Page 30 of Pay the Piper

“I was afraid you would say that. There is another alternative.” Nikki sighs as he stands, slowly pulling me up with him before grabbing me around the waist with lightning speed. “It’s either something about you or you go in the lake.”

“Okay, okay! I’ll tell you something!” I breathe between laughs as he playfully holds me at the edge of the pier. “Just put me down!”

Luckily, he obliges, waiting patiently for my answer as we return to our previous positions.

“Hmm. Okay, well I grew up in Canada and—”

“I know the basic shit. You gave us all the rundown last week, remember? Plus, I had a guy look into your story. I gotta be careful about who my baby sis hangs out with.”

Fuck, fuck, fuck. This is it. He’s found out the truth, and he brought me to this hidden lake to kill me. Nobody will ever find my body here, I’m sure of it. Oh well, I guess better here than in Canada.

I scoff. “You don’t trust me?”

“It’s not you. I don’t trust anyone. Your check came back clean, though.” He pauses, staring into my eyes for what feels like an eternity. “I’ve been around the block enough to know when someone has a secret. You aren’t who you appear to be. But I also know when someone has a pure heart, and yours, cara amica, is as pure as they come.”

“How can you tell?” My voice is barely a whisper as I sit deadly still, shivering from the sudden change in temperature around us.

“It’s my superpower.” Nikki smiles for the first time in minutes, rubbing my arms to warm me up. “If I thought for a split second that you were dangerous, you wouldn’t be here today. I would never risk the well-being of my family, especially my sister.”

“But why…how…If you suspect I’m…and I—”

“I can tell you need a friend, Abby. Remember? One tortured soul”—he covers his heart with his hand, then places it gently on my shoulder—“to another. But that brings me back to the game. Tell me something real, Abby Reid.”

Smiling, I place my hand on his and think. There are no sparks, no tingles. Just warmth as he smiles back at me.

Something real.

“I don’t believe in love. I mean…I used to. When I was a little girl, I obviously thought my Prince Charming would come find me and that we would live happily ever after and all that bullshit. But I learned my lesson the hard way.”

Nikki frowns and pushes a strand of my hair behind my ear. “I’m sorry to hear that. Don’t give up on love just yet. It’s cliché as shit, but it’s true. Life without love isn’t a life worth living. No matter how many times you get burned, you keep loving. You’ll find someone one day whose fire doesn’t burn you but adds to your own flame. It’s always worth it to take a chance on love, even if it destroys you or doesn’t last forever.”

Ha…destroys isn’t a strong enough word. If only heartbreak were my only consequence for falling in love.

“What about you?”

“Huh?”

“Tell me something about you. Something real. Your rules, not mine.”

Nikki chuckles at me before staring out at the water and skips two rocks. “I’ve lost one brother already, and I’m afraid I’m losing another. I just don’t know if I’ll have it in me to stop him before he destroys everything else I hold dear.”

“You’ll do the right thing, I know it.” I place my hand beside his on the pier and he rubs his pinky against mine.

“So who was your favorite princess? Let me guess, Ariel?”

“What, just because I have red hair, I have to like The Little Mermaid?”

“Well?”

“It’s Princess Fiona…from Shrek—”

Nikki chokes on nothing at my answer. “That’s the second time in a week someone’s brought up Princess Fiona!”

“Jeez, how many girls have you been asking this question to?”

“Believe it or not, it was a buddy of mine. A male buddy.”

“Sure.” I roll my eyes dramatically, but I couldn’t care either way. In fact, everything inside me hopes this beautiful and kind man finds someone to love him like he deserves.