by Andria Large
"I gotta call Lizette. Do you want me to get you something to eat or drink?" I ask as I start for the bedroom door.
"No, I think I'm just going to take a nap, I'm exhausted." She yawns.
"Okay, baby, when I'm off the phone, I'll come and snuggle with you," I say with a small smile as I watch her climb into my bed.
"Okay," she agrees as she burrows down into the many pillows on my large king sized bed.
I go out into the kitchen and grab a beer from the fridge before sitting at the island counter. I could really go for a smoke right about now, actually starting to feel a bit irritable. I shove it aside, pull up Lizette’s number on my cell, and hit call. She answers on the third ring.
"Hi, Ace, everything okay?"
"Yeah. Hey, listen, since Alex is going to be out of commission for a while, I'm going to need someone to fill in. Do you think your brother would be willing?" I ask.
"Are you kidding? My brother would love to," she says.
"Awesome."
"I'll call him and see what he says, I'll let you know."
"Great, thanks, Lizette," I reply.
We say goodbye then hang up. I finish off the rest of my beer, fight off the urge to go out and buy cigarettes, then head back to my bedroom. When I walk in, Nicole is out cold. I climb into bed next to her and pull her into my arms. I kiss the top of her head then lie back and close my eyes. I soon fall asleep but am plagued with nothing but bad dreams of cars hitting those I love.
~Nicole~
The next morning, Ace and I are eating cereal at the island when there is a knock on the door. Ace goes to answer it, peeking out the peephole before pulling the door open. I first see him greet Beau with a hug and pat to the cheek, then Lizette, who he hugs and kisses. Rob, Beau's bodyguard, is next to enter. Then he shakes the hand of another guy who is about Beau's height, maybe a little taller. This must be Dennis, Lizette's brother. Ace told me how he was going to need someone to fill in for Alex and that Dennis is a great candidate because he's a former Marine. Plus, being Lizette's brother and now one of Beau's good friends, he feels as though he can trust the guy.
Dennis is tall and lean and just screams Marine. His hair is cut short in that military fade that they all seem to have, but his face is scruffy, which is unusual for military men. He walks into the condo, his eyes taking in everything. Oh yeah, he'd make a good bodyguard. His eyes land on me and I can see from here that they are a bright green. There is a hardness in them that catches me off guard. I raise a hand in greeting, not really sure of what else to do. He gives me a tight smile and closes the distance between us.
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?"