Broken Pieces (Riverdale #2) (36 page)

“You pay attention to your daughter.” Nick said, knowing very well that Sam was the apple of his eye. “You always pay attention to her.” He said softly, respecting the relationship they had. It was really beautiful to watch them through the years. It was the other reason he came here. Joe was the first man, his Sam, had ever loved, and Nick only hoped that he would share her with him.

Joe looked at him and sat up straight in his chair. He shut the television off and suddenly was intrigued by why Nick was there and well… a little frightened. Something in his gut told him he had been dreading this conversation for a very long time. Probably from the day his daughter was born.

“Joe, I know that no one loves your daughter like you do.” Nick struggled. “But I want to.” He didn’t know how to put his feelings into words and he knew that anything he said to him would come out a jumbled mess but to hell with it, he thought. Here goes nothing.

“I want to be the man that takes care of her and loves her forever. I want to be the man you feel safe knowing your daughter’s with, the one that you trust with her future.” He glanced at Deb and saw the tears rolling down her face. He winked at her and she smiled, urging him to continue, encouraging him to ask what he wanted to ask. He blew out a shaky breath and returned his gaze to Joe. “I guess what I’m asking is will you share her with me, and give me permission to ask her to marry me?”

Joe released the breath he had been holding onto and looked down. He was completely silent for a moment before he rose to his full height.

Nick’s eyes widened slightly as Joe walked towards him slowly. He hadn’t said a word, and that worried him. It even crossed his mind that Joe was about to deck him. He straightened his shoulders and braced himself for the blow. He’d take it, he decided. Then he’d ask him again and again, until he got the answer he was looking for.

The blow never came instead Joe took a hold of Nick’s shoulders and pulled him into an embrace. Joe patted him firmly on the back, as men affectionately do to one another. “It would be my pleasure to share her with you.” He said hoarsely. “There is no one else I’d want to share her with.”

Nick smiled widely as he patted him on the back in return. They pulled apart and Joe patted him on the shoulder, unashamed of the tears that filled his eyes when it came to his daughter. “That means a lot to me, thank you.” He said sincerely as Joe smiled in return. “And I want you to know this has nothing to do with the baby, I was planning on asking her even before I found out.” Nick said and then immediately regretted it once he saw Joe’s face falter.

“What baby?” Deb asked as she moved to stand beside her husband. Her eyes widened. “Oh my God, Samantha’s pregnant?”

Nick looked at Deb and then back at Joe. He wanted to crawl into a hole, and damn him and his big mouth to hell. He smiled sheepishly at the Lanza’s before he shrugged his shoulders. “Surprise?” He offered.

Chapter Twenty Two

Sam blew her nose into a tissue as she paced her tiny living room. She grabbed the phone as she sniffled again.

“What if he doesn’t come back, Phillip?” She had called him to calm her nerves. Since Nick had left, she had been a mess.

“Samantha the only way Nick isn’t coming back is if he gets hit by a bus or something.” Phillip said, trying to assure her that he would be back for the millionth time, only nothing thus far had convinced her.

Sam stopped mid pace and her eyes shot to the sounds coming from the pounding rain on the other side of her door. They were in the middle of a vicious storm what if he was hurt or killed like Phillip said. “Oh my God! I have to go find him.” She said abruptly.

“No you don’t!” Phillip exclaimed.

“But you are right. What if something terrible happened to him? It’s bad out there!” She undid her robe and looked down at her Hello-Kitty pajamas. Did it really matter what she had on? She started shoving her feet into her rain boots tucking in the pajama pants.

“Samantha, listen to me! He is fine. Nothing happened, we would have heard something. You need to stay inside and worry about yourself. Think how mad Nick would be if you put yourself or that baby of his in jeopardy! Hello? Are you there? Am I talking to myself?”

He had been in fact talking to himself because she had put the phone down to pull on her boots. She grabbed the phone, just as there was a knock on her door. “Phillip, I have to go.”

“I will call your brother!” He threatened.

“No, I really have to go someone is at my door.” She clarified and before Phillip could say another word she ended the call. She stared at the door for a second and silently sent a prayer to the man upstairs that it was Nick, and not the authorities informing her he was in a horrible accident. Damn Phillip for putting those thoughts in her head. She pulled the door opened, her body relaxed when she saw Nick standing there, his arm braced against the door frame.

“Thank God.” She said relieved. “I was about to go look for you, Phillip had me thinking all sorts of crazy things happened to you. I wasn’t sure if a tree fell on you or if…”

He raised an eyebrow and his eyes glancing up and down here body, taking in her Hello Kitty pajama’s and Burberry rain boots. His rescuer looked adorable and he couldn’t suppress his grin.

“You’re smiling.” She stated. “Does that mean you’re not mad anymore?” She asked hopefully.

He shook his head. “I’m not mad.”

She smiled widely and grabbed the lapels of his soaked suit, and pulled him inside the door. He laughed slightly and kicked the door closed behind him.

“I’m sorry I was such an asshole.” He said and took her hands in his when she started to slide them under his jacket. “Forgive me?”

She looked at their hands and then back into his eyes. “Of course I forgive you.” She opened her mouth to apologize too, but he kissed her hands and spoke before she could.

“So we’re having a baby?” He said as he brushed his lips back and forth across her hands. His eyes lifted and peered into her blue eyes that captivated him.

“We’re having a baby.” She confirmed in a soft whisper. “I know it’s a surprise, but…”

He pressed his fingertip to her lips, silencing her. He smiled softly.

“I can’t wait.” He confessed and then dropped his hand from her lips. “I guess we shouldn’t really be too surprised, it’s not like we did anything to prevent it.” He said and winked at her.

The way he looked at her caused her stomach to do a flip. The little wink he threw at her completely unraveling her. She smiled and acknowledged his words. “I guess not.” She felt as if there were a million things that needed to be said, yet she couldn’t bring herself to say any of them.

He slowly slid his jacket off his body. His once crisp white dress shirt was now plastered as a second skin to his upper body. She watched him carefully fold his wet jacket over his arm and then he took her hand in his. “I love you.” He said as he squeezed her hand.

“What did you say?” She asked, sure she hadn’t heard him right.

“I said I love you Samantha.” The corners of his lips curved upward and he sent her a dazzling smile full of confidence. “Want me to say it again?”

“I love you too.” She burst out. His smile stayed firmly planted on his face as she spilled her heart’s biggest secret. She touched his cheek and the stubble tickled her fingertips as she stared up at him. “I love you Nick Foti.” She grinned wildly as she said the words she had waited what seemed like a lifetime to say.

“Oh yeah?” He teased and then unexpectedly, his face grew serious. “You love me enough to spend forever with me?”

She looked at him for a moment and wondered why he suddenly looked nervous. “You’re stuck with me.” She said and laughed slightly, trying to lighten the mood again. She took his hand between the two of hers and placed it against her flat stomach. “It’s the three of us forever.”

“I was hoping you’d say that.” He said huskily as he stared at their joined hands that rested on her flat stomach where their child grew inside. He glanced up at her and untangled their hands. She watched him intently as he reached inside his jacket pocket. He knelt before her on one knee, dropping his jacket to the floor. His fingers were unsteady as he opened the tiny black box. He swallowed the lump in his throat and he looked up into her blue eyes that were full of tears. He heard her gasped cry and smiled nervously in response.

“Sam, I’m not good with words. I’ve rehearsed this a thousand times in my head in the last twenty-four hours, and nothing I could say comes close to what I’m feeling. What I’ve felt for what seems like forever.”

Then it came to him out of nowhere. He was on his knees asking for her to let him be her happily ever after. He may not know much about the female population or how their minds worked, but he knew one thing. They all loved, a good fairy tale.

He smiled up at her as the wheels turned in his head and he reclaimed his confidence. He held her gaze, watching as her eyes glistened.

“Once upon a time there was this young wise ass. His name was Nick and he was a little slow on the uptake at times.” He winked at her as she covered her mouth to suppress the giggle that threatened. “There was this beautiful little princess named Samantha and she had the brightest blue eyes he had ever seen. Sure, he noticed the little blonde hanging around from time to time. He even tried to ignore her and tried to convince himself he wasn’t good enough for her. Time passed and the wiseass moved away from the beautiful princess. They were apart for years, but throughout all their time apart, Nick never stopped thinking of her. He never stopped wanting her. He never stopped loving her, even when he was too afraid to admit it.” Nick took a deep breath and tried to cumulate the story in his head.

She smiled at him as she wiped away the tears that fell down her cheeks. Her sweet smile was all the encouragement he needed to continue. “The story goes on and the wise ass found his way back to the princess after all their time apart. She gave him a run for his money, and made him fight tooth and nail for what he knew in his heart was meant to be. Now he kneeled before her wanting more than anything to be the man who made all her dreams come true, the man who gave her, her happily ever after.” He bit the inside of his cheek momentarily. “So what do you say? Will you marry me and spend forever with me?”

He looked up at her hopefully, ignoring the cramp in his leg as he held out the black box that held his grandmother’s diamond.

She beamed at him, not even paying attention to the ring he held out towards her. She just took in the man before her, the man she grew up loving and now she’d get to grow old loving. Her heart felt as if it was about to burst.

“Yes.” She said hoarsely and then cleared her throat. “Yes, I’ll marry you and spend forever with you.”

He grinned at her. His chocolate brown eyes sent her a sizzling gaze. “Are you ready for the rest of the story?” He said teasingly.

She laughed, but nodded her head as her hands cupped his face lovingly. He lifted one hand to his face and took her left hand in his. He slipped the ring onto her finger and as he did so he told her the ending of his fairy tale. “And they lived happily ever after.” He grinned up at her as he slowly rose to his full height, wincing slightly because his leg had fallen asleep.

“This is the part where you kiss me and seal the deal.” She said, reminding him that there was a finishing touch he had left out of his tale.

“Right, I almost forgot the most important part.” He took her face in his hands, memorizing the way she looked at him that moment, full of love. He leaned in, not able to hide the smile he thought would never vanish from his lips. His lips glided over hers softly, familiarizing themselves with her sensual taste and how they fit so perfectly with his own. It felt like it had been ages since he had merely kissed her.

His tongue traced the seam of her lips and she opened up invitingly, a soft moan escaping the back of her throat in the process. The small sound had been enough for him to lose the shred of patience he was holding onto. The hunger burned deep inside him, rearing its head as his tongue slipped between her moist lips and caressed her tongue. Her taste was like a drug to him, one he would never get enough of, even with the promise of tasting her forever, he was sure he’d never be satisfied.

She wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him closer to her. His body plastered against hers and her nipples ached against the thin fabric of her camisole. She had never wanted his touch more, had never craved it as much as she did now. Her tongue lapped against his and fiery battle to feed her hunger for him.

In one sweeping move he lifted her into his arms not breaking the kiss for a second. He carried her into her bedroom as she worked the buttons of his semi-damp shirt. When she reached the waistband of his slacks she pulled his shirt out and finished unbuttoning the rest of the shirt. He placed her gently onto the foot of the bed, pulling his mouth from hers regretfully.

He stared at her in awe and wondered if it could be his imagination playing tricks on him, but there was something different about her. His eyes traveled from her well kissed mouth, to the flush of her cheeks, and then rested on the ocean blue eyes that gleamed at him. She was glowing. He discarded his shirt, letting it fall to the floor.