“Not so fast, Ronnie! My little runner.” He saw her expression and her fingers curling into a fist. He shook his head. “Come,” he indicated with his chin over his shoulder, “You little minx, my car is in back anyway,” he added when her gaze returned to him.
She turned on her heel, yanking her elbow out of his grasp, stormed around him, and made her way to the rear of the police station. She heard his laugh behind her, and inside she was fuming at the sheer frustration of the situation he seemed to find so humorous.
He laughed and passed her, his much longer strides in comfortable shoes, quickly overtaking her. He led the way through to the back of the building where his automobile was presumably parked.
Ronnie couldn’t help herself. Her ire was up, and she didn’t like him having the last word. “Never thought I’d hear you say, not so fast!”
Nikko just laughed and kept walking. Oh the man was still as cocky as ever and from her view of his backside just as fit and good looking. The only problem, the one that mattered, was that he knew he was a pretty boy and never failed to take advantage of opportunities thrown his way. Like Nancy.
Chapter 3
The Ice Princess
God, even in the Courtroom with that horrible orange jumpsuit, and her eyes all puffy, he felt the attraction, the pull to the little package that was Ronnie. And what a package, she was. Cioccie! That was the word his brother, Gio, would use to describe Ronnie. A real handful. His palms itched at the memories. The unflattering costume did nothing to hide the shape of that body underneath. The material strained over her breasts. More than a handful he remembered, as he stood up with the women and Jay when the judge entered. Her big brown doe like eyes never glanced his way, and it bothered him that she failed to see him, recognize him.
He’d recognize her in a paper bag. In nothing.
The proceedings went quickly, and smoothly, just as he and his brothers had foreseen. It wasn’t until she was about to be escorted back to her cell, that she showed any signs of recognizing him. Her brown eyes narrowed in disapproval, her blond hair in disarray. She cast a him a mere glance before turning away to exchange sympathetic looks with her mother, and Ana and Nikko’s new cousin Monica. He had come, volunteered to do this job knowing it would be an all-day thing. He wanted to clear the air, and hopefully offer her support in this difficult time. He hated to admit it to himself, but it bothered him that she did not seem to even notice him.
He cleared his throat in an attempt to get her attention, but she didn’t look his way again. Ah! The ice princess, he remembered. But, he also remembered that she could be not so icy with a little liquid courage. In fact, she could be quite warm, and yielding with the right kind of encouragement. Yes, the ice princess had been a flaming inferno for a few brief moments. He regretted her misunderstanding the situation between them, and he normally didn’t have regrets when it came to women.
He smirked remembering their too brief time together, and then shifted uncomfortably when his cock began to remember too. The proceedings were over, and the blond firecracker with the wild streak of pink in her hair, it had been purple last year, had often been in his fantasies this past year. She disappeared from his view, orange jump suit straining across her shapely ass. His hands itched to cup those cheeks again, maybe even slap them for running away from him, and not giving him a chance to explain last summer.
He groaned inwardly though. The ice princess was untouchable now. A Case! Albeit, he knew her somewhat intimately before this. His brothers would most assuredly disapprove of his thoughts, if they knew why he jumped at the opportunity to handle today’s bail hearing. His brothers. Domineering, all of them, except perhaps Gio. He had a quirky, silly kind of humor at times. But Blaze and Andreas were serious, all of the time.
He led her to his pride and joy, his 1970 Black Cutlass. He and his brothers worked on it for years when he lived in New York, and now it was a classic he was proud of. It was what kept him sane after his parents had been killed, in the horrific double homicide that he himself had discovered. He was just seventeen when it happened, and he and his dad had picked up the junk car the year before. It had been their project, his and his dad, Frank. An early graduation present. After his parents were killed, his brothers each took turns working on it with him to finish it in time for his graduation from high school. It’s what their dad would have done.
Ronnie didn’t seem impressed. He opened the door for her, and she slid onto the black leather seats. He practically choked on his own air as he sucked in his breath when her skirt slid up exposing a great deal of her thighs to his line of vision.
“Boys and their toys,” she muttered, glancing around the beautiful interior. The car was pristine, and she loved it, but she’d be dammed if she would let him know.
He slammed the door, rattling the car and regretted it immediately. This car meant a great deal to him. It wasn’t a mere toy. But, he didn’t expect her to understand. It was special. A connection. Her comment distressed him. He never liked to talk about the past, but he somehow wanted her to know. The urge to share his private hell, their family’s tragedy overwhelmed him. But, he suppressed the urge to tell her. She had her own issues to deal with right now.
He made his way round to his side of the car, and got in behind the wheel. The steering wheel had been the last piece to be put in. Andreas had driven all the way to a junk yard in New Jersey to find it. It went in the day before his graduation.
He cleared his throat. Ronnie was sitting like a statue on the seat next to him. Hands clutched in her lap. He glanced her way, but she wouldn’t look at him. “Seatbelt,” he murmured politely reminding her, but when she made no move to put it on, he couldn’t resist adding, “It’s the law.”
“I know the law, moron. It’s stuck. I tried,” she said as her head whipped around to him.
He quashed the urge to take the wildcat over his knees; he was trying to be sensitive after all, even though he didn’t know why. He let out a sigh of frustration and leaned over to help her with it. He smoothly pulled the belt over her lap, and chest, and his arm brushed her breasts. She pulled back. The current went through his arm like a shock of electricity, and from her reaction he knew she felt it too. His arm tingled from where it made the contact among other places.
“Yeah stuck,” he teased her as he righted himself in his seat. He forgot the passenger belt locked up on occasion. He rarely had people in this car. Normally he used one of the company’s vehicles when he was transporting people, but he’d made the exception. For Ronnie.
“It was,” she exclaimed, crossing her arms in front of her chest, and turning to give him one of her fiercest stares.
He looked back and could see the tough shell was anything but. He knew underneath she must be scared as hell. Hell, he would be too if he was in her dilemma. Accused of drug smuggling with the evidence stacked against her, and being just twenty-two, he felt some pity for her. He tried not to think of the other feelings he had for her. They confused the hell out of him. Thinking they’d go away on their own, he hadn’t tried very hard to get ahold of her last summer. When he worked up the courage to try, she had already left Florida, and returned to school for her final year of college. But seeing her again, he had a pang of regret. It would have been good. Really good.
Down boy, he cautioned himself as he took one more look at those incredible thighs. The girl must run, or do a lot of hiking. He remembered her telling him last year that she was studying forestry and environmental sciences. She was a tomboy, she had joked. She sure as hell didn’t look like one. Not in that mini skirt, and silky rust tank top that didn’t leave much to the imagination.
Shaking his head, he started the engine, and the car rumbled to life. He loved the power of this car, and how it felt to drive it. He backed up, turned out of the lot, and in a few more turns he was on Nebraska Avenue headed down State Road 41 to her mom’s house in Spring Hill. It was about an hour’s drive. He could have taken the shorter route on the Suncoast
Highway, but he wanted the extra twenty minutes with her. He wanted to learn some things about Miss Sears that he hadn’t been able to last summer. His brothers told him to gather as much information as he could about her in case she ran.
Even though she was technically a friend of the family, they were still running a business. They always kept a close eye on all their clients, and did their research. Business was business. But given the state of their previous relationship, he figured he needed to soften her up a bit first. She wouldn’t be very willing to confide in him so easily. So talking about himself first might make the transition smoother.
“My brothers helped me to build this car, put it back together, get it running, and we restored it to its original glory,” he offered. When she made no reply and only stared ahead stonily he added, “My father bought it for me as an early graduation gift a year before both my parents were killed.” He saw out of the corner of his eye that she sat up a bit straighter, and she turned to him slightly. She was listening. “Yeah, so it’s not a toy to me. Just saying,” he gave her a sideways smile. She gave him a small one in return so he continued. “My dad and I bought the car together when I was sixteen. We got the motor working but that was about it. Then he died.”
She cleared her throat before speaking. She felt guilty for her earlier callous remark. “I’m sorry about your parents. Was it a car accident?” He mentioned them dying and wondered how.
“No, murder actually,” he said nonchalantly.
“Oh my goodness!” she exclaimed. “I had no idea. I am so sorry.”
He saw the sympathy in her eyes and a tell-tale guilty blush. He shocked her by sharing this information. Her arms relaxed though, and she was wringing her hands in her lap.
“Thanks. It was a long time ago. My dad was a cop, just like my brothers. And I was going to be a cop too, but they pushed me into going into forensic sciences. I had the grades for it, and got a scholarship and all. But after graduation, I went into the police academy anyway.”
“You were a cop? All of you? How’d you all end up in Florida?” Ronnie asked with curiosity. Last summer, she assumed he was just a playboy who worked for his brothers in the family business. Interesting, there was more to this man than she thought.
“Yeah, for a while we were. My oldest brothers wanted out. They both wanted out of New York and were tired of the job. Blaze had just gone through a tough break up. I didn’t want to go, but hell they were all going, so here I am,” he answered her questions.
“Did they ever catch the person who killed your parents? If you don’t mind my asking?” she asked tentatively.
Nikko didn’t answer right away. He took a moment to compose his thoughts. “Hmm, well, no actually. He’s still out there. Somewhere. Andreas hasn’t given up. He never will. He got a few notes from him that first year, but then the case went cold.” He paused and she watched his hands caress the steering wheel lost in thought. “He was a serial killer, a case of my brother’s. The guy, he was the Rosedale Romeo.”
Ronnie nodded as her heart rate picked up. She remembered hearing that name on the news when she was just a kid.
“Oh my god,” she whispered.
He continued. “He came after our family because Andreas got too close to him. He took it personally. When Andy figured out who the guy was, the manhunt was on. They decided to release his name to the press and splash pictures of him all over the news, so there wouldn’t be any more victims. The police descended on his family and the guy had nowhere to run. His name was Salvatore Erickson. The dude’s wife said she didn’t know anything. She was shocked that her husband had this secret life. Said she had no clue what a monster he was. Andreas believed her. The man was seriously twisted. She was put into protective custody, given a new name, a new life. They had kids and she took them too. They were all in hiding. Salvatore had no one else. He was furious. He was pissed at Andreas and blamed him for ruining his life. Not because he was a sick bastard who liked to torture and mutilate girls, but because he blamed Andreas for destroying his family.”
Nikko paused again in his tale, and Ronnie waited patiently for him to continue. She didn’t want to push, but she was definitely intrigued. She never would have guessed Nikko faced so much pain and horror so young.
He eventually spoke after glancing her way once seeing her waiting. “For a year, the trail was cold. A few notes promising revenge.” He shook his head and she saw the cold look that crossed his face. “I was the only one still living at home at the time. I snuck out with my buddies one night and when I got home, I found them.”
“Oh, how horrible!” Ronnie’s hands flew to her mouth as she gasped.
“Yeah, it was pretty bad. I didn’t want to go to school after that. Just wanted to finish the car that my dad and I started. But, Andreas moved back home. My other brother’s lived in the city. Andreas was a detective, Gio had made detective too. Blaze was in law school. He did the police academy later. Like me. They promised to help me finish the car as long as I kept going to school. Each weekend one of them would work on it with me.”
His voice sounded rough. She felt her own throat tighten, thick with emotion for him.
“You’re close to your brothers,” she commented to ease the tension in the car.
“Yes, I am,” he stated. “They’re pretty much all I got.”
Ronnie nodded sympathetically. Her family was small too. And she cherished each one of them.
“How about you Ronnie? Got much family?” he asked, giving her a small smile and then he returned his focus to the road.
“Small too. It was just me and my mom, growing up. My grandparents are great; my granddad is one of my best friends. I have an uncle too, but he is somewhat of a recluse.”
“My grandparents on both sides died long ago. I don’t remember them,” he told her. “I do have an aunt. My mom’s sister, and a cousin too. Victor.”
“Yes, Monica’s husband.” Memories of the wedding popped into her head. She couldn’t find it in her to be mad at the moment. Not after all he revealed. “Monica and Ana grew up with my mom. So, they are like aunts to me. I love them a lot.”
“I could tell you were close,” he added. When they both remained silent for a while he decided to forge ahead. “What are your grandparents like? I don’t remember much of mine. Always thought it would be cool to have them around.”
Ronnie couldn’t suppress a small laugh. She had never known her father. Her grandfather had been the one to fill those shoes. Her granddad was the best. “I love my granddad. He did lots with me. I was his constant companion, he was my babysitter, and I followed him everywhere. He used to tease me all the time too. He’d call out for me like I wasn’t in the room, and then he would lift his shoe. I guess I was always underfoot,” she used air quotes to emphasize her meaning. Nikko smiled and waited for her to continue. “He’s the reason I studied forestry and the environment. While mom worked he would take me into the woods. We would walk, hike, fish, ride motorbikes. On the weekends we would go camping at his fish camp,” Ronnie reminisced.
“He still alive?”
“Yes, both my grandparents and my uncle. They still live in Maine, in Presque Isle, about two and half hours from where I went to school in Bangor.”
“That’s nice that they were close,” he offered.
“Yeah,” Ronnie whispered and got quiet.
After a minute or so, he tried another avenue to get her talking again. “For the record, Ronnie, I feel bad for you and this situation.”
“I don’t need your sympathy,” she muttered, stone faced. Her thoughts turned to her grandparents and how disappointed they must be.
Okay, he thought, what next? Another minute passed, and he hadn’t thought of another way to get her to open up, so he decided to finish telling her about how they ended up in Florida.
“So earlier I was telling you why we came to Florida” he started. She looked at him blankly and he just continued. “I graduated with my forensics degree and Blaze
decided to do the police academy. So we both did that together. As soon as we got out, and started looking for work, my brother Andreas announced that he had enough of New York, and that he and Gio were moving to Florida. My mom’s sister and my cousin Victor lived here. They are pretty much the only family we had, so me and Blaze decided to come along for the ride. Blaze and I did about a year on the force. We were partners. Then, we moved here. That was two years ago,” he finished.
“Oh,” she muttered. “Interesting.”
Again the silence. Ronnie was lost in her thoughts again. Well, he had gotten some information from her. He didn’t think she would run, but any info he could get would be useful if she did. They rode in silence for a few more minutes when he heard the strangest sound. He looked at his console. Nothing appeared out of order.
He looked to Ronnie to see if she had heard it. She was squirming uncomfortably in her seat. He looked at his gauges again, nothing was going on there, and then he heard it again. It was definitely coming from her side of the car. He looked at her. She was pink faced.
“Um, was that you?” he asked tentatively.
He heard her sigh, and she covered her face with her hands in embarrassment and just nodded. He was confused as hell. And just kept looking her way, and then the sound came again. Louder.
“Well, what is it?” he asked, completely dumbfounded.
She shook her head in humiliation. “Believe it or not, that is my stomach growling. Prison food is not the greatest, and I hardly ate anything these last two days.”
“Well, why didn’t you say so,” he replied, let out a sigh that nothing was wrong with his baby, and began to laugh.
“It’s not funny,” she pouted.
When her lower lip jutted out like that, he had the sudden urge to lean over suck it into his mouth, and kiss those lips. “Well first I thought something was wrong with my car, but if you’re that hungry, I could just pull over and we could grab a bite. There’s tons of good places to eat along this road.”
The Bounty Hunters: The Marino Bros.: Box Set Page 4