Tearing Down Walls (Love Under Construction Series Book 2) (12 page)

“Oh, honey, don’t say that! Any man would be lucky to have you. You’re smart, you can be funny when you want to be,” Nikki said, laughing, “and you’re drop-dead gorgeous.”

“No, I’m not. You don’t know . . .” Laura stopped. She couldn’t tell anyone.

Nikki’s brow furrowed. “Why would you say that? You’re lovely.”

“You just don’t know.” Laura stared at her hands. “I’m ugly. Disfigured. No man would want me.”

“Oh, that’s silly. You’re so pretty.”

Laura decided right then that Nikki should see. She wanted someone to see what Wagner had done to her, how bad it was, how horrible she looked, so they’d understand. Reaching down to the bottom edge of her tee-shirt, she pulled it up and over her head and didn’t look at Nikki when she dropped it on the floor. She couldn’t look up, just couldn’t, couldn’t stand the look that Nikki would give her, the pity, the disgust. “Say something, please,” Laura said.

“What do you want me to say, honey? That you’re ugly? That you’re repulsive? Because I can’t – you’re not.”

“Are you crazy?” Laura almost shouted at Nikki. “Take a good long look and tell me: Who would want this? And if you think that’s bad, you should see what’s under this bra. It’s pretty awful.” She looked up to see Nikki’s expression, and she gasped.

The little blond’s eyes were brimming with love. Laura had never seen that in anyone’s expression before, all the tenderness and compassion that anyone could want or need. It caught Laura off guard and took her breath away. She was struck with a clear thought:
That’s why Tony loves this woman so much. That’s why Vic is so crazy about her. They see it all the time.

“Laura, here’s a truth you need to learn and embrace: It’s not about how anyone else would see you. It’s all about how
you
see you.” Nikki patted the bed again for Laura to sit. “Do you think that if Tony and I had gotten involved and I’d told him that under my bra was a prosthesis, that I’d had cancer and had a mastectomy, do you think he would’ve run fast and far? No. It was about me, about us, not about how I looked. Any man who would run wouldn’t be worth it anyway. You think there aren’t many like him, but there are. Steve is one, and Peyton, and José. Definitely José – that’s one sweet guy.” Then Nikki added, “And Vic.”

Was she right? And if she was, how would Laura ever get to that point, the point where she could trust a man enough to find out how he would feel about her?
I don’t think that’s possible,
she thought.
I’m ruined. There’s no point in trying.
Problem was that, for the first time in a long time, when she thought about Vic, she wanted to try.

“Okay, here’s the list of names that Laura gave me before I left her at Tony and Nikki’s. These are the guys who . . . well, these are the guys. Brewster gave her their names. We need to keep tabs on them, find out where they are and what state of the game they’re in.” Vic handed Steve the sheet of names.
Greg Brewster, Larry Taylor, Chad Bosworth, Peter Arnold, Mark Fellows, Cletus Wagner

“I’ll get in touch with some of my contacts, see what they can find out. In the meantime, keep an eye out for this guy. I’d like to spot his vehicle if possible, get a license plate number, something. I’m guessing he’s transient, moving around a lot. But any info we can get will help,” Steve said. Peyton and José were making notes and deep in thought.

“Until we find something, it’s got to be business as usual. Service Dom Cabrizzi, I’d like to see you in a scene with a bottom or sub tonight, and I don’t care who she is. If he’s a predator, and since he orchestrated Laura’s assault I’m guessing he is, any activity he could construe as sadistic will draw him out.” Steve stood. “Everybody on the same page?”

They all nodded. Then Vic hissed, “If I see him, can I just take him out the side door and kill him right there? Because I’m thinking that’s what I want to do.”

“You’ll get your chance. Let’s play with him, see if we can get him to mess up. And you, my friend, get that sjambok and get to playing!”

“You sure she’ll be okay here tonight?” Nikki asked Tony as they got ready to go out.

“Peyton will be here with her, so she’ll be fine,” Tony assured her. “Damn, baby, you look hot!” Nikki had on a pair of skin-tight leather short-shorts and a leather lace-up bustier with a sheer black blouse over it. Her long, lean legs were bare, but very little of them showed over the tops of the thigh-high black leather stiletto boots she was wearing. “You are going to wear something over that, right?”

“Yeah. I’m going to wear the trench coat I wore that night in Gatlinburg,” she chuckled.

“Stop it. I’m not going to be able to walk if you keep that up,” Tony said as he tried to zip his tight black leathers over his erect cock. “Sure you don’t want to just stay here and ride this?” he said, pointing at it.

“Yeah, I do, but we’ve got to go and help the guys. And I want to see Vic in action,” she said and winked.
Hell, here we go again,
Tony thought. “Come on, let’s go. My coat’s downstairs in the foyer closet.” She took off down the stairs, and then it hit Tony: Peyton was downstairs.

“Nikki!” Tony called out after her. “Nik, you do know that . . .” At the commotion, Peyton stepped out into the foyer just as Nikki came bouncing down the stairs.

“Holy shit,” Peyton muttered before he could stop himself as he watched her descending the stairs.

“Hey, Peyton!” Nikki sang out, unaware of the effect she was having on him. “We’re getting ready to leave. Do I look okay?”

“I think I’d better not say anything, because anything I could say right now would only get me in trouble,” he said, his eyes still wide.

“Yeah, you’re probably right – it probably would.” Tony walked up behind Nikki. “Please get your damn coat and quit tormenting this gentleman, would you?” he said, reaching into the closet. When she took out the coat and put it on, he remembered the night she’d stood on the porch of the house in the mountains dressed in that coat and not much else, and he was in trouble all over again.

“We’ll be back about one. There’s plenty of everything in the kitchen. Help yourselves. And keep her company. She’s having a rough time,” Nikki told Peyton, then hugged him.

“I’ll take good care of her, don’t worry,” he smiled. “You guys have fun.”

After they were both in the car, Tony looked at Nikki. “At this rate, you’ll have to suck me off just so I can get into the club without fracturing something.”

“Entirely doable, baby,” she said and licked her lips.

“They think they’re so damn smart, but there you are, sweet cheeks!” Cletus Wagner watched the blip on the electronic display and saw it settle in one spot. Shelbyville. What the hell was in Shelbyville?

His phone rang and he looked at the screen. “Yeah?”

“I’m going to that club tonight. Is there something specific you want me to do?” a female voice asked him.

“Nope. Just keep your eyes and ears open. Let me know if you find out anything.” He hit end and put the phone back in his pocket.

He pulled a Smith & Wesson 1911 from his bag, racked a round into the chamber, and stuffed it into his waistband holster, then pulled a pair of brass knuckles out and put them in his shirt pocket. All ready to go. He packed up his equipment and climbed into the beaten-up Chevy panel van he’d stolen from the lot full of worn-out cars on the far side of Louisville. This would be easy.

J
osé’s eyes almost popped out of his head when Tony and Nikki walked through the door. He wasn’t sure which one of them looked most delicious. If they’d invited him into bed at that moment, he would’ve climbed in and done both of them in a split second. He didn’t care that Nikki was almost old enough to be his mother; she was hot. “Wow! You guys look great! Guest passes all around. Have fun!”

“Have every intention of doing so!” Nikki said, but Tony just scowled.

It was about seven o’clock, and the club was buzzing. There were a couple of the stages in use by Doms with their subs, and Tony was having trouble taking it all in, but Nikki seemed to be in her element. She stopped a couple of the women and talked to them. Tony was shocked – barefoot, they were wearing nothing topside, and one of them had nothing on below except a jeweled chain around her waist, while the other wore only a scanty thong. Both had what looked like some kind of tight necklaces on with locks on their clasps. When she joined him at the bar, he asked, “What’s with the things . . .” and pointed to his neck.

“Oh, collars. They’re in committed Dom/sub relationships. Why do you think I put this on?” she asked, and he noticed the thin leather necklace for the first time. “This tells other Doms and tops that I’m taken. I’m off-limits.”

“Yes you are!” he grinned and kissed her, and she kissed him back, her tongue halfway down his throat. When they came up for air, he said, “Well, if this place does that to you, maybe we’ll come back more often!”

She giggled, then gasped. “Oh. My. God.” Tony turned to see what she was looking at.

It was Vic. Tony’s mouth dropped open. He barely recognized his own cousin. Vic looked twice as big and lethal as usual, and there was an air of confidence about him that was startling. He looked over at the bar, spotted Tony and Nikki, and made a beeline to them.

“You came! I’m so glad to see you guys!” he said, scooping Nikki up and kissing her, then hugging Tony.

“Yeah, we came to see you in action! This place is nice!” she said, looking around again. “Private rooms nice too?”

“Yeah, and you should see the dungeon. Primo,” Vic said.

“Maybe I could sometime,” she said, glancing at Tony, but she could tell from the look on his face that it wouldn’t be happening. “So when do you go on?”

“Dunno. I’m the service Dom, so I have to wait for someone to ask for my services.”

“How’s that going?” Tony asked.

“Not too good,” Vic said, looking away. “I think they’re all afraid of me. I do look kind of . . .” he said, trailing off.

“Terrifying?” Tony said, grinning.

Vic laughed. “Something like that! Anyway, gonna go mingle. Maybe I’ll get lucky!” Vic kissed Nikki on the cheek before he walked away.

Nikki gave Tony a look that said she wanted something. “What, baby?” She put her hands on her hips. “Oh, no! Uh-uh. No.”

“But baby, we promised him we’d do anything he needed us to. I want to do this for him. Please?” She stuck her lower lip out and Tony knew right then that his ship was sinking and she wouldn’t be throwing him a life preserver.

“Get him over here and let me talk to him,” Tony muttered.

In a flash, Nikki crossed the floor, grabbed Vic’s hand, and dragged him back to Tony. “Well?” she said, taking “The Stance.” That always signified the end of the line for Tony.

“So, my wife would like to play with you, if you’ll have her.” Then he thought,
That was a poor choice of words.

“Your idea or hers?” Vic asked.

“Exactly,” Tony said. Vic chuckled.

“Well, I have some rules.” Tony and Nikki both waited. “First one: When we’re scening, you will call me sir. Doesn’t matter what our relationship is elsewhere; when we’re up there, I’m your Dom and you are my sub. No negotiation on that point.”