“Nichelle? Is everything okay?” I could barely keep the wobble out of my voice.
Nichelle opened her mouth to answer me, but a voice from the other side of the threshold spoke up. “No, Disney. Everything is not okay. Could you please tell whoever this is that I know you? She seems to think I’m some sort of salesman, or worse, a Jehovah’s Witness. I swear, lady, I met her at Psychos. I ain’t here to try to save your soul. You rich folk don’t have one anyway.”
I put my hand on the huge, heavy wooden door and yanked it open. “Rebel?”
Rebel stood on the other side, an armful of clothes and jewelry in her arms, and a makeup case on top. She raised one eyebrow at me. “Nice place, Dis. You gonna let me in or we just gonna stand out here giving all the neighbors a show?” She jerked her head toward the left. “The old bastard next door was checking out my ass when I was getting this stuff out of the trunk. Pervert.”
Nichelle’s mouth hung open, and she stared between Rebel and me like we were something in a museum that she couldn’t quite work out. “You two know each other?”
I was almost as surprised as Nichelle was. But I ignored her question because it was clear I did indeed know the pixie with the foul mouth on the front step. “What are you doing here? How did you even know where I lived?”
“Nash and Nash.”
When I just blinked at her dumbly, she elaborated. “Nash thought you might need some help getting ready for tonight. So he sent me.” She did a cute little curtsy. “Your own personal dressing, hair, and makeup service.” She glanced at Nichelle. “But your guard dog won’t let me in.” She leered at Nichelle. “Woof.”
Nichelle spun on her heel, and with a dirty glare at me, stormed off. I stared at Rebel. “Oh my God. You did not just do that?”
She shrugged. “She was looking at me with judgy rich person eyes. You gonna let me in or do I gotta bark at you too?”
I laughed and grabbed her arm, pulling her inside and up the stairs to my suite. “Oh, shoot. Wait. I gotta find the kids. Leave that stuff here in the doorway and come with me.”
“You got kids?”
“Sibling kids.”
I made a beeline for the large walk-in linen closet in the east wing, that was a favorite hiding spot. I dragged Rebel along with me, her eyes wide, and peering around at everything we passed. “Dis…you no shit live in a palace.”
I shrugged. “I think a palace denotes royalty. This is just your regular, run-of-the-mill mansion.”
“You could fit my entire apartment in this hallway.”
It made me think of the tiny trailer I’d spent my early years in. It was even smaller than the hallway. It could have fit in the closet I found Everett and Verity in a moment later.
I used the distraction to not comment on Rebel’s observation and chased the two kids out of the closet, grateful they’d actually listened and hid when I’d told them to. If the person at the door had been the guy with the mask…
I shuddered while we walked back to my rooms. That couldn’t happen. Not here, with Verity and Everett around.
It was a wakeup call. And a realization that I needed to stay somewhere else until this was all taken care of.
Rebel peered over at me. “You cold? You’re gonna have to get over that, because the outfits I brought with me do not have a lot of coverage. But it gets warm inside the club anyway.”
“Nash was sweet to send you over, but I’m really not in the mood to go out. I’ve decided to sell Psychos, but the real estate people will handle everything. There’s no need for me to get involved.”
Rebel stared at me like I’d grown another head. “You’re selling it? Have you lost your mind? You’d make so much more money running it.” Then a look of dawning realization spread across her face. “I suppose the money doesn’t really mean anything when you already have enough to fill an Olympic-sized swimming pool.”
If only she knew that the amount of money we truly had probably wouldn’t overflow in a kiddie pool. “I don’t think stale beer and the odd darts tournament really brings in much money. But hopefully the sale will be enough to pay out the debts.”
She stared at me. “Okay, Nash was right. You really do need to come tonight. ‘Cause you have clearly no idea what you’re talking about.”
“I saw the books. Nash sent them over for the real estate agent. Psychos makes money but nothing to get excited about.”
She blew out a long breath as she retrieved her clothes, makeup case, and hair curler from the floor. The rush of air lifted her short bangs. “There’s a lot more to Psychos than what’s on those books, Dis.” She opened the door to my suite, and I followed her inside. She gazed around and shook her head. “Jesus fuck. I’ve never seen anything like this. Where’s your bathroom? You’ve probably got multiple, am I right?”