Seven Days: A young black woman makes a deal with a mob boss.

by Diana Hoffman

"I needed that," Victoria whispered.

  Later that night, Victoria dialed Nic as she lay in bed. She twisted a curl around her finger until he answered his cell phone.

  "Hey baby," Nic said groggily into her ear.

  "Hey you. Did I wake you?" Victoria asked. It was only eleven, and Nic usually never went to sleep early.

  "No. I just dozed off, but I wasn't in the bed. I'm at my desk," he told her.

  Of course he was. Where else would he be? He couldn't possibly be like most human beings and sleep in a comfortable bed.

  "You sound sleepy, let me let you go, and I'll talk to you tomorrow."

  "No. I'm awake and I want to hear your voice," Nic said.

  Victoria giggled. "I'm not used to this...more romantic side of you."

  "Neither am I," he admitted.

  "I like it though."

  "Do you? What else do you like?" he asked in his low, seductive voice that drove her crazy.

  "Nope, not going there. I'm in your mom's house, Nic," she whispered in the phone. "I'm not about to talk dirty to you."

  She heard him chuckle, then sigh.

  "You okay?"

  "Yeah, I'm fine. Did my mom show you around?"

  "Yes she did...and I learned a lot about you." She laughed when she heard him groan. "Don't worry, it was all good. Your mom wouldn't dare say anything bad about HER Nic," Victoria mocked. "She really is an amazing woman though. Don't know what the hell happened to you."

  "Watch it," Nic teased.

  "I met Victoria today."

  "Ah, Victoria. She's a looker, isn't she?"

  "Yes. You are full of surprises."

  "I wish you were full of me," Nic growled.

  "Nic! Stop it!" Victoria yelled, then lowered her voice, while she peered around the room. "Your mom could be listening."

  "If my mom is in your room right now while you're trying to sleep, then I have bigger problems than I thought I did," Nic joked.

  "Eww, you are so gross. Okay, I'm hanging up. Good night. I love you."

  "Good night, baby. And I promise to have everything settled soon. I love you," he said. Victoria clicked off the phone and stared up at the ceiling. Settled? Was that code for someone had to die for things to be back to normal? She couldn't lie to herself, she would be glad when this whole thing was over and behind them—but at what cost? She hoped it turned out to be nothing more than some gang members trying to scare someone they had seen enter the restaurant. Yes, that was what she was hoping for. She squeezed her pillow, wishing it were Nic, and closed her eyes.

  Poor Jimmy. He got the raw end of this hideout deal. He was stuck in a house with two women who did nothing more than talk about Nic and girlie things. Most of the time they would forget he was even there. It wasn't until Victoria asked him why he was forced to stay here with them and was not with his family that he got a chance to explain his presence.

  "My wife and kids are fine. I talk to them several times a day. The reason I'm here is because there aren't many people that know where Nic's mom lives. Something similar to the shooting you experienced happened to her a few years ago, so Nic moved her here."

  "You don't regret having to live here," Victoria asked Marianna.

  "No, not at all. I love living here. I always hated the city. Too crowded and too much noise. My husband loved it though. He wouldn't have wanted to live anywhere else. But it was never my scene," Marianna said, pulling her wavy, raven hair into a bun.

  Victoria's phone began to vibrate. She glanced down at it and didn't recognize the number. But she decided to answer anyway, hoping that it was Nic calling from another phone. "Excuse me," she said, getting up from the table.

  "Hello?" she asked, walking through the sliding glass doors of the kitchen and out into the back yard.

  "Victoria? Hello, it's Paul Marconi," she heard him say.

  "Paul! Hi, how are you?"

  She heard him chuckle a little, no doubt because of the surprise and enthusiasm in her voice. "I'm fine, Victoria. I actually want to know how you are. I heard about everything that happened. I'm so sorry," he said.

  "Oh, yeah. I'm okay now. It was just—shocking, I guess."

  "I can only imagine. I hate you had to go through that, and I'm so glad that you weren't hurt," he said.

  "Thank you," Victoria said. Then she waited, but Paul didn't say anything.

  "Is everything okay?" she asked him.

  "Well, I was wondering if you could answer some questions for me and then perhaps do me a huge favor. I hate to even ask this of you, but--"

  "Of course! Anything, Paul. After everything you've done for me, of course you can ask me."

  "Thank you, Victoria. This will mean so much to me. I guess, firstly, I know this will be difficult for you, but is there any reason you would think my son is involved in the attack on you?"

  Oh, Victoria didn't want to be in the middle of this. But she owed Paul big time, and she would never want to go back on her word with him. She wasn't totally convinced it was Sonny's doing, but she wasn't totally unconvinced either.

  "Um...I mean, Sonny and Nic don't have the best relationship—well neither do Sonny and I for that matter. I—I never had a reason to suspect him of trying to do something like that. I mean, well, I hate to talk about your son, Paul."

  "I know, but he's no angel. I understand, but I'm just trying to figure out what's going on. Please continue, I won't be offended," Paul said.

  Victoria was about to speak again when Jimmy walked outside. He gave her a strange look. "Who are you talking to, Vicky?" he asked.

  "Paul Marconi," she mouthed.

  Jimmy narrowed his eyes at her. "You need to hang up. Now."

  "Jimmy, I--,"

  "Now, Victoria. This is serious. Let Nic and I handle this. Better yet, hand me the phone, I'll talk to him," Jimmy suggested, reaching for her cell phone.

  Victoria moved it out of his reach and covered the mouthpiece. "No! Jimmy, when I had no one, Paul was there for me. I'm not about to turn my back on him now. If Nic wants to be mad at me, I'll deal with it, but I'm going to talk to Paul about this."

  "Fine, but I have to tell Nic that you were talking to him," Jimmy said. He turned his back and grumbled something else as he walked back inside.

  Victoria sighed. She knew Jimmy was just doing what he thought was best for her. She should be grateful, but Paul meant a lot to her too. She placed the phone back to her ear.

  "Paul? I'm sorry about that."

  "No, I'm sorry. I guess I'm causing problems for you," he exhaled.

  "It's fine. I can handle it. Um, to finish what we were talking about, I never got any vibe from Sonny that he'd ever hurt me, but he did do and say things to get under my skin. And Nic's."

  "Like what?"

  "Well, the very first night I met him, he had come to Nic's for something, and ended up betting Nic in a pool game. The stakes—well, the stakes being me and Sonny's car," Victoria admitted, still feeling shame from that night.

  Victoria could no longer hear Paul breathing. "Paul?"

  "I'm here, Victoria. Please continue."

  "Okay. Well, he lost the game and seemed really pissed. And, well, he invited me to this party, and I thought he was finally being nice to me, but it turned out he did it to get under Nic's skin. He had lied to me and said Nic wouldn't be there, but the whole time he knew that Nic would. And—well, he did say that he was glad to know using me got to Nic so bad. And then that was the last I heard or saw of him," Victoria finished.

  After a few minutes of silence, Paul finally spoke. "I'm sorry my son has been such a troublemaker for you. I just don't understand how he thinks sometimes."

  Victoria chewed on her bottom lip. She felt so bad for Paul. He didn't deserve to be going through this.

  "Victoria?" he asked.

  "Yes?"

  "Do you think my son is capable of something like that?"

  Victoria did not want to answer that. Because in all honesty, she wasn't sure, and that might offend
Paul.

  "Paul, I—I'm not sure, to be totally honest with you."

  "But Nic thinks he is," Paul stated.

  "Yes."

  Paul sighed again. "Victoria, I really hate to ask you to do this, but if I could cash in on a favor, I'd greatly appreciate it. You see, I know my son isn't perfect. Far from it, and as the years have passed, we've grown apart. A lot. But he's still my son. He's the only thing I have left from my wife. And if she were alive, she would want me to protect him in any way I can. I love Sonny, even if he's caused me so many problems. It's just the two of us now. I asked him if he caused this, and he looked me in the face and said no. And that's all I can ask of him. So, I guess the favor I'm asking of you is—could you talk to Nic for me? I would myself, but I can't seem to get through to his phone, and going over there isn't the smartest thing to do in my position at the moment. So, if you could just tell him that I know he's angry, and has every right to be. I would be too, were I in his place. But if my son is a target, I can't let that happen and I will defend Sonny by any means necessary. Do you understand what I mean, Victoria?" Paul asked.

  Victoria's mouth was dry and she couldn't breathe. Was it really coming down to this? Her palms began to sweat. "Paul, I—I..."

  "I would never consider hurting you, Victoria. You have nothing to worry about. But I can't let Nic go after my son. I just can't. I'm hoping that it won't come to that, which is why I'd like you to speak to Nic for me. Would you?"

  "Ye--es," Victoria croaked out. She quickly cleared her throat. "Yes, I'll talk to him."

  "Thank you. And I've kept you away for a long time, so I'll let you go. Thanks Victoria, and goodnight," Paul said.

  "You're welcome, and goodnight," Victoria whispered, and then clicked off her phone. She took a huge breath of the cold night air before she walked back into the house.

  "What did he want?" Jimmy asked, leaning against the counter.

  "He said he asked Sonny if he had anything to do with the shooting the other night. Sonny told him no. And he wants me to let Nic know that and that he will defend his son if Nic goes after him," Victoria said. She sat down at the table rubbing her cell phone in her hands. "I guess I should call Nic now."

  Victoria spent the rest of the night trying to convince Nic to meet with Paul Marconi. After a few idle threats and then sweet talking, Nic agreed to at least speak with Paul. Victoria felt as if some steps in the right direction were being taken.

  "Nic, our contact finally came up for air, but he said he didn't know who did the shooting. But he can guarantee that it wasn't gang related," Antonio reported, as he removed his coat and sat down in front of Nic's desk.

  Nic leaned back in his chair. "No shit, so now we're still at square one. Marsh wouldn't have been investigating if it was just gang related. He's too big for that."

  Raymond entered. "Mr. Marconi is waiting downstairs for you, Nic. Want me to bring him up?"

  "Thanks Raymond. And no, I'll meet him down there."

  When Nic reached the bottom step, the two men quickly shook hands. Remy, Paul's right hand man was standing in the distance. Raymond stood opposite of him staring him down. Remy cleared his throat but Raymond didn't flinch.

  "Would you like him to come in with us?" Nic asked Paul, glancing over at Remy.

  "No, that won't be necessary. I trust you," Paul said, as he followed Nic into his billiard room. Nic closed the door and offered Paul a drink.

  "Thank you," Paul said, taking a glass of Scotch. Nic didn't drink, but he leaned against the pool table waiting for Paul to make the first move.

  Paul took a small gulp. "So, Nic. First, I want to offer my sincerest, heartfelt apologies for what happened to Victoria."

  "You have nothing to apologize for, if you had nothing to do with it," Nic dead-panned.

  Paul exhaled. "I see. Well, down to business then. I asked Sonny if he was in charge of the hit on Victoria and he said no. That's all I can do is ask him. And since he told me no, I have to believe him."

  Nic continued to stare at Paul.

  "Nic, I don't want it to come to this, but if you target my son...I'm going to come back after you."

  Nic slowly nodded his head. "Paul, you do what you feel you have to do. And I'll do what I feel I have to."

  "Your father wouldn't want this, Nic."

  "My father's dead."

  Paul shook his head again and swallowed the last of the Scotch in his glass, then placed it on a table. "Well that's that. Thank you for meeting with me," he said to Nic.

  "My pleasure," Nic replied.

  Paul turned and walked out of the billiard room. A few seconds later, Antonio walked in. "Everything okay, Nic?"

  "Find Sonny Marconi," Nic said, as he walked around Antonio and out of the room.

  It had been a full week since Victoria had seen Nic. Although she adored Marianna, she was ready to go back to the city. Back to Nic, her job and her life. And honestly, she was going a bit stir crazy waiting around the house. Jimmy, for the most part, sat around watching TV and babysitting her, while Marianna would work on her garden.

  The day before Victoria had followed an old stable hand around, while he tended to the horses, but today seemed to be passing by so slowly. Nic hadn't called and she hated the fact that she had none of her books to read. She really needed to get out of the house for a while.

  Victoria had just finished loading the dishes into the dishwasher when Jimmy announced that he was heading upstairs to take a quick shower. She noticed his keys sitting on the kitchen counter. She bit her bottom lip then looked outside at the garden. Marianna seemed preoccupied with her plants. She turned to glance down the hallway, and she didn't hear Jimmy, so she assumed he was already in the bathroom upstairs. She walked over to the counter and quickly picked up his keys. One little visit into town couldn't hurt, right? She'd only be gone just a few minutes, and plus, she wanted to surprise Marianna by cooking tonight. So she was totally justified in picking up some groceries for dinner.

  'No harm,' Victoria thought, as she twirled the key ring around her finger and hurriedly exited the house. She knew this would piss Jimmy off, since he said she wasn't allowed to go anywhere without him, but he'd learn to get over it.

  Plus, according to Jimmy, this town was so small, it's not like anything would happen to her. She finally pulled into a small parking lot and hopped out. She walked down the main street, looking at the old fashioned stores and antique shops. It looked like time had just stood still for this town. She envied some of the people walking by in comfortable clothes, while she kept pulling down this incredibly short, off the shoulder, light yellow dress Mina had packed. But at least her feet weren't hurting, since she chose to wear her trusty Converse. She was sure Mina would have fainted seeing her shoe choice with this dress, and for some reason that brought a small smile to her face.

  Victoria finally made her way back to the grocery store. She quickly grabbed a few items, and walked back to Jimmy's car. A large black van had parked so close to the car, she could just barely squeeze between it and the door. "Asshole," she mumbled to herself as she stuck the keys into the car lock.

  "Miss, do you have the time?" a voice said from the van behind her. Not bothering to turn around, Victoria reached into her purse to look at the time on her cell phone, when a large hand covered her mouth and yanked her backwards into the van.

  Victoria let out a muffled scream, while her arms and legs flailed. She heard the door slam shut right as a damp cloth was placed over her nose and mouth. Soon she became dizzy and everything faded to black.

  Jimmy's hair was still wet when he came downstairs. He looked around and everything seemed so quiet. Too quiet. He walked into the kitchen and opened the sliding glass doors leading out to the back yard. Marianna was still sitting on the ground, tending to her garden. He scanned the yard quickly, but he didn't see Victoria.

  "Marianna, where's Victoria?" he asked.

  She looked up and wiped her forehead. "She was in the house a few minu
tes ago. She may have gone up to her room."

  Jimmy nodded and walked upstairs. "Victoria?" he said, as he knocked on her door. After a few moments of silence, he opened the door, but she wasn't in there either. Jimmy scratched his head as he walked back downstairs and into the kitchen. He was about to check the stables, thinking she could be looking at the horses when he noticed his keys were missing.

  "Fuck!" Jimmy shouted, as he ran to the door. His car was gone. He pulled out his cell phone and dialed her number. It rang and then went to voicemail. "Shit," he groaned, as he dialed her number again and again, each time getting a few rings and then her voicemail.