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

by Diana Hoffman

  "I just got word that Victoria was missing. Please, PLEASE tell me that has nothing to do with you."

  "That has nothing to do with me," Sonny answered flatly.

  "Are you telling me the truth? I can only protect you if you are honest with me."

  "I'm telling you the truth, Pop. I didn't even know she was missing. Nic must be a wreck, huh?" Sonny said.

  "I'm sure he thinks you are behind this," Paul sighed. "I'll meet you in a safe place so we can figure out what our next step will be. I've already warned him about targeting you."

  "Maybe Victoria ran away. I wouldn't blame her, he's a little crazy," Sonny said with a laugh.

  "It's not funny. She didn't run away, and she doesn't deserve this. If it weren't for our disagreement regarding you, I'd be out there helping him look for her."

  Sonny scoffed. "Pop, I'm sure it's nothing. And when Victoria turns up, he'll probably be so glad to have her back, that none of this will matter," Sonny said, as if he were bored with the whole situation.

  Paul exhaled. "Obviously son, you've never been in love. I would have ripped down the fucking walls of every building and house searching for your mother if something like this happened. And then, anyone responsible would no longer be breathing. You don't think Nic feels the same? Trust me, he does, and this is going to get worse before it gets better, I'm afraid."

  On the plane with Nic were Antonio, Raymond and his friend, Damon. Damon was a huge guy, ex-Navy SEAL who cashed in big checks with bounty hunting. Nic had employed him several times over the years. He was a trustworthy guy who could kill a man with his bare hands, and proudly bragged about that fact.

  The four of them stepped off the small plane and into the vehicle that was waiting for them. Antonio glanced over at Nic. He seemed calm, but Antonio couldn't be sure. Nic never really showed much emotion. At least not to him, but Antonio was freaking out. He felt constricted in the bullet proof vest he was wearing. And the handgun he held felt like it weighed a ton.

  "Stop the car," Antonio whispered. They all ignored him. "Stop the car, I'm going to be sick," Antonio yelled, as he opened his car door. Raymond slammed on the brakes. Antonio hopped out and vomited on the ground. He quickly wiped his mouth, and got back into the car.

  "Sorry," he whispered to Nic. But Nic said nothing. He just rolled two bullets in between his fingers and stared forward through the windshield.

  A few minutes later, they pulled up to an abandoned house, hidden from the street. Jimmy was there, waiting. They all got out of the vehicles and separated, surrounding the house.

  The American was leaning against the wall, now that his nerves weren't so frazzled. But the Irishman was pacing back and forth, checking his phone every few minutes, to make sure it was still working. Apparently the person who had given them this false information had not called back, nor had they shown up.

  Victoria ignored the rumbling in her stomach, as she thought about dying in a place like this. Death had never crossed her mind much, but now it seemed to be surrounding her. She just couldn't believe this had happened—or was happening. Things like this just didn't seem to happen in real life. People didn't just kidnap you off the street. She had read about it, seen it in movies or in the news, but it still seemed very distant from her life. Her train of thought was interrupted by someone yelling downstairs. She jumped and screamed when she heard a gunshot.

  "Go see what that was!" the Irishman screamed at the American.

  The American went flying out of the door right before she heard another gun shot.

  "Nic!" Victoria shrieked, hopping up from the cot and running for the door. The Irishman grabbed her around the waist and held her tightly against his chest. She felt his breath quicken and the cold metal tip of a gun press against her temple. Victoria shut her eyes tightly, praying that she would make it out of here alive. "Oh God," she said, as she heard the door fling open.

  A second later, Nic came through the door. He saw the man holding the gun to Victoria's head. Her eyes were closed.

  "Victoria?" Nic said, keeping his gaze and gun on the man.

  Her watery eyes immediately opened and her heart skipped a beat.

  "Drop it!" the man holding her yelled. Nic kept his gun trained firmly on him, while the other guys stood to the side of Nic, aiming their guns in kidnapper's direction as well.

  "I mean it, or I'll put a bullet through her fucking head!" he warned in an Irish accent.

  Nic slowly lowered his weapon. "Lower your guns," Nic said to the group behind him, as he kept his eyes on the culprit. They all obeyed. "Victoria?" Nic asked.

  "Y-yes?" she choked out.

  "I love you," Nic said, steadying his hand.

  "I—I lo-ove you too," Victoria said, shaking uncontrollably.

  "You trust me?"

  As soon as Victoria mumbled yes, she saw Nic quickly raise his gun as a loud pop sounded throughout the large room, and in an instant, something whizzed past her head. She squeezed her eyes shut as a wet, warm liquid was splattered against the side of her face and neck. The man behind her released her and she heard a thump.

  Everything seemed to slow down. She couldn't hear anything, as her body wilted to the hardwood floor. She couldn't catch her breath. She felt arms wrap around her. She wasn't sure if it was Nic or not, but she wasn't going to open her eyes to find out.

  "Are you okay?" she heard someone ask, as they pulled the duct tape from her hands. Victoria didn't say anything. She couldn't breathe.

  "Victoria! Are you okay?" she heard again. She slowly opened her eyes to see Nic hovering a few inches from her face. She felt so dizzy as she glanced to the side and saw the Irishman...or what was left of his head lying on the ground beside her. She immediately started screaming at the top of her lungs, while trying to wipe the blood from her body.

  "Oh my God!! Get it off me, get it off me!!" Victoria cried, kicking and pushing Nic away, still struggling to remove the blood. She looked over at the body again, which caused her to scream hysterically.

  "Calm down baby, don't look at him, just look at me," Nic said, trying to turn her head away from the dead body. But Victoria kept pushing his hands away. Nic finally grabbed her tightly and lifted her up from the floor. "Ssh, baby. Calm down," he whispered.

  Victoria was mumbling unintelligibly in Nic's ear, as he carried her out of the room. When they reached outside, he placed Victoria in the back seat of the black Sedan and closed the door. "Jimmy, can you help Damon get rid of the bodies and evidence, and meet us at this hotel," Nic said, handing him the address. "I think we should drive back instead of fly, to give everyone a chance to...relax, before we get back to the city."

  Jimmy nodded and glanced through the dark tinted window. "Is she going to be okay?" he asked.

  "I don't know," Nic answered honestly. "Antonio, Raymond, you guys come with us," he said as he hopped in the back seat with Victoria.

  Antonio received the keys for all of the rooms, and passed them out. Victoria quickly snatched the key from him and marched past everyone and straight into her and Nic's room, slamming the door behind her. She hadn't said a word to anyone since she had been rescued.

  "Hey Nic, want me to grab you a drink. I think you might need it," Antonio said, looking at the shut door to Nic's room.

  Nic exhaled, "No. And thank you for today. You did well." Antonio gave a small smile as he turned and walked across the street to the closest gas station.

  Nic went into their room and placed the other key card on the counter. He wasn't sure what to say to Victoria. He walked to the bathroom and leaned against the door frame, quietly observing her. She was bending over the sink, washing her hair. It looked as though she were rinsing red dye from her curls.

  He picked up a towel from the rack and tried to wipe the blood from her neck, but she snatched it from him before he could touch her.

  "Vic—"

  "Don't talk to me," she snapped.

  "It will be okay," Nic said.

  She raised up and
glared at him, with tears in her eyes and red water dripping onto her light yellow dress, blending into the permanent blood stains. "With all due fucking respect, it will NOT be okay! I'm washing blood and brains from my hair...it is NOT okay," she croaked out in short breaths.

  Nic continued to stare at her.

  "Will you please get out so I can take a shower?" she asked.

  Nic stood there a few seconds longer, before he turned and left the bathroom. He grabbed his key card and walked out of the room.

  Victoria quickly peeled the dress from her body. The bottom portion of her dress was still a light, soft yellow. But the top half was drenched in red. She placed it in the sink and got into the shower.

  This all seemed like a nightmare. She just wanted to wake up from it. The only dead body she had ever seen was at her great Aunt Cynthia's funeral, who had died when she was a teenager, and even that had freaked her out. Now here she was washing some man's blood from her body. Blood that could have easily been hers, had one thing gone differently. To be alive, she was grateful, but her feelings were all mixed up at the moment. She just wanted to go home and forget about this whole frightening ordeal. She scrubbed and scrubbed until her skin felt raw and she became short of breath. She was so sick of crying, but she could no longer hold it in. She sat down in the shower as the warm water cascaded down on top of her, and she sobbed.

  Nic leaned against the sedan. This whole day had been bittersweet. He was so unbelievably happy that Victoria had not been hurt. He didn't even want to think of his life without her. But now she didn't even want to talk to him. He knew she had every right to be upset with him. He was pissed that he had placed her in this position and he didn't know how to make it better. But one thing he did know, was that this had to be Sonny's doing. It had to be. And when he caught that bastard, Paul's son or not, he was going to torture and kill that fucker.

  Nic was thinking of what he was going to say to Victoria, when his cell phone started vibrating. He looked at the number. "Hey mama, I—yes, she's fine—no, I checked her she's fine. At least physically anyway." Nic sighed, "I know, I know, but it's been a rough day. I promise to call you tomorrow morning and give you an update. Love you and good night."

  Jimmy and Damon pulled up right as he ended the conversation with Marianna. Both of the men were covered in blood, which they tried to hide with jackets.

  "Antonio has your key, he's in room 103. It's not much, but we needed a place that we could enter and exit from the outside," Nic said to Damon. He shook his hand and thanked him for all of his help.

  "Anytime, Nic," Damon said, as he grabbed three bottles of bleach from the back of the car and went to knock on Antonio's door.

  Jimmy closed his door and went to stand beside Nic. "You know I'm truly sorry for taking my eyes off her, even for a few minutes. This all happened because of me," Jimmy said, leaning his head back.

  "No, it happened because of me. You're a true friend, Jimmy. And she's safe now, and that's all that matters."

  Jimmy nodded, but remained silent.

  "She's going to leave me," Nic stated, staring off into the distance.

  "You don't know that. She's just in shock from everything that has happened," Jimmy said, trying to add words of comfort.

  "No. She will, because I don't know how to make this better," Nic quietly said.

  "Yes you do, Nic," Jimmy said, as he walked around to the trunk and removed more bottles of bleach and a small bag. He slammed the trunk shut and returned to stand in front of Nic. "It won't be easy, but I'm sure you'll figure out how to make this better," he said handing Nic the bag, "I picked this up for her on the way. Figured she would need it," he stated, then walked to Antonio's room for his key.

  Nic glanced inside the bag and then watched as his friend disappeared into one of the rooms. He stood there for a few more moments, before he walked toward his room.

  Victoria was sitting on the bed when Nic entered. She was only wearing a small white towel wrapped around her body, and another wrapped around her hair.

  He walked over and sat down beside her on the bed. What he wouldn't give to pull that towel off and fuck her until they were both dead tired. He was sure that could cure this somber mood. He handed her the small bag.

  Victoria reached into the bag and pulled out a white shirt and a pair of pajama pants. No bra or panties, but at this point, she didn't even care. She turned away from him and quickly put them on, knowing no doubt his eyes were on her. When she turned around, he stared at her shirt and gave a small chuckle.

  Victoria glanced down at the shirt. It read: World's Best Mom! in bright blue letters.

  "Sorry, I think that's all he could find around here," Nic said. Had Victoria not been so upset, she might have been able to see the humor in it, but right now, she just couldn't. She sat back down on the bed to put her shoes on.

  "Victoria," Nic said, reaching for her hand.

  "Don't," she said, pulling away as she stood up. "Nic...I can't do this. I may not live a glamorous life, but that's not me anyway. I don't know what I was thinking to even consider this lifestyle," she stated, no longer able to hold it in.

  "Victoria, when we get back to the city, I promise, I'll find out who was behind this, and make sure it will never happen again. I didn't protect you as well as I should have and--"

  "Do you see what I mean? Protect me?! If this was a normal relationship, you wouldn't have to. I want a normal life!" she shouted. "A normal boyfriend or husband who has a normal job, so I can have a normal fam—just normal. I don't want this! My father robbed me of a normal childhood and I'll be Goddamned if I let you rob me of a normal life!" Victoria felt as though she were having a mini breakdown in some hotel in—she didn't even know where the fuck they were. This whole situation shouldn't have happened, and she started getting pissed.

  She pulled the towel from her head, letting her damp curls fall down her back. "Well, at least this time I was worth five hundred grand," Victoria mocked. But instantly she felt guilty for taking such a jab and the look of hurt in his eyes stung her.

  "Just push the knife in further Victoria, as if I don't feel like shit. I know this is all my fault. I—I don't know what else to say other than I'm truly sorry I put you through this. When we get back, I swear I'll make things better. No one will be able to get to you again."

  Victoria stared at him. "So you'll keep me in hiding?"

  "I don't know, I'm still trying to think everything through."

  "Is that what you think I'd want? Is that your definition of normal?" Victoria shook her head. "Nic...it's over."

  "Don't say that. I can make this work, I—"

  "I love you, Nic," Victoria whispered, tears finally spilling over the brim of her eyelids. "So much...but I can't. I'd lose me if I stayed. This isn't just Tiffany's, this is far worse, and I can't handle this. I—I," Victoria couldn't finish. She had to leave. She felt like she was slowly being smothered. "I called Antonio, and he has agreed to take me back home tonight. And don't be mad at him, I begged. I realize things might not be safe, so I'll check into a hotel when I get back." She tried to walk past him but he grabbed her hand.

  "Please don't do this, Victoria. Don't leave me again," he whispered, close to her ear. He just couldn't take it this time. The first time she left was because of what he did and said. This time...she was leaving because of who he was. And that was something that couldn't easily be changed.

  Victoria looked into his apologetic eyes. She would miss him. Her body, her heart...all of her would cry for him, but she just couldn't stay. She stood on her tiptoes and kissed him. She wrapped her hands around his neck, and pressed her body against him as she caressed his tongue with hers.

  Nic wrapped his arms around her waist, as he kissed her back even harder. He had wanted to feel her in his arms for over a week, and now she was. Maybe everything would be better after all. Especially if he could remove her clothes and get to what he desired. What would make both of them feel better. But before he could
pull her pajama bottoms down, she pulled away from him.

  "Goodbye, Nic," she whispered, as she backed up toward the door, still facing him.

  Nic's heart sunk...again. He wasn't sure what to say. Were anymore words even needed? She wanted normal, and that's something he wasn't. He started walking towards her until she held up her hand.

  "No. Just stay away from me...please. When we get back to the city, just stay away," Victoria whispered.

  Nic stopped in his tracks, his heart breaking with every step she took closer to the door. As she opened the door, he had to tell her again, even though he knew it wouldn't stop her. "I love you."

  He watched as she disappeared through the door and quite possibly out of his life forever. The second time around was ten times more painful than the first time she had walked out on him. But he couldn't lose her. Not again. He'd fucking go through hell and back if he had to, and right now—he had to make another move. A move he knew wouldn't be easy, and could change his life forever. But he knew he had to try, because the price of losing Victoria was one he was no longer willing to pay. A checkmate was fast approaching for the old Nic Andretti, and this time it would take much more than a poem to convince his love to risk it all for him.