Nic was furious and...hurt.
"Turn down here," he said to Raymond. It was now three in the Goddamn morning and they were still searching for her. Nic cursed himself. He should have just followed her. It was freezing outside, and she only had a flimsy little jacket on since she had refused to take any of the clothing he had bought for her. He got desperate and had gone to her parent's house. That...had been interesting.
He had knocked on the door several times. He could see them pacing back and forth through the light in the peephole and he could hear them frantically discussing something. No doubt, whether or not to open the door for him. But then, finally, her father had answered.
"Yes?" he said.
"I'm looking for Victoria, is she here?" Nic had asked.
"No."
"Do you know where she is?"
"No."
Nic narrowed his eyes at James. His next question was going to be, 'Do you care where she is?', but Nic didn't have time to argue with him.
Paul could easily call another of his bodyguards, and blow this whole situation out of proportion. But he knew that Nic wasn't thinking rationally. And that he probably would break Renny's nose. Paul didn't know every detail about Nic and Victoria's strange relationship, but he did know that there were more feelings involved than either one was letting on. He stared at the back of Nic's body, which was tense. He had always liked Nic. Much more than Nic's father. Nic had a brutal honestly about him. Paul respected that. He wished his own son could be more like Nic. But Sonny was sneaky and unreliable. Two traits that neither Paul nor Nic possessed."Renny, let Mr. Andretti pass," Paul said. Nic moved forward, barely giving Renny a second to move out of the way. Paul followed behind. "I would like to give her a heads up, Nic. So she won't think I am betraying her."Nic stopped when they reached the top of the stairs. "Alright," he said as Paul moved ahead of him and ente
Over the next two days, Victoria quickly recovered thanks to the doctor's visits and medication. She tried to stay out of Paul's way so she wouldn't be more of a bother than she already felt, even though Paul insisted that she wasn't. Paul offered to let her borrow one of his cars, but she politely declined and took the bus to work. At first, Greg had refused to let her work since she was recovering, but Victoria was desperate. She needed to make some money, so eventually after nagging and following him all over the restaurant, he agreed to let her pick up some more shifts if she would just shut up.But it was her third day in the house when Sonny showed up. And of all the times, she had been bending over her bed, trying to find a rubber band for her hair when she heard his voice."Damn, I think that's about the best position," he said.Her body immediately tensed as she raised up. She was still on her hands and knees when she turned to glare at him."Don
She grabbed her jacket and met Sonny downstairs. He gave her body a onceover."Damn, you look so good," he said, glancing at her ass again."Thanks, but Sonny, this dress is so tight. You sure you got this for me?" Victoria questioned, raising her eyebrow.Sonny laughed, "Trust me, I knew exactly what I was doing."When they pulled up to the party, there were several cars parked outside of a club. It was definitely not a small get together.Victoria stared at the long line of people waiting to get in. "Sonny, you said this was a small party!""Well, I guess he invited more people," Sonny said, grabbing her arm to escort her to the front of the line. The bouncer immediately let Sonny in, and the two glided through the main entrance. The club was packed. People on all sides. Victoria couldn't really hear anything over the loud music, but Sonny stopped and talked with several people. He was definitely charismatic in a room, Victoria thought. He
Nic opened the door and she stepped inside. He quickly followed and shut the door. He turned on the overhead light and stared at her.Victoria was trying to pull the dress down again. But sitting was a bit of a challenge."Okay, what do you want to talk about?" Victoria asked."Why the hell did you show up here with him?"Victoria sighed again. "Nic, that's really none of your business. You and I have no connection now.""He bought this dress for you?" Nic said, scanning over her curves."Nic, I told him not to. Honestly, I didn't want it," Victoria said."Can I tell you that HONESTLY, I want to rip that shit off your body? You let him parade you around in that like you're his fucking Barbie or something.""Like you haven't," Victoria replied. She shook her head. She didn't owe him any explanation. She tried to exit the limo, but he grabbed her and gently pulled her down to the floor."No! Stop it, Nic," Victoria said, t
Veronica marched back into the club as quickly as she could. She had to get away from Nic. What the hell was wrong with her? She kept glancing behind her to make sure Nic hadn't followed her back in. She needed to find Sonny and go. She was done with Nic Andretti. Completely done.Veronica scanned the crowded club. Everything seemed to be moving in slow motion. She felt dizzy. Why was she letting this happen? Why did she put herself in this situation? She saw Sonny in the distance talking to a group of people and laughing. He had just used her, and much like Nic, didn't even care how it had hurt her. She realized right then, that she wasn't riding back with him. She had trusted a snake, been bitten, and she had no one to blame but herself. She just wanted both Nic and Sonny out of her life for good. And if they wouldn't stay away from her, she'd damn sure stay away from them. She found the front entrance she and Sonny had come through earlier and made a straight line to it. S
"Hey Reuben, sorry to bother you so early in the morning, but I—well, thank you. I just wanted to see if you could start up the divorce proceedings again." Pause. "Yeah, I just want to get it done as quickly and with as much discretion as possible." Pause. "No, I'll talk to Amber tomorrow." Pause. "Alright, I'll let her know. Thank you."Nic clicked off his cell phone. His whole body felt tight with stress. He had never been much of a sleeper, but lately he hadn't been getting any sleep. He remembered the last night he had slept beside Veronica. He had fallen into such a deep sleep that he had to be wakened by her the next morning. And that never happened. God, he'd give anything to sleep like that again.His cure for stress and insomnia was always sex or exercise. Sex or exercise? Who was he kidding? He knew he wasn't having sex with anyone. That's what Veronica had done to him. So he proceeded to look for his Nikes.*********************The next
'Home, sweet home,' Veronica thought, as she stood outside her apartment door about to push her key into the lock. She had to conceal a smile. It felt incredible coming back to her own place. A piece of sanctuary that no one could kick her out of. Her own little slice of heaven, no matter how small or old it was.Through some connections at work, she was able to find a roommate and move out of Paul's. Her roommate, Stephanie, was this really cool Korean chick, who rarely stayed at the apartment. She was always on the go with her job or her friends. Which suited Veronica just fine. She felt like she really DID have a place of her own. She had painted her room a light lavender color and designed it how she wanted, with butterflies all over the place. She had cried a few tears of joy over that simple freedom.To decorate her own room. She never had one living with her folks. They could never afford anything more than a one bedroom, so she was designated to the couch for y
Nic had decided tonight was the night. He had to have Veronica back. He hadn't been the same since she'd left him, and he wanted to finally show her what her life could be like as his girlfriend. Nic sat in his black Escalade watching Calamity's from afar. He watched through the windows as Veronica gracefully rushed around the crowded restaurant in her skimpy outfit. Her WAY too skimpy outfit. He knew exactly what every straight male in that place was thinking, because it's what he was thinking too. Shit.He looked at her as she smiled at each customer and wrote down their orders. Her ass swayed from side to side in a natural feminine walk, causing his dick to harden. He knew her body from every angle. Front to back, top to bottom. There wasn't an opening on her body he hadn't been inside of and in some strange, possessive way, he felt that it meant she belonged to him. He was even jealous of some girl who had given Veronica a hug before the girl walked out of the restaurant.
"I think he needs a brother," Nic whispered to her, pulling her away from the crib. "Let's get started on that."Veronica laughed, as the two of them entered their bedroom. Nic went to take a shower, but Veronica didn't feel like budging. She was so tired, and instead opted to plop down face first on the bed, and stayed like that until she heard the shower cut off.She finally crawled underneath the covers, when she remembered something. "Oh, hey Nic," Veronica yelled from the bed."What?" she heard him say."Some woman from that party we went to months ago invited us to her party. I forgot to tell you. It's a garden party, or key party...something like that. But she seemed nice, so I wanted to let you know."Ve
His hands were shaking, and he needed to slow down his breathing. Even though he knew it wasn't there, he still felt there was blood on his hands. He quickly wiped his palms across his jeans-covered thighs. Fuck, this was spinning way out of control.He could bullshit and charm his way out of almost every situation. It was a gift he had. One that his father never fully appreciated. His old man wanted him to be more like him, old school. Or like that fucker, Nic. But that wasn't Sonny.And until tonight, he had never taken another human being's life. Until tonight, he thought over in his head again. Fuck!Sonny knew he shouldn't have gotten involved with the Russians. He had never played at that level before. That was more Nic's territory, because where Sonny liked to bullshit, charm and make an idle threat every now
Veronica wasn't sure how long she lovingly admired her two boys, but she couldn't take her eyes away from them. Nic's eyes were closed and his chest was slowly rising up and down. And Sebastian's little face was turned to the side resting on his father's chest. His tiny little pink lips made an 'o' shape as he yawned, never once opening his eyes.After what seemed like forever, Veronica quietly backed out of the living room and went back into Nic's study to open up her last timed quiz. She glanced at the photo by his computer. It was a picture Isabelle had taken of her that first day in the hospital, with Sebastian in her hands. She personally hated the picture because she had just woken up, and with all the pushing, sweating and lack of makeup ...she swore she looked hideous. But Nic wouldn't let her change it. He said it was his favorite picture.Before the t
She stood up from the couch and walked him around.Nic leaned back observing his wife. He watched her cute full hips sway back and forth, as she lightly bounced Sebastian. He couldn't think of a more beautiful sight.How the hell did life bring him here? A little less than two years ago, he looked at people differently. In one glance at Veronica, he thought he knew exactly who she was. Someone who would never matter to him, and who was weak. Someone he could prey on. But Veronica sliced and diced that version of Nic Andretti to shreds, and amazingly she didn't do it by force. She didn't do it by being more cunning, or by any other sneaky methods. She accomplished a feat no other had, and she did it with love. Selfless, generous, unwavering love.He remembered thinking that he had planned to teach her a lesson the fi
"And by the way," Jimmy said, in afterthought, "Detective Marsh's car was blown up, and he was beat up and mugged. Crazy world we live in.""When did this happen?" Nic asked."Oh, it hasn't happened yet. I'm psychic, didn't you know?" he smiled over at Nic.Nic nodded. Karma was certainly a bitch.Nic's palms started sweating the closer and closer they got to Jimmy's house. He had asked everyone not to tell Veronica that he had been released. He wanted to surprise her.But at the moment, he could hardly swallow or keep a single coherent thought in his head. He would be seeing his son, Sebastian, for the first time. And he had to laugh at the fact that he didn't want to disappoint him. Although Sebastian was less than three da
"Well Nic, looks like you really fucked up yesterday. Threatening to kill a detective just doing his duty? Why, what did I ever do to deserve that," Marsh taunted, leaning against his cell. And as always, Reuben was there with Nic."I don't know what you're talking about," Nic answered."Sure. Several guards heard you yell that you wanted to kill me.""No they didn't."Marsh stared at Nic skeptically. "I never took you for a lying man. Cold-hearted killer, but not a liar. They heard you, asshole.""Yeah, they heard me threaten to kill someone, and it was my attorney. He's been falling down on the job, haven't you noticed," Nic dead-panned."Yep, and Nic already apologized to me fo
Nic's heart started beating rapidly. That asshole had to be lying. He slowly got up and walked over to pick up the photos. He flipped through them. His hands started to shake when he saw a picture of her being put in the backseat of Antonio's car and pictures of them arriving at the hospital and his mom escorting Veronica inside. Nic suddenly couldn't breathe. He dropped the photos to the ground as if they electrocuted him.Nic staggered backwards until his calves touched his cot, and then he slowly sat down. He had missed his son being born. He hadn't been away from him more than a few hours since he was conceived...and on the most important day, because of his past lifestyle and FUCKING MARSH, he had missed it.Nic considered himself a sane and rational man. And under any other circumstances, he would have found a cool place in his mind...some place he could
The next morning, Veronica was awakened by Marianna bringing her in a large plate of food. "Good morning, cara mia. You are eating today. Every bite," she demanded, as she sat at the edge of the bed, watching Veronica like a hawk. Veronica didn't feel like eating, but she started stuffing the food in her mouth just to please Marianna. "How are you able to stay so calm?" Veronica asked, pausing in between bites. Marianna thought about it for a moment. "Because I can't help my son right now. All I can do is pray for him, but there's nothing I can help Reuben or Jimmy with. What I can do for him is watch over you and his baby growing inside you. Those are the things I can do, and I'm going to do them, because I love him, I love you and my grandson. Now eat."
Marsh stepped into the interrogation room holding a cloth to his nose. He threw a few files down onto the table and stared at Nic."Nicolas Andretti...I finally got you, you fucker. And don't worry, I fucking own this precinct. There are no cameras rolling behind those mirrors. Just you and me. Together at last."Nic's wrists were raw from the tight handcuffs, but he refused to complain about it. First, it wouldn't do any good, and second, he wouldn't give that asshole the satisfaction. He stared back at Marsh with a bored expression."So Nic, this is how we're going to do this. Believe it or not, I have an amazing proposition for you. How about you walk out of here today--no questions asked. You leave, go see your wife and fly back to California. How does that sound?"N