Tearing Down Walls (Love Under Construction Series Book 2) (57 page)

Eight more strikes and he heard it: There was a sound like a hiccup that came from Laura’s throat, and she began to sob. He made three more snaps, and he heard her say something. “What, baby? What did you say?” he asked, hoping he’d heard her right.

“Red! Red, red, red! Oh, god, please, Vic, red!” she yelled, sobbing and wailing, tears pouring down her face as the dam burst, all the pain being rinsed from her and a clean, fresh feeling taking up residence down deep in her chest.

Vic dropped the sjambok, grabbed a blanket, and lifted Laura off the bench, dropping onto the floor right there with her as she wretched and cried. He held her so tight that he was afraid he’d hurt her, and she clung to him, keening and crying convulsively. Vic was choked up too, more from relief than anything else, and he rocked her back and forth, whispering into her ear, “Oh, baby, that’s my girl. I’m so proud of you, precious. Everything’s fine. I’m right here and you’re okay. It’s over,
farfalla
.” He stroked her hair and her face, and she settled down into a simple bout of crying, tears spilling down her cheeks, dripping down onto her chest and dampening the front of the blanket.

“Tell me how you feel, angel. You okay?” Vic asked her, putting a finger under her chin and tipping her face up to his.

“All those things they did to me . . . I don’t care anymore. It’s all gone. That’s not who I am anymore. I don’t want that stuff ruling my life again. Ever.” Laura reached up and wiped her cheeks, then turned her hand toward Vic. “Look!” she cried, a smile breeching her face.

“I know, sweetie. I’ve only seen that once before from you.” He hurt all over to think when he’d seen that one tear – as he lay dying on the concrete floor of the warehouse. It was him. It had been him all along, all those weeks and months that she’d been so nasty to him, treated him like shit, pushed him away. She’d known then how she felt about him, and she’d been terrified. And now he knew it too – there was no more hiding it from him. “Baby, there’s something I have to tell you. I know that you . . .”

“No. I have to say it myself.” Laura sat up, wiped her face again, and smiled at Vic. “I love you. I’ve loved you for a long time now. I was so scared. But I’m not scared anymore. Whatever it takes to have some kind of normal, regular relationship, I want to do it –
today
. I’m forty-two, and I don’t want to waste another day afraid and all knotted up. I love you, Vic. I want our life together to start today.”

Every barrier Vic had ever erected came crashing down in that second, and he took her face in his hands again. “Precious, I love you too. I love you so much. We’ll get through this, I promise. I’d do anything for you, anything at all,” he said, his forehead pressed against hers. “I hope you know that.”

“I know. You almost died for me. I absolutely, positively believe you.”

They drove straight to Tony and Nikki’s. Laura insisted. She told Vic that she had something she needed to tell them, and he was pretty sure he knew what it was.

So when Vic and Laura got in the house and got comfortable in the great room, Tony and Nikki waiting, not knowing what to expect. “Well, I just wanted to tell you . . .” Laura started, then looked from one of them to the other. She took a deep breath. “I just wanted you to know that . . .” She stopped again, and when she started to speak the third time, she said, “I need to tell you that . . .” Nikki and Tony watched in amazement as tears began to roll down her face. She tried again. “I just wanted you, both of you, to know that . . . that I love you and I’m really, really thankful that you care about me.” Vic’s arm wrapped around her shoulder, and she put a hand over his, dipped her head, and sobbed.

Nikki’s eyes welled up. “Oh, honey, we love you too.” She crossed to sit by Laura and hugged the sobbing woman. “We’re so glad to have you around. We see you as a member of the family. I hope you’ll think of us the same way.” Nikki looked up at Vic, and he gave her that one-million-megawatt Cabrizzi smile she loved so much. It only took a second for Nikki to figure out what had happened. “Honey, is everything better now?” she asked as she stroked Laura’s hair.

Laura raised her head and looked at first Nikki, then Tony. “Uh-huh. Everything’s almost perfect,” she whispered as she sobbed.

Nikki couldn’t help it; she hugged Laura to her again and kissed her forehead, and for the first time she could remember, the pretty brunette didn’t stiffen against her. “Sweetie, that’s all we needed to know. I’m so happy for you.”

When Tony’s eyes met Vic’s, what passed between them was something that didn’t need words. Vic was happy – happier than Tony had ever seen him. He’d gone about finding happiness in an unconventional, round-about way, but Tony knew everyone had their own path. His own hadn’t been clear to anyone else, but now, with Nikki by his side, he understood.

Vic watched his new world unfolding in front of him, and for the first time since he’d met her, the blond wasn’t the most important woman in the room to his eyes. The peace that passed over him with that knowledge was something he’d wanted for a long, long time.

When Vic and Laura got to the front door, he turned. “So we’ll be here to pick you guys up and take you to the airport. About ready?” he asked Tony and Nikki.

“I can’t wait!” Nikki gushed. “It’s all so exciting! We’re going to have so much fun. I might even be able to speak Italian by the time I come back!”

“Oh,
sarebbe meraviglioso!
” Vic laughed.

“Whatever! Don’t make fun of me,” Nikki said, sticking out her tongue at him.

“I’m not, precious. Come back and tell me what I just said!” Vic howled with laughter, and Tony started laughing too. At that point, Nikki did look offended. “I’m sorry, hon. I’m excited
for
you! I want you guys to have fun.” Then he sobered. “But I’ll miss you.
We’ll
miss you.”

“We will,” Laura sniffled.

“There’s always the phone.” Tony smiled. “We’re always here for you. We’ll never be too far apart. Remember that. There’s nothing we’ll be doing in Italy that would be too important if you needed us.”

“I appreciate that,
mio fratello.
” Vic hugged Tony. He wished his cousin had some idea how much their support meant to him.

“I appreciate it too,” Laura said, hugging Nikki. She kissed Nikki on the cheek, then did the same with Tony. “I’m scared, but I’m moving forward,” she said, trailing off.

“You’ll be fine. You love each other; that’s all that matters,” Tony said.

Laura nodded. “That’s all that matters,” she said as she looked up at the beautiful guy who loved her.

“What the hell?” In the driveway, Vic turned back to the house from picking up the Sunday paper and found a little gift someone had left. On the side of the car away from the house someone had painted, with white paint on Vic’s chameleon paint job, the word “SLUT.” Vic touched the paint and groaned; it was dry. He looked around and got the distinct impression he was being watched.
If this was who I think it was,
Vic fumed,
she’s in deep shit.

“So what’s the story?” Steve was a little miffed that Vic had waited to tell him what was going on with Miranda, but he also knew that Vic had been under a lot of pressure the last few weeks. Vic began telling him about Miranda and the excessive number of calls she’d made to his burner phone, then played a few for him, and Steve sighed. “I wish I’d known about this sooner. I would’ve already addressed it.”

“I’m stumped. I don’t know what to do. When I walked up I asked them specifically if there was a single one of them who didn’t want to be collared. She was the only one who said she didn’t, and she was quick about it too. If she’d said she did, I never would’ve taken her to a private room. I knew better than that. But this? This is way over the line.” Then he told Steve how she’d behaved the night he and Laura had met Evie at Eden’s Gate, not to mention the fact that he thought he’d seen her watching them that day at the mall, and Steve started to feel anxious about the whole thing.

“What bothers me is that she’s now stalking you away from the club. She wants to get her point across and doesn’t care if it gets her into trouble.” Steve sighed. “I’ll help you with this. God knows as fresh as your relationship with Laura is, you sure don’t need this.”

“So far Laura’s been okay with it, but I don’t want this to ruin everything between us. She’s worked too hard.” Vic hesitated. “I feel like it’s all my fault.”

“No, Vic, don’t say that. It’s not like you brought her home with you and promised her something. This was a club, and you said yourself that she was a very well-trained sub, so she’d been in clubs before. She knew the score before she came in. The fact that she’s doing this tells me that there’s something wrong. But I just don’t want anyone, including her, getting hurt.” Steve wondered what it would take to get the situation under control.

“She does something like that to my car or anything else of mine again,” Vic growled, “and I can’t guarantee she won’t get hurt. And I’d better not find out she’s been anywhere near Laura.”

“S
o what will the next step be?” Laura asked Vic.

“I think we both need to know where the other wants this to go.” After he’d drawn the blinds, Vic sat down beside Laura on the sofa in the den.

She shuddered, then took a deep breath, blew it out, and asked, “So do you want this to be something that we enjoy for as long as it lasts, or do you have some other idea about it? I just need to know.”

Vic groaned and shook his head. “Are you kidding me?”

Laura was confused. “No, I’m not kidding. I just don’t know . . .”

“You listen up, little girl.” He turned to her and took her chin in his hand. “You are my future. I’ve put everything on the line for you, especially my heart, and I did it with the expectation that it was going to get kicked around and broken. I told you before, and I’ll tell you again – I’m not going to force anything on you. But I want forever with someone who wants forever with me. I want permanency, and I don’t care how it goes – marriage, commitment ceremony with rings, a verbal promise, whatever.” He stopped and got a distant, dreamy look in his eyes. “I’ve watched my cousin’s heart go from shattered in a million pieces to whole and strong with a woman who put it back together and loved it, loved him, until he was healed and happy. That’s what I want. That’s all I’ve ever wanted, with someone who loves me as much as I love her. And I’d like to think that will be you.”

“That’s all I needed to know.” Laura felt her heartbeat start to calm. She could tell that he was serious. Being with one person for the rest of her life had never seemed to be possible for her, but so many good things had happened with her and to her just because of Vic that she guessed anything was possible. “I’ve never thought anyone would want me, so I’ve never given it any thought,” she said in a whisper. “I thought having a relationship with anyone was impossible.”

“That’s me, baby, making the impossible look practical,” he laughed. “You just think about it. But that’s why I decided to step away from my, um, reciprocal responsibilities at the club, if you will. I felt like I’d be, I don’t know, cheating on you? And I knew it bothered you. So it was an easy decision to make. But now that you know how I feel, it’s your call. I guess what I need to know is this: Is that kind of relationship between us something that’s out of the question?”

Laura thought about it for a minute. She’d already had the “Walters women” talk with Nikki. Tony and Nikki saw them as a couple, and she did too. It was obvious Vic did. So the ball was deep in her court. But she couldn’t make a promise to him if she couldn’t give him what he wanted most – to be fully with him, nothing held back. Then it hit her. Nobody –
nobody
– had ever loved her as much as Vic seemed to. This might be her only chance.

“No.” The tip of her finger followed the trim of his moustache. “It’s a probability. Or maybe I want it to be. Regardless, I want to move forward, give us more time. But there’s nobody else I want to be with. I don’t have much experience with relationships, but if this isn’t love I feel for you, I’d like to know what the hell it is, because it’s the strongest thing I’ve ever felt.” She smiled, then she said, “And I don’t have much experience with that either, the feeling thing. But whatever this is that I feel for you, it’s real.”