and fill three cups with steaming coffee.

I don’t realize how much I’ve missed Nikki until she’s here with me.

The three of us: me, Nikki, and Amber, share the king-size bed in the main bedroom, Amber in the middle, snoring softly, bottom lip slack while we whisper late into the night over mugs of creamy hot chocolate.

I tell her about the escape from New York, and she listens intently like this is a true-crime podcast, and she’s trying to figure out the perpetrator.