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

by Diana Hoffman

  "Mmm, damn Nic."

  Oh, her body was gripping his dick so tightly, he knew he wasn't going to last as long as he normally did. But truthfully he had been worked up from the moment he saw her standing in the kitchen. His dick had started hurting, he was getting so hard.

  Victoria leaned down to kiss him as she felt the scalp tingling sensation and she started to orgasm.

  "Oh, Nic...Nic, ugh," she mumbled as her body shook, and her eyes rolled back.

  Nic held his wife's back tighter, squeezing her soft breasts against his chest, while he pushed deep inside her and came.

  After a few moments, Victoria finally spoke. "Damn, that was...it was...," she said, searching for the right word.

  "Astounding, mind-blowing, incredible and a million other adjectives that my brain is too tired to think of."

  "Exactly," Victoria huffed out, a little out of breath from their workout.

  "I'm going to be a father," Nic said, more to himself than her. He still couldn't believe it. He had wanted it...the night he threw out her pills, but fuck that wasn't that long ago. He had to thank his father for his good little swimmers he thought with a smirk.

  "Everything is going to change for us. Or at least that's what people say," Victoria said.

  "I'm ready for it," Nic said, praying that he really was and that the dark cloud he was feeling would go away for good.

  Victoria stared at the computer screen. She knew that Nic and Marianna might be against it, but she really did want to take some online classes...and who knows, maybe go back to work. And it wasn't that she didn't appreciate a break from her ten straight years of working, but it still felt awkward to not have to report somewhere at a certain time. She knew taking care of a family could be a full-time job in itself, but it never hurt anyone to still take a few business classes.

  Besides, a small part of her did miss putting in an honest day's work. She was sure she was crazy, because many of the women she knew would probably think her life was a dream. And it was...she had to admit. Nic was all that she could have imagined and more as a husband. He still carried the same edge as a business man that frightened and turned her on, but he also was more loving and caring than ever. And he smiled. Not the huge cheesy grins, but he did manage genuine smiles for her every morning and every night. Yes, she did have a wonderful life. But she was confident that her husband would be understanding and would accept any decision she made regarding furthering her education.

  Victoria turned off the computer and walked into the kitchen to wash off some dishes she had purchased the day before, when out of the corner of her eye she saw something and screamed. She quickly covered her mouth and ducked down behind the counter. Then she heard a small tap, and she looked over the counter top to find Detective Marsh staring at her, tapping his keys on the sliding glass doors leading out to their patio.

  Victoria immediately righted herself and walked over to the door. She slid it open only enough to speak to him.

  "Detective Marsh, what are you doing in my back yard?"

  "Oh, is this the back yard...I had no idea," he said in his smug voice. "Nic home?"

  "No."

  "I'll wait for him."

  "Well, have fun out there," Victoria said, closing the door, right as Marsh stuck his hand through and pushed it back open.

  "I'll wait inside, if you don't mind," he said, pushing his body through the door. Marsh looked around and then pulled a piece of paper out of his back pocket. "Do you know what this is?" he said, waving it in Victoria's face.

  "No."

  "It's a search warrant for this house."

  Victoria didn't know what to do. There was nothing that she knew of that Nic shouldn't have in their house. She decided to call Nic to warn him about Marsh.

  She turned to leave the kitchen when she heard Marsh speak.

  "I wouldn't go warning him if I were you...your phones are tapped and that wouldn't look good for you."

  Was he bluffing? Victoria turned back around. "I was going to the bathroom, if you don't mind. And why are our phones tapped."

  "Sure you were," Marsh stated flatly. "And that's classified."

  Victoria placed her hands on her hips. "But maybe I should call him. Because if you're going to search our house, he needs to be here," Victoria said.

  "Nah, I'm not going to check your house. Nic's too smart to keep anything here, am I right?"

  "I don't know what you're talking about."

  "Sure you don't. Like you don't know that Nic had ties to a criminal underground. Or that he sold weapons illegally, along with other unauthorized technology. And that he killed people."

  "That's not stuff that my husband would have been involved in," Victoria said. She really didn't know what else to say, but she knew Marsh was smart. He was probably keeping a mental record of everything she said to use against her.

  Marsh continued to stare at her. His eyes raked over her body again in that dirty, lustful gaze that she hated. Like he was imagining what she looked like underneath her clothes. Luckily she had on more than a robe like the last time she was with him, but just barely. She had opted for a pair of shorts and a tank top due to the heat and cleaning their massive house.

  "Every time I see you, you seem to do better and better. One moment you're working at Calamity's Bar and Grill, the next he has you staying at some swanky hotel, and now you're here in this large house with a pool and everything. You must be doing something right," he said, grinning at her.

  Victoria narrowed her eyes at him. She couldn't stand this cocky asshole! She knew what he was insinuating and she refused to bite.

  Instead, she walked over the sink and started loading their dishwasher with the new dishes. She heard Marsh move around the counter and stand closer to her. Victoria just decided the best thing to do would be to ignore him until Nic came home, which would hopefully be soon.

  Victoria saw him shuffle through the baby magazines that she had left on the counter. Fuck.

  "So...he finally put a bun in the oven. How far along are you?"

  "None of your business," Victoria replied, not bothering to look at him.

  "You know," he started, standing awfully close to her, "Nic and I aren't so different. I mean, granted I'm an upstanding, law-abiding citizen, and he's a criminal who sold illegal material to the scum of the earth...but I like to think we have similar taste, you know?"

  Victoria decided to just ignore him. She rinsed out more dishes then loaded them into the dishwasher.

  "Who knows, maybe you and I would have gotten together under different circumstances."

  Victoria rolled her eyes, but tensed when she felt him lean closer to her.

  "I mean, who knows, it could have been my kid you're carrying," Marsh whispered as he twirled one of her curls through his finger.

  Victoria quickly swung around to glare at him, slinging soapy water from a cup that splattered onto his dress shirt.

  "Shit!" he said, as he scooted backwards and wiped the water from his clothing.

  "You make one more comment to me like that, and so help me I'll tell my husband and he will kick your pathetic ass!" Victoria warned, pointing her finger at him.

  Marsh chuckled as he grabbed a paper towel and blotted at the water stain seeping into his shirt and tie. "That wasn't very nice, Victoria."

  "Fuck you."

  Nic was pulling into their neighborhood, when he noticed a rental car parked awkwardly on their street. He had been involved in his old lifestyle too long to look at things like that as coincidence. He pulled up beside the car, and noticed it was empty. He got out and peeked inside. He saw a blue file sitting on the seat and at the bottom of the file written in ink was Nicolas Andretti IV.

  Goddamn that asshole. What the fuck did Marsh want?!

  Nic got back into his car and pulled into his driveway. He got out and entered the house, trying to calm his temper. He walked into the kitchen to find Marsh staring at Victoria. When Marsh finally noticed him, he took a noticeable st
ep back from Victoria.

  "Nic!" Victoria yelled, as she ran over to hug him. He returned her hug tightly while keeping his eyes on Marsh. After a few seconds of a stare down, Nic looked at his wife and kissed her. "Hey, baby."

  He then turned to Marsh. "What the fuck do you want?"

  "That's no way to greet an old friend," Marsh smiled back.

  "Since you're not a friend of mine, get the fuck out of my house. You have no jurisdiction here," Nic said, holding onto Victoria.

  Victoria was confused. She looked back and forth between Nic and Marsh. "But he said he had a search warrant," Victoria stated.

  "He lied," Nic stated coolly, never removing his eyes from Marsh. "Now get the fuck off my property before I forget you're a cop."

  Marsh stared at Nic, but decided not to call his bluff. He didn't want to push his luck since technically he was there on his forced vacation.

  He walked towards the door, but turned to look at Nic. "You may think just because they have some snot nosed kid from the FBI on your case, who doesn't know his asshole from a hole in the wall, that I've given up. I haven't...and I won't."

  As soon as Marsh's foot crossed the threshold, Nic slammed the door.

  Nic turned to look at Victoria.

  "Nic...shit, I'm sorry. What an asshole," Victoria said, shaking her head in disbelief. That prick Marsh just lied to her. She felt like a fool. "I got nervous and a little scared that he was going to try to cause problems at your office, so I let him stay here instead."

  "Are you okay?" Nic asked, rolling up his sleeves. He was so fucking sick of Marsh. There had been numerous times in the past when he had wanted to take that nosey fuck out, but he knew that would draw too much attention. Killing cops wasn't really his thing, but he would have loved to make an exception for Marsh.

  "Yes, I'm fine," Victoria answered. She had thought about telling him about Marsh's comment to her, but she didn't want to make it worse. No matter how much of a jerk he was, he was still a cop. "Nic, why is he bothering us all the way out here?"

  "Because he's an asshole and he can't let go of a ten year grudge against me. If he shows back up here, call me and call the police," Nic told her, as he kissed her again and then went upstairs to take a shower before dinner.

  Victoria leaned against the counter. She wasn't sure if he was upset with her or not, but she would make sure to be more careful from now on.

  Click...BANG!

  "Fuck!!" Nic shouted, as he raised up in bed. He quickly glanced around the dark room and noticed he had startled Victoria from her sleep.

  "Nic!" Victoria screamed, pushing the covers from her body and moving closer to her husband. "Nic, what's wrong?"

  Nic couldn't say anything. He just sat there, sweating and trying to compose himself. Victoria was trying to grab onto him, but he was holding her at an arm's length. He couldn't believe he shouted like that, all because of a nightmare. How pathetic.

  "Are you okay?" Victoria asked, worried.

  Nic swung his legs off the side of the bed and rested his face in his hands. "Yes, I'm fine. Go back to bed, baby."

  Victoria knew that this was his way of shutting her out. She watched as he stood up, pulled on some workout pants and walked to the door.

  "Where are you going?" she asked.

  He didn't bother turning around. "I need some fresh air."

  Nic quickly jogged downstairs and out the front door. The cool night air felt good against his sweating skin. He closed his eyes and plopped down on the cold brick steps. He needed to get his shit together.

  A few seconds later, he heard the front door open. Victoria walked down the steps and turned so that she was facing him. He looked up at her as she sat down on his lap.

  She caressed his face in her tiny hands. "Nic, are you sure you're okay? You know you can tell me anything."

  Not this. He just couldn't. She didn't need to be stressed out anyway.

  "I'm fine, baby. Let's go back to bed," he said as he stood, holding her in his arms. He smiled when she giggled and wrapped her arms around him, burying her face into his neck.

  But then she pulled back so that she could see his face. "I almost forgot...you never carried me over the threshold!"

  "I didn't? Well, I'll make up for that now," Nic said, kissing his wife's sweet plump lips and carrying her back into the house and upstairs to bed. He gently laid her down and removed what little bit of clothing they had been wearing.

  The moment he entered her body, he immediately relaxed. Yes, this was what he wanted to think about when he fell back asleep. His wife and his child. That's all he needed and all he wanted to dream about.

  Even after their lengthy lovemaking session, he held her close in his arms until she fell back to sleep—never wanting to let her go. It was early Saturday morning, and Victoria was trying a new color for the baby room for the third time. Nothing seemed to fit...but not knowing the sex of the baby affected her choice as well.

  "Shit," she whispered to herself when the light sea green color she applied to the wall dried darker than she had hoped. She was about to call Nic out of his study for his opinion, when she heard the doorbell ring.

  The sound startled her for a second, because they definitely didn't have many visitors, and Nic preferred it that way. Actually, none if you didn't count the different maintenance men.

  Victoria trotted downstairs and looked through the oval glass of the wooden door. She saw a tall, nice looking older black man. She opened the door.

  The man looked down at her and instantly smiled. "Hi. I live a few houses down, and I just wanted to welcome you and your husband into the neighborhood. I saw a moving truck a few weeks ago, and my apologies for just now coming, but I wanted to wait until you got settled," he said, as he extended his hand to her.

  Victoria immediately smiled back, taking in his warm eyes and pleasant smile. She offered her hand as well. "Thank you so much. I'm Victoria Andretti."

  "Nice to meet you Victoria. I'm Jackson Branson."

  "Would you like to come in?" Victoria asked, making room for him to enter.

  "Are you sure, I don't want to impose. You look like you're busy," he said, giving her a once-over with her paint splattered clothing. She realized how crazy she must look.

  "Not at all. Plus, I need an excuse to take a break. Let me call my husband," Victoria replied. "Nic, I--," she turned to yell, but quickly quieted when she saw her husband standing right behind her.

  Nic had been standing at the top of the stairs when he heard his wife talking to someone. The guy's voice didn't sound familiar, but Nic still didn't trust many people. The moment Victoria invited the stranger in, Nic had quietly begun descending the stairs to make his presence known.

  "Nic," he said, offering his hand to the stranger.

  "Jackson. Nice to meet you." The two gave each other a firm handshake, never taking their eyes off one another. Victoria inwardly groaned. Men...always sizing each other up.

  But then Jackson turned and glanced around. "This is a really beautiful home. I always wanted to get a peek inside. Just the two of you?"

  Victoria patted her tummy. "Well, we're expecting, so soon to be three," she smiled.

  "Congratulations...that's wonderful. My grandbaby was born not too long ago. 'My beautiful handful' is what I like to call her," Jackson chuckled.

  "She sounds absolutely adorable," Victoria said, grabbing hold of Nic's hand.

  "She is...but I'm biased," Jackson stated, smiling back at her.

  Victoria glanced behind her and then turned back to Jackson. "I'm sorry, we only have one sofa right now. I've fallen behind on getting that stuff," she admitted. "But please, have a seat. Would you like something to drink?"

  Jackson walked over to the couch and sat down. "Oh, sure. Coffee, please. If it's not too much trouble."

  "Of course not. Nic?" Victoria said, turning to her husband.

  "I'm good, baby."

  When Victoria walked out, Nic decided to question this stranger a l
ittle further. He couldn't help it. His old lifestyle made him wary of people who came claiming nothing but good intentions.

  "So...what line of work are you in?" Nic asked, leaning against the wall.

  "I'm a Commander with the U.S. Navy SEAL program. Used to be an active SEAL myself, before age started creeping up on me. How about you, Nic? What do you do for a living?"

  Both men stared at each other for a moment. Something about knowing Jackson's background made Nic uneasy.