Seven Days Ch. 07

"Come with me," Nic said, as he removed a handgun from his desk. Holy shit!! Antonio's feet felt like they were glued to the floor. But there was something about Nic. When he told you to do something, you just did it. He guessed he could kind of figure how Victoria had stayed with him so long.

Antonio kept his mouth shut as Nic led him down to the basement and through a small door on the left. As soon as they entered, Antonio knew what this room was. He had never been at a shooting range, but he knew what one looked like.

Antonio looked down the aisle at the paper target in the distance. He watched as Nic quickly cocked his gun and a second later sent two bullets into the head of the target.

Antonio didn't mean to, but he jumped. He still wasn't used to all of this. Some might have thought he looked the part of Italian gangster, but in truth, he was definitely more of a lover than a fighter. The first time he had even held a gun was when Jimmy handed him one. When Antonio envisioned his life in the underground crime world, he thought of houses and cars he could buy his mom. The women, the respect. But he had forgotten exactly how Nic had earned that respect. Sure it was through clever investments and people trusting Nic's business smarts, but it was also in part due to fear. A skill that Antonio knew nothing about.

"Have you ever shot a gun before?" Nic asked him.

"Um...I, well, honestly I lied to Jimmy. I told him that I had, but I hadn't."

Nic stared at him for a few moments. "In our business, it would be a good thing to learn." Nic gave Antonio the handgun. Antonio stared at the target for a while, and then shot. He clipped the bottom edge of the paper.

"I'd advise you to practice. And in your spare time, read the Wallstreet Journal."

Antonio nodded his head. "I will."

Nic turned to leave, but before he took more than a few steps, Antonio heard himself ask, "Nic, would you mind if I met with her?"

Nic slowed his steps and turned back around. He narrowed his eyes at him. Fuck, Antonio knew this was one of those moments when he needed Jimmy's guidance.

"I appreciate you taking Victoria in when you did. But she is...special to me. And if you haven't noticed, I'm not a very sharing man. Especially when it comes to her. So I strongly suggest that you don't contact her."

Antonio didn't want to agree, but he wasn't about to cross Nic. Not when just several feet away was a paper target with two bullet holes in the head part of it. "Okay."

Nic began to walk back upstairs.

Antonio finally relaxed. So he hadn't just walked to his death. "For a moment, you had me scared. I thought this demonstration was meant to be a warning or something," Antonio lightly laughed.

"It was," Nic shot back over his shoulder before he closed the door. Antonio swallowed hard. He'd have to get used to Nic's sense of humor. If that was even meant to be a joke...

*********************

Nic had decided tonight was the night. He had to have Victoria 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 Victoria 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 Victoria a hug before the girl walked out of the restaurant.

But then, something caught his eye and caused him to open the car door. What the fuck? Some asshole had slapped her on her ass. But Nic relaxed a little when he saw her turn around and stick her finger in the guy's face, apparently telling him to back off.

Nic sat and watched for another hour. He felt like a stalker, but he couldn't help himself.

He saw the asshole who slapped her ass finally leave. Fuck, he wanted to follow that fucker and break all his fingers. Psycho, maybe? Yes. But whatever. Victoria looked so tired when she finally walked out. He wanted so badly to offer her a ride, but he knew she would refuse and that would ruin everything he had wanted to say.

He followed the bus until it dropped her off. He watched her enter her apartment and saw her lights turn on. He saw her shadow move back and forth through the apartment, and then he watched as darkness flooded the place. Nic pulled out his pen and began to write. He wasn't ready just yet to knock on her door. He would give her some time. Give himself some time to get his shit together. Then he smiled to himself. The thought of waking her up so he could see that cute, pissed off face she sometimes made, the one that always caused his heart to flutter, for some strange reason.

Victoria woke up from her sleep. Shit, who the fuck was at her door at...she turned to look at the clock--one in the morning? The light knocking continued. She knew that Stephanie wasn't there, which made her wary of answering the door to begin with. She only had on a flimsy white tank top, which had been washed way too many times, and was now see through. And her black shorts from work.

She tiptoed to the door and looked through the peep hole. Shit!! It was Nic. It had seemed like forever since she had seen him. Victoria exhaled. He had not contacted her, so she assumed it was over. She had hoped it was.

Another soft knock came through her door.

"Nic...what do you want?" Victoria asked, leaning her head against the door.

"I'd like to speak with you," was his muffled response.

"My roommate, she's—," Victoria was about to lie.

"—not here," he said.

Victoria exhaled again. She had been about to say Stephanie was asleep.

"And how do you know that?"

"I have my sources."

"Does that mean you've been stalking me?" Victoria asked, irritatedly.

Silence.

"Just go away. I have nothing to say to you. Our deal or arrangement or whatever twisted word we can call it—is done. I mean, do you really even care how horrible you treated me the last time I was at your condo?"

More silence.

Victoria gave a small snort and shook her head. "No, I guess you wouldn't care about that. You don't really care about anything. And in return, nothing cares about you. So forget what I told you in your limo. I didn't mean it. Just chalk it up to the rest of this crazy, confusing, fucked up relationship we had. Have a good life and leave me the hell alone," she said.

After a few seconds, she glanced back through the peephole, and he was gone.

Victoria stepped away from the door and into the living room. Her heart was racing and her stomach was flip-flopping just from hearing his voice. She was crazy. She walked over to the couch and sat down. She knew there was no way in hell she could go back to sleep now. She sat there a moment tapping her feet, before she realized she should probably be doing something more productive. She went into her bedroom and grabbed her laundry. It wasn't necessarily the safest thing to do at one in the morning, in a dark basement, but she had too much nervous energy. It was either this, or clean the already spotless kitchen again.

She slipped on a pair of light blue fuzzy bedroom shoes, picked up her basket and headed out the door. As soon as she closed the door behind her, she froze. Standing less than three feet from her was Nic. Her heart began racing once more. He was leaning up against the wall with his head down, as if he were asleep...or thinking. Then he slowly lifted his head as his eyes captured hers.

As always, just Victoria standing there in her thin white tank top and little black shorts was causing Nic's manhood to rise to attention. His gaze lowered from her shocked face to her neck, and then to her full, heaving breasts. Her nipples were protruding through the tight top, teasing his mouth. He glanced down at her small waist and full hips and then to her toned, milk chocolate legs. He slowly drew his eyes back up to her eyes. She was staring at him with a pissed off expression. It wasn't the cute playful one he remembered. This one seemed to be full of hate.

While waiting in the hallway, Nic had tried to leave several times, but he just couldn't. He still wasn't sure what he was going to say to her, but he knew he had to say something. But her staring at him like that wasn't making it any easier.

"Victoria," he said, as she exhaled and walked right past him. Fuck.

He followed close behind her as she went down several flights of stairs. He knew not to say anything about it at the moment, but her ass looked so fucking good. A naughty thought quickly flashed through his brain, as he remembered riding that sexy rear of hers. He tried to get his mind focused back on the task at hand, when she stopped walking. He looked up and realized he was in the laundry room. There was only one washer and dryer, and the room was dark and dingy. He hoped she didn't come down here often by herself.

Victoria knew he had followed her, but she wasn't ready to face him. Or talk to him just yet. She slowly placed each article of clothing into the washer, taking as much time as she could. She couldn't hear him behind her, but she knew he was there. She could feel his gaze scorching a path down her backside. And even though she was hot, his presence caused her to shiver.

Finally after she poured in the detergent and started the machine, she turned around. "What?" she said, with as much hostility as she could muster.

"I need to speak with you."

"No, I'm done with that. I have nothing to say to you, and don't want to hear anything you have to say to me."

"This isn't easy for me, Victoria," Nic stated.

"Like it's been easy for me! Did you think it was easy to accept your arrangement? Did you think it was easy to accept the way you treated me? Did you think it was EASY to admit that I was in love with a man who told me I was little more than a whore? So forgive me, if I don't care that it hasn't been easy on you," Victoria spat out sarcastically.

Nic opened his mouth, but then quickly closed it. If Victoria were still in his "arrangement" he would have picked her up and fucked her up against the dryer, while telling her she better never speak to him like that again. But things had changed. This was different. She was different, and that's not why he had come there.

"Can we just go back upstairs to your apartment and talk?" Nic asked, trying to get his temper under control.

"Oh, we've done enough talking over the past few months. Hmm, let me see, the many things you've said and done to me. You called me your own personal slut...remember that? You also called me that the night I had gone looking for you, only to find you with another woman. And let's not forget having me disrobe in front of Jimmy and Raymond. Betting me in a fucking pool game. Or letting me know I was worth every penny you paid for me," Victoria said. She tried not to let her voice crack, but she was hurting all over again. This arrogant fucker wouldn't see another tear from her.

Nic's face burned with shame. He felt like an idiot. He truly had been a wolf and she was nothing more than a lamb. No competition at all really. And he had tried to destroy everything that was innocent about her for his own amusement and then punished her because she made him feel things he wasn't ready to admit. He felt like a little boy in school with a crush. A young boy who pushed, annoyed and bullied the young girl he had a crush on. He knew the things he had said to her were to hurt her and convince himself that he wasn't more than just physically attracted to her.

He didn't much want to do this in a dark, cold basement with the loud droning of the washer in the background, but it was now or never.

Victoria rolled her eyes. She just wanted him out of her life. She grabbed her basket and walked up to him.

"Nic, I don't have any more time to waste on you. I'm done with--"

"I'm in love with you."

"—all of...," was the last thing Victoria whispered. She closed her mouth, then opened it, but closed it back because she wasn't sure what to say. She searched his eyes, and they looked...sincere. It wasn't that cold, glacier look he often gave her. It was a different look. Like he was shy or something. After a few more moments of silence, he finally spoke again.

"Victoria, if you let me come upstairs, I have even more I'd like to say to you," Nic said, staring into her big brown eyes. She was so beautiful to him. Her messy curls pulled tightly into a ponytail, and that deliciously curvy body. How the hell had she managed to wrap her tiny hands around his heart and squeeze? Years of building up a façade that Victoria Davis broke down in a few months. But tonight, he was laying it all on the line for her if she would give him the chance. He waited patiently for her reply.

Victoria looked down at her empty basket. She wasn't sure what to do, but she prayed she was making the right choice.

"Okay," she whispered.

Nic realized he had been holding his breath. He quietly breathed out. He followed her out of the laundry room and back upstairs to her apartment. She wiggled the key in the lock, trying to open the door, but it wouldn't unlock. Nic leaned around her and grasped her soft hands, pulling the key from her. He pushed it harder into the lock and turned. She was completely still in front of him, while his body was pressed against her back.

When they entered the apartment, Nic looked around. Everything was very neat but very small. The kitchen/living area was pretty much just one room. The hallway was short and narrow, and he assumed it led to two bedrooms and a bathroom. He turned to look at Victoria as she glanced around the room.

"It's not much, but I like it," she quietly admitted.

"Could I have a glass of water?" Nic asked. Suddenly his mouth was dry at the thought of what he was about to do.

After Nic drained the glass he walked over to the sofa and sat down. It wasn't really a comfortable couch, but what the hell. He wiped his hand down his face and sat staring at the blank TV. He turned to Victoria and watched her as she sat down on the opposite end of the couch.

"I...," Nic started, then stopped. He reached into the inside pocket of his coat, pulled out a book and handed it to Victoria.

Victoria looked down at the book. '100 Greatest Love Poems of All Time', her book that she couldn't find after her heart had been smashed into a million pieces by him.

"Sorry I kept your book. I read through it and I hope you don't mind, but I added another poem at the end," Nic said.

Victoria slowly flipped through the book until she reached the last page. Scribbled in black ink were several words written in what she could only assume was Italian.

"What does it say?" Victoria whispered, mesmerized by the Italian cursive strewn beautifully across the crisp white pages.

Nic silently exhaled and took the book. "It says: In the eyes of my lady I see a light full of spirits of love, which bears to the heart a sweetness never known, so joyous life awakens there."

He glanced at Victoria. Her head was down and her eyes were closed. He continued, "Something happens to me when I am in her presence, I cannot describe it to the intellect; it seems to me that from her lips there issues forth a lady so beautiful, the memory cannot hold her, because at once another is born of her, of unknown beauty, from whom it seems a star arises and says, 'Your salvation is come forth'."

Nic looked at her again. Her long charcoal eyelashes lay gently down on her face. Her cute, tiny round nose and full lips caught his attention. He placed the book down on the floor and recited the rest by memory, for it was one of his favorite poems. And now he could truly understand what the author meant.

"There where this beautiful lady comes forth, a voice is heard preceding her, and it seems, moved by her humility it sings her name so sweetly, that if I try to describe it, I feel how her worth makes me tremble; and in my soul sighs bestir themselves which say, 'Behold, if you gaze upon this one, you will see her virtue ascended into heaven'."

He saw a tear spill from underneath her eyelids and she quickly wiped it away. Nic wanted so badly to kiss the trail where the tear had made a wet track down her cheek, but he didn't make a move. He wasn't sure if that would upset her because he couldn't tell what she was thinking. He was normally very good at reading people. It came in handy in his line of work, but he couldn't read Victoria.

Neither one said a word for a few moments.

Finally Victoria spoke. "Nic, I—I just feel like so much was done and said, that it may never be right, you know." She wiped at her face again and then stood up from the couch and walked down the hall.

Nic stood and walked behind her. No way in hell he was going to give up that easy. No way. He followed her into her bedroom. He quickly glanced around at her lavender walls and simple decorations. He noticed a small makeshift bed in the corner. Nothing more than a box spring and two mattresses low to the ground. He felt a small pierce to his heart that she was living like this because of him. If he had just kept his fucking mouth shut, she would have still been nestled safely in his condo, instead of scraping pennies together to keep this tiny, old apartment.

Nic focused back on Victoria. She was standing in the middle of the teeny space, with her arms wrapped around her upper body as if she were supporting herself. "I'm sorry Victoria. I'm ashamed of my past behavior and I hope that you won't hold that against me for long."

Victoria shook her head. "Nic, I--I don't know how I feel about any of this. So much has happened and..."

"I know," Nic quietly said.

Victoria didn't know what to do. She hadn't really prepared herself to see Nic ever again, and especially not tonight—this morning, or whatever time it was. She had been taken completely off guard. He hadn't tried to contact her after their reunion in his limo, so she figured he was through with her. And as much as it had hurt, she placed Nic at the back of her thoughts and concentrated on getting an apartment and saving a little bit of money. But now that she had the apartment, late at night when everything was quiet, she would think about him. Dream about him. In her dream he wasn't a cold mobster. He was a husband, a businessman with legal practices and even a father in some of her dreams. She knew they all were a long shot, but when no one else was around, she felt it was okay for her to think about those things. Even if they would never come true.

But here he was and it was confusing the hell out of her. But he had said he loved her. Was that enough to wipe away everything?

"Nic, you hurt me so bad. I'm still so hurt and mad at you," Victoria admitted, praying her voice wasn't cracking.

"What can I do to make you forgive me?" Nic said, taking a step toward her.

"Let me slap the shit out of you," Victoria spat, and was immediately taken back by her statement. "I mean--"

"Go ahead," Nic said.

Victoria looked up at him. "What?" she asked, incredulously.

"Hit me, if it will make you feel better," Nic whispered, approaching her more closely. He reached out for her and immediately her tears began to fall from her eyes. She tried to push him away but he held on to her tightly.

"Don't, Nic," Victoria said, trying to control her frantic breathing.