"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
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
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
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
"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
Victoria stared at her reflection in the mirror. She knew what she was about to offer was a long shot, but she had to try. This current situation was killing her parents' and making their lives miserable. She remembered the day he came into her father's failing soul food restaurant. She knew in his icy blue eyes that he was a fucking devil.She loathed him with every single cell in her body. He had ruined her family. Her parents' lives. Her life. She despised him and she hated money. Money really was the root of all evil. It was the reason she was in this predicament. She never found any use for money. Sure, she may have never sported the newest, trendy clothing, but she didn't feel the need to. She was never the girl in high school with the latest anything, and she was just fine with that.But now here she was putting on the only decent dress she owned (minus a black funeral dress), which was now a little short from being washed a million times. It was a black dress w
In the ten years that Nic had taken over his father's business, he had started another restaurant and opened a club uptown. All three investments were flourishing and he was in business with three foreign companies which he worked with to supply weapons. He had more than quadrupled the income his father had been bringing in. In their city, you knew to do any 'business' you had to go through Nicolas Andretti IV. Nic was never an overly flashy guy, but he did dress in the nicest Armani suits and had a hot new thing on his arm every other night. That's actually how he met his wife, Amber.She had been one of the regulars at his club, and eventually she flirted her way into his bed and then into a marriage. He still didn't know how that had happened. Maybe he had a weakness for tall, mean blonds, because that's exactly what Amber was. And part of him was turned on because of this mean streak she seemed to possess. He found it amusing when she would launch into someone and cut the
"I tried calling. But the appointment time they gave me was two months from now," Victoria replied, raising her voice a bit."Yes, that's because I'm a busy man.""I just wanted to talk to you about my father," she said.Nic turned to Jimmy. "Hey, Jimmy, do you remember the days when a man had a problem with another man, they would handle it. I don't recall the man sending his daughter to do it, do you?""No sir, I sure don't. Seems like something a pussy would do."Nic turned back around to glare at Victoria. "I agree.""My father—""--your father is the one who owes me money. He needs to come see me. Not you.""He's sick, that's why I'm here," Victoria whispered, nearing tears.Nic looked at the poor girl in her cheap black dress. She was a pretty girl. Beautiful in fact. Nowhere near as tall as Amber, but definitely more shapely. Truth be told, her body was starting to make him think thoughts that he shouldn't b
Nic stopped by his club for a few minutes, to greet the new guest DJ, some kid that all of the clubbers seemed to know. He saw Amber sitting in her usual VIP booth. It had been awhile since he had seen her, but he nodded in her direction. She pouted and turned her head away from him. Probably best, under the circumstances with his new project. A project he was more eager than he'd like to admit to get back to.He drove his Aston Martin to his loft downtown, in anticipation of what the night would bring. Nothing turned him on more than having complete control."Have a good evening, Mr. Andretti," the old doorman, Sam, said as he held open the glass doors. "You too, Sam," Nic replied, as he entered the building. He pressed his personal code into the elevator keypad and it stopped off on the top floor. When he opened the door, he scanned the main room, but he didn't see her. Had she backed out on their deal? Fuck.He sighed and placed his keys on the counter. His l