Tearing Down Walls (Love Under Construction Series Book 2) (20 page)

“Wonder how Vic’s doing?” Nikki asked as she sat in bed waiting for Tony.

“I’m pretty sure he’s up to his neck in women by now,” Tony answered from the bathroom. “Watching him with you the other night got them all talking. While you were outside talking to him, I thought a couple of them were willing to turn themselves inside-out if it would get him to take them on. I just hope he doesn’t get hurt.”

“I think the only person who could do that to him right now is Laura,” Nikki told him, and he snorted. “I know, I know, she’s a real piece of work. But I’m pretty sure there’s something going on there; I just don’t know what.”
But you can bet I’ll find out!,
Nikki thought to herself.

“Well, I can tell you this: If you’re going to play matchmaker, you’d better give her a call and straighten her out. If she waits very long, he’ll be taken. There’s no shortage of women who’d love to get their hands on that, not to mention that he’s a great guy, has a nice home and a good job. He’s very polished and classy, very intelligent, well-educated, and has an insane sense of humor. He wants a relationship like ours and he’s scouting for someone he can have that with, but I don’t think it’ll take him long to find her if he’s going to stay on at the club, not to mention that any woman who’s there would be just kinky enough to keep his attention.” Tony slid under the sheet with Nikki, and she leaned in, stroked up his abs, and kissed him full on the mouth. “By the way . . .”

“Yeah?” she asked as she wound her fingers through his.

“I was kind of upset after we went to the club the other night, but after you took your stripes and then put yourself out there for Laura, I was just glad you’re alive and okay. But please,
please
, don’t keep that kind of stuff from me again, okay?” He really
had
been upset, and he’d given it a lot of thought.

“I’m sorry, and I hope I proved it to you. I didn’t mean to hurt you. I’d never do that.” She put a hand on his thigh, then walked her fingers up to his dick and traced up his length. He moaned softly.

“You did, and in a way I don’t want again. Not to mention that it was hard to watch you take that.”

“I’d take it for you anytime. Over and over.” He leaned in and kissed her, and she came back at him with bottled-up aggression. But in a split second, it turned to tears, and Tony wrapped his arms around her and pulled her to him.

“Don’t cry, angel. I just don’t want you to feel like you had to do that. Just talk to me, please? And by the way, when did you talk to Vic about doing that little confessional?”

“I didn’t.” Tony’s eyebrows leaped into his hairline. “Vic is a good Dom. He’s a natural. Intuition told him to do that. I was as surprised as you were.”

“Wow. That’s pretty impressive. And a handy skill to have too!” Tony laughed.

“You would think so. Since you’re spending so much time working, I’m missing you. And you know what they say, all work and no play . . .”

“As long as I’m with you, I’ll never be a dull boy,” his lips whispered against hers, and the games began.

“H
e kept saying, ‘I know she’s here, I know she’s here,’ but I kept telling him she wasn’t, that I didn’t even know who ‘she’ was. There’s nothing else to tell you. The picture you showed me, that’s him. That’s all I know.” It was hard for Helene to speak through her swollen, bruised lips.

“Did you see a car of any kind?” Steve asked her.

“No. I thought he’d walked. There was no car, not that I saw.”

“He thought your house was our house because he couldn’t see ours from the highway,” Tony told her. He looked at Steve. “You know, that doesn’t make any sense. We were watching; we didn’t see him on our way out. Peyton, how long had we been gone when he showed up?”

“It was quite a while. When I called Steve, we’d just heard the back door open, and I‘d just checked it five minutes before. I called while I hustled her off to the safe room.”

“So there was no one for him to follow in,” Steve said. “I don’t get it.”

“Me neither,” Vic mumbled.

“Helene, honey, I’m so sorry about all of this. Is there anything I can do for you? Need anything?” Tony asked.

“Yeah, could you get Nikki to go to my house, get me some gowns, my hairbrush, toothbrush and toothpaste, things like that?”

“Of course. I’m sure she can bring them this afternoon. In the meantime, do what the doctors tell you and get some rest.” Tony patted her arm, and she rested her hand on top of his.

“Just catch that bastard, please? I feel sorry for that poor girl. If he catches her, god knows what he’ll do to her,” she said, her voice weak.

“We know what he’ll do to her,” Vic said, looking at the floor. “He’ll kill her. And it won’t be merciful.”

When Anthony came tearing back through the foyer, he ran smack into Vic, who had just walked in the front door for Sunday afternoon dinner.

“Hey, buddy, slow down! You’ll set the hardwood floor on fire!” Vic laughed, swept him up, and held him upside down while Anthony shrieked and laughed. He set the little guy down and smacked his butt, then watched as Anthony ran off in the direction of the kitchen. “Hell, I wish I had that much energy,” Vic said, shaking his head.

“You’d just use it to wear yourself out.” Tony chuckled and slapped him on the back. “Hey, talked to Laura?”

“Yeah, for a minute. She sounds okay, just stressed. Kelly’s good for her, though. She said they were having a pretty good time together, so I feel okay about that. That Kelly, she’s a very nice lady.”

“She is. She was my second choice,” Tony said, wearing a far-away smile.

“Your second choice? What the fu . . . heck are you talking about?” Vic asked, remembering that the little kids were there.

“They both went to my gym. Kelly flirted constantly, but between the flirting and the big, fake boobs, I just wasn’t interested in her. It was Nikki I wanted to meet.” Tony looked at Vic. “That woman’s given me a life I never would’ve dreamed I’d have. I think I picked the right one, don’t you?”

“No doubt in my mind!” Vic clapped Tony on the back. “What have those fabulous girls of ours put together for dinner? Whatever it is, I’m sure it’ll be delicious.”

“I have no idea, but they’ve been working for hours. Want to go over the plans after dinner?”

“Sure! We haven’t had a chance, and we need to talk about them. I think there are some preliminary things we can get started before the construction begins.” Vic stepped into the kitchen to find Annabeth, a cutely-round Katie, and Brittany working around the island, and Nikki in front of the stove. “Zio Vic!” Annabeth screamed and ran to him, throwing her arms around his neck. He picked her up and spun her around, then plopped her back down and hugged Katie and Brittany.

“Kay-kay, you look adorable! You’re just glowing,” he told Katie, and she rubbed her growing tummy and beamed. Nikki turned and smiled at him, and Vic couldn’t help but think how much he wished she was standing in
his
kitchen cooking.

“Zio Vic!” Clayton strode into the room and hugged Vic, who returned his hug and slapped his back. “I’ve been missing you!”

“Yeah, I’ve missed you too, Big Daddy!” Vic laughed. He’d taken to calling Clayton that ever since Ella Jane’s adoption by Clayton and Brittany had gone through, and it tickled Clayton to death.

After dinner, Tony, Clayton, and Vic spread the plans out in the great room on the pool table. They’d only been looking at them for a couple of minutes when Tony felt a tug on the leg of his jeans. He looked down to find Anthony there. “What, buddy?”

“Big T, can I swim?” he asked.

“Well, no. It’s pretty cold out there, don’t you think?” Tony said, trying to keep from laughing.

“I’m Superrrrrrman. I can take it,” Anthony said, grinning with all of his teeth.

“You’re not
that
tough!” Vic laughed. Anthony walked over to Vic and kicked him in the shin. “Whoa! Clayton?”

“Young man, we don’t kick people! You’ll go to time out – right now!”

Anthony pouted. “He said I’m not tough. That’s not wight!” he cried out. When he realized he hadn’t pronounced “r” correctly, he stomped his foot in irritation and yelled, “Oh – rrrrright!”

“Well, you’re sure not tough enough to swim outside in thirty-degree weather. Now, time out. Go,” Clayton ordered, pointing into the great room. Anthony skulked off to his chair in the corner, and Vic was pretty certain the little guy had spent time there before. Clayton followed him to make sure he did what he was supposed to.

“Wow. Glad he’s Clayton’s and not mine,” Vic said, shaking his head.

“Oh, you know you’d like to have a couple!” Tony laughed.

“Oh, hell no! I’m
way
too old for that! Never happen!”

“Never say never, brother. Just don’t.”

“Hi.” Laura answered the phone in a whisper. Kelly had decided to go on to bed and Laura didn’t want to wake her.

“Hey! You okay?” Vic asked.

She explained why she was speaking softly, then said, “Yeah, I’m fine. Getting a little stir-crazy, but otherwise okay. You?”

She’d never asked him how he was before. He didn’t think she cared. “I’m good. Tired. I’m headed home from Tony and Nikki’s. They had everybody over for dinner, the kids and me, and we talked about the plans for their new facility.”

“What exactly is it?” Laura asked.

“It’s a polo and dressage facility. Huge. They’ll have a foxhunting course for hunter/jumper training, and a large gymkhana area too, along with the obvious polo fields. It’ll be nice,” Vic said. “And by the way, you’re not supposed to know that, so keep it on the down-low, okay?”

Laura laughed. “Who would I tell? Besides, I don’t even know what half of that stuff is!”

Vic chuckled. “Don’t worry. I’ll explain it later. The reason I called . . . I thought I should tell you that we talked to Tony’s housekeeper. She did identify Wagner from the photo, but she didn’t have anything else to help us. I’m sorry; I thought she might, but she didn’t.”

“Oh, well, at least I feel pretty safe here. And Kelly’s being nice to me, considering I’m a stranger who’s invaded her space,” Laura told Vic. She was painting her toenails as she was talking to him. She hadn’t done that since she was in high school, and she thought they looked pretty good considering her hands still shook most of the time.

“That’s good. I’m glad you’re getting along. I’m almost home, but I just wanted to check with you, make sure you were doing okay. Do you need anything? Liquor? Pot? Company?” Vic laughed.

Laura thought for a minute. “Yes, maybe, and sure.”
Do I really want to see him?
, she thought, but it was out there and couldn’t be taken back.

“If you get serious about the middle one, let me know. Otherwise, I’ll bring the first and be the last tomorrow, if that’s okay.”

“Sure. Just let me know when you’re coming so I don’t jump out of my skin when you ring the bell!” she giggled.

“Will do. And if you think of anything else you need between now and then, just call. Talk to you tomorrow.” He hit END before she had a chance to change her mind.

What the hell am I thinking?,
Laura wondered.
I’ve must’ve lost my mind.
Just as she was getting ready to lay the phone down, it rang again: Steve.

“Yeah,” she asked, going into employee mode.

“Hey, how’s it going?”

“Can’t complain. It’s nice here and she’s nice to me.”

“Good. Need anything?”

“No, I can’t think of anything. Vic just called and asked me the same thing,” she said, putting the top on the bottle of nail polish.

“Is that so? So the big bad Dom is checking on you. Good thing that the club is closed tonight or he wouldn’t have had time to call you. They’re keeping him busy,” Steve laughed.

Laura’s heart almost stopped. “What do you mean?”

“Well, let’s just say he did some submissive training in one of the private rooms tonight, and José got an eyeful when he slipped open the monitor’s window. I didn’t know he had it in him!” Steve was still laughing.

Laura’s gut turned. Something about hearing that gave her a weird feeling in her chest, and she had trouble drawing air into her lungs. “I need to go,” she said. “Don’t want to wake Kelly talking on the phone. I’ll talk to you later.” She hit END and dropped the phone on the bed. It was Vic’s prerogative to be with anyone he wanted, but for some reason she wished Steve hadn’t told her about that. Steve didn’t say they were having sex, but the picture she got in her mind of Vic and some woman he barely knew made her brain buzz, and she couldn’t get rid of it.