by Young, Sage
“You don’t miss a beat do you?” Victoria asked smiling into the phone. Maybe this would be good; she hadn’t been out since before the babies were born. “Alright, I’ll go.”
“Yayy, it’s going to be fun! Jackie rented a car so we can drink as much as we want.”
“You can, you know I’m still nursing so I won’t be able to.”
“You have enough milk pumped to feed those babies for a week, and you can make pump extra bottles so they can go a couple of days, just in case.”
“And this advice is coming from the woman with no children.” Victoria said laughing.
*****
It was Friday night and all the ladies were sitting in the living room waiting for Victoria. “Come on Victoria, the babies will be fine.” Monica yelled up the stairs. Victoria heard Monica but chose to ignore her. She put the final touches on her make up and looked into the floor length mirror. All those painful workouts had paid off; she had to admit to herself that she looked really good in the strapless black dress that fit snug around her hips and ass. She slipped in the Gianvito Cooperi black pumps and walked into the nursery to check on the babies. She stopped in the doorway seeing Dominic holding their son and her heart began to race. He still had that effect on her. She loved him so much, and she just wished the feeling were returned. She steadied her nerves before walking in. “Hey, I didn’t know you were here.” He looked up and the sight of Victoria took his breath away.
“You look beautiful.” He said as he tried to control his heart rate.
“Thank you.” She said as she used her hands to smooth down her dress not knowing what to do or say. She could feel his eyes perusing her body and her skin instantly heated up. He placed his son in the crib. She walked over and kissed each one of the babies. She turned to walk out and Dominic grabbed her arm. She turned to face him. He opened his mouth to speak but closed it.
“Did you need something Nick?”
“No just have fun and be careful.” He hesitated then whispered, “You smell amazing.” not really meaning for her to hear it as he looked at her with hooded eyes.
“You okay Nick?”
“I’m fine I just want you to have a good time you deserve it and don’t worry about the babies, there is a small army here to help. He kissed her on the forehead. She closed her eyes; the feel of his lips reminded her of a better time, when his lips would touch every inch of her body. She opened her eyes realizing that the connection was lost.
“Hummm, I guess I better go before they come up and drag me out.” Victoria said joking trying to take her mind off of the thoughts of his lips. They walked out of the room and downstairs together. Marco was at the bar with a drink as the ladies sat waiting. When they reached the living room all of the ladies stood.
“Let’s get this party on the road.” Jackie declared as she stood. Monica, Maria and Fran also stood.
“Yeah, what were you two doing up there, trying to make another set of triplets?”
“Fran!” Marco and Dominic yelled in unison.
“I know, I know, no filter.” She said as she sashayed out the door.
Victoria turned to Dominic, “call me if you need anything.”
“Relax everything is covered. You have your phone?”
“Yes right here.” She said as she padded the purse. “Good, now have fun.” Was the last thing said as the rest of the woman filed into the waiting limousine.
CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
Victoria tried to tiptoe into the house with her shoes in her hand. She was the last drop-off for the limo driver because she was the only one not totally wasted. They had a great time, club hopping and drinking. She had not had that much fun in a long time. She walked into the living room and Marco was asleep on the sofa. She walked over to him “Hey Marc, why don’t you go up to one of the rooms? You would be more comfortable.”
He looked around a little dazed. “No, I’m good. I’m going to head out. Where are the other ladies?”
“All drunk and home in their beds, I made sure of it.”
“Victoria… always taking care of everyone else, but not yourself.”
She gave him a strange look, “what are you talking about, I take care of myself.”
“Physically yes, but what about mentally and emotionally?”
Now she was really confused thinking that maybe he had too much to drink also. “Marco what are you talking about?”
“I’m talking about your happiness. What would make you truly happy Victoria?” She looked at him and thought about how truly blessed she was that she had three beautiful children that she never thought she would have, she now had a huge extended family that she loved, the only thing missing was the love of her life; he knew she had figured out what he was talking about.
“Life’s too short to not go after what you want.” He said as he kissed her on her cheek and started walking towards the door.
“I can’t make him love me Marco.” She confessed.
“Do you love him?”
“I love him so much that it hurts.” She admitted.
“Then tell him Victoria.”
“But what if he rejects me? I don’t think I could handle that right now.” She whispered
He continued to walk to towards the door and paused. “But what if he doesn’t, either way he deserves to know the truth, what he does with… we will just have to see.” Marco knew his brother loved her, but they were both so stubborn, that they may let the best thing that has happen to both of them get away. Victoria walked him to the door.
“Thank you Marco.”
“For what?’
“For always being the voice of reason, even when we don’t want to hear it.”
“Talk to you later,” he said as he walked to his car.
Victoria locked the door and walked up stairs. She walked into the nursery and saw Dominic looking at his babies sleeping.
“Hey, are the babies okay?”
“They’re great, I just like to watch them sleep.” She looked at him and opened her mouth to say something then decided against it. “So how was your outing?” he asked.
She looked at him and smiled. “You know your sister is crazy right?” He looked at her and laughed out loud forgetting that they were in the nursery. She covered his mouth with her hand to quiet his laugh. The feel of her hand on his face sent a tingling sensation through his body, straight to his dick. Silence quickly filled the room as they stared at each other, frozen in time. Dominic slowly put his hand over hers and pushing it closer to his lips and inhaled deeply. He began to kiss her fingers as he looked at her with hooded eyes. Victoria was so surprised by the show of affection that she didn’t realize she wasn’t breathing and had to pull air into her lungs. He continued to trail kisses down her arm. “I miss you.” He whispered as he breathed in slowly. “Your smell,” he continued to place small gentle kisses down her arm as he continued “your taste, the feel of your body.” He said in a deep sultry tone. “Nick” she whispered. He pulled her into an embrace as he palmed her ass pulling it into his erection. “I want you, baby.” He said breathing heavily. Nick I…” before she could confess her love, Isabella started crying. They both sighed in unison as she pulled out of his embrace to get the baby when Gabriella began to cry.
Hearing his babies cry was like having cold water poured over him. He picked up Gabriella, retrieved a bottle from warmer and began to feed the baby. They both sat, feeding their babies in silence, only stealing glances and smiling at each other. After making sure that the babies were feed, changed and asleep, they walked out of the nursery, choosing not to comment on what transpired prior to the babies started crying. “Good night Nick,” is all Victoria said before heading to her room. She had lost the nerve to tell him how she really felt. Victoria walked in her room and sighed deeply as she flopped down on her bed.
Dominic paced in his room replaying what happened in the nursery, how he felt, how she felt. He loved that woman, so why was he being so stubborn; they had wasted
so much time already. “What the hell am I doing? Just tell her.” He walked out of his room and headed towards Victoria’s room, ready to confess his love to her. He knocked on the door, but no answer. He knocked again this time opening the door as he peeked in calling her name. He saw her legs dangling from the bed. She was fast asleep. Dominic looked at her sleeping silhouette and thought about earlier tonight when he walked down the steps, to let Marco out, when he heard voices.
“I can’t make him love me Marco.” She confessed.
“Do you love him?”
“I love him so much that it hurts.”
“Then tell him Victoria.”
“But what if he rejects me?” He continued to walk to towards the door and paused.
“But what if he doesn’t, either way he deserves to know the truth, what he does with it… we will just have to see.”
After hearing her confession to Marco, Dominic decided to go back up stairs and discuss their feelings later. But when she walked into the nursery looking even more beautiful then when she left, he couldn’t resist touching her when she was so close. Dominic gently picked her up and put her all the way on the bed and placed a blanket over her. “Tomorrow she will know how I feel about her,” he said as he took one last look and the mother of his children, the love of his life and the woman who would soon to be his wife, he thought with resolute. He smiled as he walked out of her room. Dominic decided to plan a very special evening for him and Victoria, tonight he would confess his love and ask her to marry him, and if all went well they would be married before the New Year.
Victoria woke up and the house was eerily quiet. She looked at the clock and it was nine o’clock. “Shit, I can’t believe I slept so late.” She looked at the baby monitor waiting to hear the babies breathing or moving, but nothing. She jumped up and realized she was still in the dress from the night before. She stripped out of the dress, put on her robe and padded across the floor heading towards the nursery when she heard Dominic voice and stopped in her tracks, she smiled as she thought about last night. She looked down into the open foyer and saw him walking with their son as he talked on the phone.
“You need some help?” She said looking at him.
He spun around and followed the staircase to the top. “Good morning beautiful. The babies have been fed and breakfast is ready.”
“Give me a few minutes and I’ll be down.”
“Take your time.” he said then continued his phone conversation while paying close attention to the baby.
Dominic enlisted the help of his family and friends to surprise Victoria with an engagement dinner. Everyone was on board and as soon as they got her out of the house, they could finish the arrangements for the party. Thanks to Jackie and his connections everything was set.
Victoria walked into the kitchen and was surprised to find Annette, Lorenzo and Maria.
“Good morning, I didn’t know you guys were here,” she said as she hugged and kissed both ladies then Lorenzo.
“Richard took the kids to his parents for the weekend so I decided to come by and see my nieces and nephew. I picked Mom and Dad up on the way here.” Maria said smiling.
“Sit Victoria, I made some pancakes and bacon.” Annette said standing over the stove.
Victoria walked over to babies; they were all in their bouncers sleep. She kissed each one lightly before making a cup of coffee.
“I’m surprised you’re up so early after our adventure last night,” she said to Maria. Maria thought about last night as was still inwardly cursing her brother for waking her up at the crack of dawn. But it was for a good cause. She loved Victoria and was happy that Dominic finally decided to make her his wife.
“What happens during girl’s night out stay with the girls.” Maria said smiling. They did have a great time.
“I’m sure that not how the saying goes, but I agree.” Victoria said laughing.
“Oh Jackie called this morning and said to call her when you get up.” Dominic said as he looked up the paper he was reading while drinking coffee. Once Victoria was out the house Dominic would be able to put his plan in motion. He wanted the world to know how much he loved that woman, but tonight he would settle for confessing that love to her in front of their family and close friends. Dominic managed to call in a favor and get a large room at a Napoli’s restaurant. He knew how much Victoria loved their food. Fran and Monica were in charge of getting new outfits for the babies; he wanted them to be a part of the evening as well. He trusted only Marco to be with him when the jeweler came by later with a collection of rings. Jackie and Maria were charged with taking Victoria shopping for the perfect outfit.
Everything had to be timed perfectly if they were going to pull this off. Maria asked him why the rush, if he gave them a couple of weeks, they could plan a huge party. Dominic didn’t want a huge party and he knew Victoria would not want that either, but he would not go another day to have the woman he loved in his arms and in his bed. He wanted this day to be special as well as memorable, something that she would never forget and he knew just how he would get her to the party. Dominic looked over at Victoria as she watched the babies sleep.
“Vic, I need a favor, if you aren’t doing anything this evening.”
“Sure Nick, what is it?”
“I have to entertain a potential client, they’re bringing their wives with them to dinner and I don’t want to be the odd person out, I would love it if you could go with me.”
“Mr. Moretti are you asking me out on a date?” She teased as she batted her eyelashes.
“Whatever.” He said unable to contain his smile. “It’s at Napoli’s.”
“You had me at Napoli’s, I love the food there.” she said jokingly putting her hand over her heart. “Of course I will go with you.”
“Actually I was going to ask you to meet me there; I have a meeting right before dinner. I will send a car for you.”
“Wow, I feel so special.” She looked at Maria as they both starting laughing.
Dominic walked over to Victoria and whispered in her ear, “you are special to me,” before kissing her softly on the lips and walking out of the kitchen. She was so surprised that she brought her hand up to her lips and touched them lightly forgetting that anyone else was in the room.
“Huh Humm.” Maria said loudly bringing her out of her fog.
“I wanted to go shopping, to look for a dress, for a dinner party Richard and I have to go to next week. You want to go and get new dresses today? It will be fun maybe we can call Jackie to go with us.” She said excited, but then turned serious “But not Fran and Monica, I had enough of them last night to last a week.” The looked at each other and began to laugh again.
“Truer words have never been spoken. I don’t know who’s worse.” Victoria said while shaking her head.
Maria helped Victoria dress the babies. They looked adorable in their matching outfits, something Dominic didn’t care for, but Victoria loved it. The babies stayed with Dominic while they went shopping. Jackie met the ladies at a boutique, where unbeknownst to Victoria, dresses where already laid out for her to choose from. After they picked out the perfect dresses they headed to the beauty salon for waxing, facials, manicures and pedicures. Once they were finished at the salon, they headed to Phillips for lunch. Victoria got home in enough time to play with the triplets for a couple of hours before having to get dressed to meet Dominic for dinner.
Once Victoria was dressed for dinner, she looked at herself in the mirror and was really happy with the weight she lost since the pregnancy. Taking one last look, she hoped Dominic would be please. The babies were at their grandparent’s house with the nanny; Victoria was confident that they were in good hands. She slipped on her stiletto heels and descended the stairs when she heard the doorbell ring.
“Good evening Ms. Hart, I’m here to take you to meet Mr. Moretti.”
“Give me one second and I’ll be ready.” Victoria walked back into the house, to grab her purse and cell phone a
nd was ready to go. While heading to the destination she received a call from her office stating that there had been a break-in and they had notified the police. “Shit!” She said softly.
“Excuse me, I need to make one stop before going to the restaurant.” The driver looked at Victoria confused, but complied. She tried to call Jackie but her phone went to straight to voicemail. She texted a message that there was a problem at the office, but not to worry she was going to go by and check on it before going to dinner.
CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
Anna sat in the parking lot of the Melton center and wondered why Mark had come there. She had been following him for several days trying to figure out what he was up to and if she could convince him to get back with her. Mark was in the building for an extremely long time so Anna decided to go into the building to see where he might’ve gone. She walked over to the guard’s desk but no one was there; she looked at directory of businesses located in that building when she spotted Bouvier and Hart. She scanned the other businesses she couldn’t imagine, which company he was meeting with. Huhh, this is impossible. I’ll never be able to figure out where he went. She thought as she walked towards the exit, deciding to go home.
Just as she was about to exit the building, she saw Victoria walk through the door. She quickly turned to avoid Victoria seeing her. Anna noticed how beautifully dressed she was and wondered who she was meeting in the office building. “Oh hell no, I know she’s not meeting Mark.” She waited for Victoria to go up in the elevator before looking at the directory to see what floor her company was located. She walked towards the elevator and hit the up button.
*****
Victoria walked into her office and noticed that it was extremely quiet. “Where is the security and the police?” she said softly as she rounded the receptionist desk and headed towards her office. She noticed the light on and walked in slowly. She was already standing in her office before, she noticed Mark sitting on the sofa with a smirk on his face. She looked into his eyes and could only see a cold void in his stare.