Over the next few days, Nic and Veronica fell into somewhat of a normal routine that normal couples did. But his purchases didn't stop at the bed. He insisted on buying her a car. She didn't want something too flashy and pricey, so she settled on a regular two door, black Jetta. Of course it was the latest model, but she figured she could handle that. And not having to ride public transportation anymore wasn't something she'd miss.
Nic was also adamant about her having a cell phone. She had never really wanted one, because she felt they were a hassle and an unnecessary bill, but Nic got her one anyway. She asked to pay for the bill, but he just looked at her like she was crazy. But thinking about bills, she thought about her parents and their bills. She tried to not let it bother her, but it did. She wondered if Mr. Parker had finally kicked them out or if Nic's visit months ago had scared him into giving her folks a little extra time on paying the rent each month.
And
Yes, Bali really was heaven, Veronica was sure of it. The warm water felt so good sliding down her body, as she quickly took a shower. She and Nic had spent the whole day touring the island. At the beginning of the tour, he was on his cell phone. At first it bothered her, because he was missing all of the sights, but then she thought about it. He probably did stuff like this all the time. His wife—ex-wife seemed like she had expensive tastes, so this was probably nothing to him. She had sighed and leaned her head against the window as their driver zipped them around the most picturesque locations on the island.They drove by the native people while in their everyday activities. Working hard...much like she did back home. She wondered if they still enjoyed the beauty of their own home, or if that was only something foreigners could see. Everything seemed more abundant and unrestrained. Just so full of life. They were passing a waterfall when she felt Nic's strong arms gr
Veronica put on the peach colored string bikini, one of the many outfits Nic had snuck and bought her. It was definitely not something she was used to wearing, so she put on a short white ruffled skirt to feel a little more clothed. She pulled her thick curls into a messy ponytail and walked out of the door. She was meeting Nic at an outdoor bar by the beach. He had left early that morning for a run. She wished she could have gone with him, but her body just wouldn't get up. When he had left her, he was shirtless, with just a pair of shorts and shoes on. He had tucked his shirt behind him in his shorts, for later. He had looked so damn fine, that she wanted to pull him back in the bed. But he had kissed her and took off out of the door.Veronica reached the bar and sat down on a stool. She glanced around and noticed the other tourists, along with the locals. Everyone looked so happy and carefree. She knew the feeling. She ordered a pretty pink margarita and wait
She threw the covers from her body and walked over to him. She wrapped her arms around him. She usually wasn't so comfortable with her nudity, but he was rubbing off on her. "What's wrong?" she asked. "Nothing. I just can't sleep." "You wanna talk about it?" "No. Not really," Nic said. "Come on, you can tell me anything. I want to know." "I'm just used to bad things following the good." "What do you mean?" Nic turned around. "Nothing. Don't worry about it. I think it's time for another inspection?" he asked, looking her up and down. "Well, that depends. Are you a harsh critic?" "Absolutely," Nic said, before twirling her around and smacking her ass. Veronica belted out a yelp. "Perfect," Nic whispered, admiring her body more, while pulling her towards the bed. Their last night in Bali, Nic took Veronica to an upscale restaurant. Veronica freaked when there were no prices listed on
Jimmy sat patiently on the couch in Nic's office as Nic dialed Veronica again. The first time she didn't pick up. Jimmy tossed another pecan in his mouth and wiped his hands. He and his wife were supposed to be going to dinner with the new couple as soon as Veronica got off work. He glanced back over at Nic and waited."There you are. What time do you think you'll be here?" Nic asked.Jimmy watched as Nic's brow furrowed."What do you mean, you don't know? I thought you were going to leave early?" he questioned.Nic slowly sat down, and Jimmy saw a blank expression come across his features. Something Nic was hearing was obviously a problem of some kind. "Veronica...what happened?" Nic asked.Then Nic's face turned white. Pale white. Jimmy rose and walked over to the desk. What the hell was going on? Nic leaned over the desk and covered his face with his hand as he listened to whatever Veronica was saying."Are you okay?" Nic asked Veronica,
Veronica winced in pain from trying to pry her puffy eyes open. She sat up in Nic's bed and pushed her wild curls from her face. She glanced at the night stand for the time. 10 pm. She sighed. All the images from earlier that day came flashing back. The loud noise, screams and shattering glass. She was praying that it was just a nightmare, but she knew that wishful thinking was all in vain. But just as suddenly as those visions had come, Veronica couldn't breathe. She quickly grabbed her chest and forced herself to take deep gulps of air to calm her breathing.She finally composed herself, walked out of the room and down the long hallway. When she reached Nic's office door she was about to knock when she heard Nic's voice, more animated than she had ever heard before. She cracked the door open and saw Jimmy and Nic arguing."Nic, all I'm saying is you don't know for sure that Sonny did this. It could have been a number of people," Jimmy said."No. I know it was
In the car ride on the way to...well, wherever she was going, Veronica thought of her morning. She had woken up, had a big bowl of cereal and then went into work. Never in a million years would she have thought her day would turn out this way. One minute she's separating the marshmallows from the other bits of cereal in her bowl, the next she's caught in the middle of some mob war. Life was indeed strange. Jimmy had told her to go to sleep if she could, because they had a long way ahead of them. Her eyelids were heavy, and although she protested, she was asleep in no time.Jimmy glanced in his rearview mirror at Veronica. She had her head resting against the window and her eyes were shut. She was definitely a beautiful girl. And one of the sweetest people he had ever met. He really hated that she was going through this and he couldn't imagine what Nic must be feeling. No one had ever tried to hurt Jimmy's family. Ever. He hoped that Sonny wasn't involved. Because if he was, t
"Mio figlio!" Veronica heard Marianna say, as she walked back into the kitchen, and proceeded to talk to Nic in Italian. So much for eavesdropping."How long do you think I'll have to be here, Jimmy?" Veronica whispered."I'm not sure. Hopefully no more than a few days. Why, is Marianna already getting on your nerves," Jimmy smiled."No! No, I mean, she's great as far as I can tell. She's so friendly. It's just that I miss Nic already. And I'm sure you miss your family."Jimmy patted her on the back. "It should only take a few days to get everything sorted out, and then it should all go back to normal.""Jimmy! Get in here..per favore!" Marianna yelled from the kitchen. "Nic wants to speak with you again."Jimmy laughed. "I love that woman," he said, before he hopped up and walked further into the kitchen.After dinner Veronica could hardly keep her eyes open. She felt like she had already slept most of the day away, but her eyes just
The next morning, Veronica awoke with sunlight streaming down on her. She wiped her eyes and walked to the window and peered through. Her mouth dropped wide open. All she could see was plush green land, a creek and several horses. She saw a stable in the distance and a few other animals. This was a ranch. She had never been to a ranch before. She ran into the bathroom to take a quick shower.When she was done, she finally opened her suitcase. 'Damn Minka,' Veronica thought, as she rummaged through all of the short, tight designer clothes Minka had picked out for her. Nothing in her bag even remotely looked comfortable. But at least she had packed her Converse for her. She put on a cute shirt and skirt, and pulled her hair back into a ponytail.Veronica walked downstairs, to find Jimmy and Marianna sitting at the kitchen table laughing and sipping coffee."Good morning!" Marianna said in a cheery tone, getting up to give Veronica another bone crushing hug and kis
"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