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.
Veronica 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 a