Wild Renegade (17 page)

He
holds out his hand. "I'm Dennis," he says, his deep voice soft.

"Nicole,"
I reply as I shake his hand.

"Nice
to meet you," he says.

"You,
too."

Dennis
is a really good looking guy with those gorgeous eyes and full lips of his. But
he actually comes off kinda scary with that cold, hard look in his eyes. He is
definitely the kind of guy you do not want to piss off.

"Dude,
don't take this the wrong way, but how are you supposed to protect me when
you're walking with a limp? Do you have a knee problem or something?" Ace
asks with a frown.

Beau
snickers as Dennis turns to look at Ace. "You could say that." Dennis
shrugs.

"He
can still take someone down if he has to, even with his 'knee' problem,"
Beau says, using air quotes when he says "knee."

Ace
frowns hard at the two of them. "Am I missing something here?"

"No,
but he is," Beau chuckles and points at Dennis, who actually grins.

And
wow, that smile changes his whole face. His eyes are now sparkling with
amusement and that smile makes his whole face light up. He's seriously gorgeous
when he smiles, and Ace is seriously gorgeous when he's confused and annoyed.

"What
the hell does that mean?" Ace huffs, propping his hands on his hips.

"Jesus
Christ, you two," Lizette scolds Beau and Dennis. "Dennis is missing
his right leg below the knee, he has a prosthetic," she says to Ace.

"Oh,"
Ace says, taken aback. "Shit, I'm sorry."

"Don't
worry about it," Dennis says dismissively. "I can still do what needs
to be done."

Ace
looks at him skeptically. "I don't know, man. Again, not to be a dick, but
I don't see how's that possible."

"Why
don't you show him a little something," Beau says, fighting off a smile.

"Oh,
here we go." Lizette huffs, throwing her arms up as she comes to stand by
me.

Dennis
on the other hand, grins again. "Okay. Ace, come at me like you're gonna
hit me, and really try, don't hold back," he says.

Ace
hesitates. "Really? Are you sure?"

"Yeah,
come on," Dennis says, motioning with his head for Ace to come at him.

Dennis'
posture is relaxed as he just stands there, waiting for Ace to swing at him.
Ace glances at me. I shrug. He then turns back to Dennis. He pauses for a
moment before cocking a fist back and swinging at Dennis. I watch in awe as
Dennis redirects the punch, spins Ace around like a ballerina, and puts him into
a Full Nelson. It happens so fast that Ace has no chance to recover. Beau and
Rob are standing off to the side, laughing.

"Well,
shit." Ace grunts.

"Is
that good enough for you?" Dennis asks as he lets Ace go.

"Yep,
I'm good." Ace nods, straightening his t-shirt.

"Good,"
Dennis replies with a small smile.

"You're
hired." Ace smirks and shakes Dennis' hand.

"Nice."
Dennis grins.

"You
do understand that it's only temporary right?" Ace asks.

"Yes,
I do."

"Are
you good to start today?"

"Yes,"
Dennis answers.

"Good
because I want to go visit Alex in about an hour," Ace says.

"Okay,
whatever you wanna do. I'm good to go," Dennis says seriously.

"Alright,
well, we're gonna go then, I have work to do," Lizette says. She goes to
her brother and gives him a hug and kiss. "Thanks for doing this,
Denny."

"You're
welcome, Lizzie."

We
all say goodbye and they leave. Dennis walks over to the windows and looks out.
He glances over his shoulder at Ace, his expression solemn.

"I
saw the video on the news. I'm sorry about your friend," he says
sincerely.

Ace
nods. "Thank you."

"He's
a brave man and a hero for sure," Dennis says.

"That
he is," Ace agrees.

I
like Dennis already. He seems like a really great guy and any girl that lands
him is going to be once lucky chick.

Chapter Ten

~Ace~

Christmas
Eve was a hit. My grandparents absolutely loved Nicole. My parents died in a
car accident when I was only four, so my grandparents raised me. Their approval
of Nicole means a lot to me. She also loved them, telling me after they left
that night that she wished her grandparents were as cool as they were.

Christmas
morning, Nicole and I exchange presents, make love on the living room floor, take
a shower together, and then go to see Alex at the hospital before having to go
to her parents for dinner. I got Nicole a beautiful heart shaped pink diamond
necklace. She attacked me after opening it, that's why we ended up making love
on the floor in the living room. Then we took a shower and headed to the
hospital, which is where we are at the moment.

When
Nicole and I walk into his room, Alex is awake and sitting up. He's high as a
kite but at least he's not feeling too much pain. He was moved out of the ICU
last night. He has a stupid grin on his face and he can barely keep his eyes
open. I can't help but laugh at him. I've never seen him like this before, not
even drunk.

"Hey
man, I see they got you on some good stuff." I chuckle and take his
outstretched hand.
 

"I
feel fantastic," he drawls.

"That's
good, I'm glad," I reply.

Nicole
comes up beside me and Alex's smile widens. "
Buongiorno
principessa
!" he exclaims loudly, his good arm
making a grand gesture.

Nicole
bursts out laughing.

"I
love that movie." Alex snickers.

"What
movie is that?" I ask.

"
Life is Beautiful
," Nicole answers.
"It's about this Italian man who falls in love, gets married, and has a
son. Because it was during WWII and they were Jewish, they are separated and
are put into concentration camps. The son goes with him to the male camp. The
son doesn't understand where exactly they are or why they are there so his
father kind of makes a game out of it and pretends that they are there to have
fun. But in the beginning whenever he meets his wife, that's how he always
greets her, ‘
Buongiorno
principessa
!’”
Nicole explains, waving her arm around like Alex did.

I
smile. "Sounds like a great movie," I say. Obviously, Nicole loves
the movie, too.

"It
really is," she agrees.

Then,
Alex starts rambling off in Italian. I wince and look over at Nicole to find
her mouth gaping open, I know she can understand what he's saying. I never told
Nicole that Alex speaks Italian. She's going to kick my ass. I told him to keep
it a secret so that he could tell me what she says if she ever says anything in
Italian around me. He yawns a few times during his ramblings and eventually tapers
off and falls asleep. I turn and look at Nicole.

"What
did he say?" I ask curiously.

"
Uhh
...he said that he loves you and is lucky to have you as
a friend. He wants us to get married and have babies together. He also said
that I need to tell my father to shove it and he wants me to tell my sister
that he says ‘hey,’" she says, her lips twitching as she fights off a
smile.

I
burst out laughing. "Oh god, that's great!"

Nicole
laughs along with me. "Yes, yes it is." Then she narrows her eyes at me.
"Did you know that he speaks Italian?"

"I...um...yes?"
I grimace.

"You
jerk!" she squawks and smacks my shoulder. "So he understood
everything that my family said?"

I
nod.

She
groans and covers her face with her hands. "How embarrassing!"

"He
doesn't care, babe, really, don't be embarrassed," I soothe.

She
sends me a nasty look that has me fighting back a smile. We leave Alex so that he
can rest. We still have to make the two hour drive to Philly to go to Nicole's parents’
house. After how things went the last time we were there, and after the whole cheating
debacle that her parents know about, I'm kind of dreading this visit. Nicole
said that her mother is okay with everything after she explained what happened,
but her dad still hates me and probably always will. Nothing I can do about
that. He has no say in our relationship, so he's just going to have to deal
with it. Dennis is not with us, thank god. He's home with his family since it's
Christmas day. I really didn't want to have to subject him to this torture.

All
hell breaks loose when we walk into her parents’ house. Worse than I expected.
As soon as her father sees me, his eyes widen and he shoots to his feet. He
storms over to us and starts yelling at me to get out, that I'm not welcome, that
I do not deserve his daughter and so on. Nicole looks absolutely mortified.
Gina is standing off to the side looking stricken and her mother behind
Gaetano, yelling at her husband in Italian. I just stare at him, not giving him
any satisfaction of looking upset or angry.

"STOP
IT!" Nicole screams, her hands balling into fists at her sides.

Her
parents fall silent and turn to look at her.

"I
love Ace! I want to marry him and have kids with him and be with him for the
rest of my life!" Nicole sobs. "I'm thirty years old! You do not get
to tell me who I can be with!"

My
throat tightens from the obvious emotional pain she is going through. I reach
for her. She said that she wants to marry me. Inside I'm jumping for joy, while
I stay stoic on the outside. Nicole lets me wrap my arm around her shoulders
and hug her to my chest as she cries. I stare coldly at her father. The man is
furious, that much I can tell. His face is red and his jaw is clenched.

"You
will not marry my daughter," he growls at me.

"I
will do whatever the hell I want," I snap in return.

"Nicole,
if you marry this boy, you will not be part of this family anymore," her
father bites out.

I
blink. Did he really just say that? Is he really going to disown her for
wanting to marry me? What a fucking asshole! Maybe he's trying to bluff, to get
her to choose them over me. Dammit. How can I compete with her family?

"Really
papà
? You are going to make me choose?" she
sniffs, glaring at her dad.

Her
father just stares at her. My heart is pounding. She's not going to choose me
over her own blood. I loosen my hold on her, preparing to let her go. My heart
aches at the thought that we probably won't be able to continue to be together
if she wants to be with her family. I would never stop her from choosing her
family over me, though, no matter how shitty the situation is. Family is blood.
Family is forever.

Nicole
shakes her head. "I'm sorry, mamma, Gina...let's go, Ace," she says
sadly.

I
suck in a sharp breath. "Nicole, this is your family," I whisper,
staring down into her big brown eyes.

"And
they will not tell me who I can love," she says with such certainty that I
don't question her again, I just nod.

She
pats my chest then takes my hand, leading me to the door. I glance over my shoulder
to see her mother burst into tears while her sister watches with pride and
adoration. She'll be doing the same thing, I'm sure. I walk with Nicole out to
the car. Damn, we just drove two hours for nothing. I open the car door for her
and let her slip in before closing it. I slide into the driver’s seat and start
the car. I turn to look over at her. She's still sniffing and wiping away
tears.

"Are
you sure this is what you want?" I ask softly.

She
nods. "Yes," she says firmly.

"Okay,"
I murmur and place my hand on her thigh as I back out of the driveway.

Nicole
places her hand over mine. The drive back to New York is mostly quiet. We talk
briefly about what had happened and how angry Nicole is at her father, but she
doesn't want to dwell on it, so the subject is dropped. I know she's hurt, too.
I can see it in her eyes. Whether she admits it or not, she wants her father's
approval, even if there is no chance that she will ever get it. His feelings
for me will never change. He's too set in his ways. Maybe one day we can be in
the same room and be civil with each other. One day.

~Nicole~

The
day after the nightmare that was Christmas day, we go to see Alex again before
getting back on the road. They lowered his pain meds, so he's not as high this
time. Dennis stays out in the hall while Ace and I visit with Alex.

"Who's
the new guy?" Alex asks Ace as soon as we walk in.

Ace
smirks. "That's Dennis, Lizette's brother. He's gonna fill in until you're
back up and running," Ace tells him.

Alex
purses his lips. "You sure you're not replacing me for good?"

Ace
frowns. "Come on, man, you know I would never replace you."

Alex
nods, dropping his gaze to his lap.

"You
will get better, Alex. You'll be back to normal in no time," Ace assures
him.

"It's
going to be a long recovery." Alex grunts.

"Yeah,
it will be," Ace agrees.

Alex
nods again then lifts his eyes to look at me. "How'd it go at your
parents?"

"So
bad, my dad disowned me." I sigh.

Alex's
eyes widen. "What?" he chokes.

"Yeah,
I told him that I love Ace and want to marry him and he made me choose, Ace or
the family, I chose Ace," I say with a soft smile.

Alex
gapes at me. His eyes dart back and forth between Ace and me. Then with his
good arm, he grabs Ace's shirt and yanks him close. "That woman chose you
over her family, you better marry her," he snarls.

Ace
fights not to laugh. "I plan on it."

Alex
shoves him away. "Good."

We
chat for a little longer before Ace decides that he needs a drink and leaves to
find a vending machine. I sit on the bed next to Alex.

"So,
you speak Italian," I say, giving him an expectant look.

He
winces. "Yeah, sorry."

"Did
you tell Ace what my father said about him?" I ask with a frown.

"Not
everything, I left out the really bad stuff, I promise," he replies.

I
nod. "I keep meaning to ask you, what did you say to my sister to make her
blush?"

Alex
barks out a laugh. "I told her that my cock is bigger than her forearm and
she could never handle the things that I would do to her; she's not experienced
enough, no matter how many guys she's been with."

I
burst out laughing. "Oh my god, you're so bad!"

Alex
chuckles.

Ace
returns and we stay for another hour before we have to leave. We go to my hotel
room first so I can grab my stuff and check out. Then we head over to Ace's
condo, so he can grab his stuff. Dennis drops us off so that he can run back to
his place, grab his things, and say goodbye to his best friend, Tucker.

Ace
opens his door and walks in. The next thing I know, he's sprawled out on the
floor, unconscious. What the fuck just happened? I swing around to see Hillary
standing just inside the door, baseball bat in hand. She shuts the door and
locks it. My heart leaps in my throat at the crazed look in her eye. This is
not going to go well, that much I know.

"Hillary,
what are you doing?" I ask carefully.

"I
told you to stay away from him," she hisses, dropping the bat and grabbing
a large knife off the table next to her.

I
suck in a sharp breath. "What are you planning on doing?" I ask,
seriously frightened.

"First,
I'm going to tie you both up. What happens after that will be a surprise,"
she says with an evil smile.