Laying a Foundation: Bonus volume: Includes series prequel, The Groundbreaking (The Love Under Construction Series) (65 page)

“Babe, you okay?” Nikki asked Tony as he disappeared into the bathroom. He didn’t answer. She wondered what had taken place. She’d heard the car tires squeal, then saw Vic drive away a few minutes later. They were finally alone and the house was quiet.

She stood by the bed with her back to the bathroom door and took off her jeans, throwing them and her lightweight sweater in a pile in the corner. Before she could do anything else, she felt Tony behind her, and he unfastened her bra, took it off of her, and threw it in the pile with her clothes. Then he pulled her underwear down to her feet, and she stepped out of them; they went into the pile too. He turned her to face him, but there was something on his face, something she didn’t recognize. “Babe, what’s wrong?” she asked and leaned in to kiss him.

When her lips touched his, he melted into her, then picked her up and carried her to the bed. Once they were both under the covers, he pressed her face to his chest and held her tighter than she could ever remember. She could hear his heart pounding, and there was a tiny tremor all over his body. “Sweetie? Talk to me. Please?” she begged.

In the lamplight, Tony’s eyes scanned her face slowly, as though he was searching for something. A tiny little voice, barely a whisper, escaped his lips and he said to her, “I’m so afraid.”

Nikki looked down into his face; he truly did look terrified. “Of what, precious?” she asked him, stroking his cheek.

His eyes reddened and he looked as though he was about to cry. “Of tomorrow. Of something happening to you. Of those GoGreen bastards, what they might do to you, to us. Of Dottie finding a way to get between us. Of anyone, anything, that might take what I have now and dash it to pieces, ruin it, snatch it away from me.” He choked back tears and added, “I’m so happy here with you. I’m so afraid it’ll end.” Her heart broke at the frantic look on his face.

“Put your ear right here,” she whispered, patting her chest just above her left breast. Tony rested his head there. “Hear my heart beating?”

“Yeah. It’s so strong,” he whispered back to her, sniffling.

“It is strong. And that beating? It only beats for you. The only way that won’t be true anymore is if somebody makes it stop beating. As long as it continues to beat, it beats for you, love. Only you. If you leave me, it’ll stop, just go silent. I can’t live without you.” Nikki kissed the top of his head, and he wrapped his arms around her and sighed. “I love you, and I’ll love you forever and a day. Until the last star fades,” she sighed into him, and he squeezed her even tighter.

“And I love you too, little girl,” he breathed out, his head on her chest. “I’ll love you forever, until the sun falls out of the sky.”

Tony’s phone rang: Cal. “Yeah,” he answered, groggy and more than a little grumpy.

“Boss, I hate to wake you, but I had to leave. The girls called and said Jenny is sick again. I’m so sorry.”

Tony looked at the clock; one thirty. “Yeah, okay, I’ll cover it. Go on home. Later.” He hit END and turned to Nikki, who’d stirred to see what was going on.

“Cal’s gone; Jenny’s drunk again. I’ve got to go over to the Colufab site and sit until the next shift gets there. Will you be okay?”

“Oh, god, you’re kidding. Yeah, José’s outside. I’ll be fine. You be careful, okay?”

“Will do. Sleep tight, baby,” he told her and kissed her.

“I won’t sleep without you here,” she whispered.

When he’d pulled out of the circular drive, Tony put his window down; José did the same. “I’ve got to go to the Colufab site – the guy watching it had to go home.”

“But, Tony, you won’t have security coverage and . . .”

“I’ll be fine. I’ve got my Ruger. Just keep her safe, okay?”

José nodded in agreement. “That’s my job. But I wish you’d let me call somebody in to watch you . . .”

Tony shook his head. “Not necessary. I’ll be fine.”

José shrugged. “Okay, if you’re sure. You’ll call if you need somebody, right?”

“Of course. You just make sure she’s safe,” Tony said again as he pulled away.

When Tony got to the site, he settled down to wait until dawn. He’d much rather be in bed beside his sleeping angel than sitting at a jobsite, but business was business.

N
ikki was still asleep when Tony got in at eight thirty. He stripped off his clothes and climbed into bed. Wondering what would happen when he reached out and touched her, he put his hand on her back and, as usual, she rolled toward him and snuggled into his chest. He wrapped his arms around her and kissed her on the forehead, then almost immediately fell asleep.

When he woke and looked at the clock, it was eleven and he was alone. He slipped into his jeans and went down to the kitchen, where he found her happily cooking, making something with the leftover turkey from the day before.

“Tetrazzini,” she answered before he could ask. “I figured I’d make it up and freeze it in batches. We’ll eventually eat it all.”

“Mamma’s recipe?”

She grinned. “You know it!”

“You always take her recipes and make them better,” he grinned back.

“God, don’t tell her that. I’ll go from
la matriarca
to
la cagna
in a nanosecond!” she laughed, stirring the sauce and rice together.

“Ah, you’re learning some Italian!”

“A little, but absolutely the wrong kind of words, courtesy of Vic. Your cousin is just full of meanness!” she laughed. “You feel okay? You were out there all night. I tried to let you sleep. Anybody bother anything?” She really felt sorry for him. All he wanted was for his employees to be trustworthy and work as hard as he did. She didn’t think that was too much for him to ask.

Tony poured himself a cup of coffee and sat back down. “Yeah, everything was okay and I’m fine. I don’t know about Cal’s wife, though. Apparently her drinking problem is pretty serious. According to him, she was the problem the night the porcelain fixtures were destroyed. I told him he’d better get everything under control, but that’s tough. Dottie wasn’t a drunk, but I certainly couldn’t control what she said or did.”

“That’s rough for Cal, and especially for his kids.” Nikki spooned the tetrazzini into a baking dish. “And how did it go yesterday afternoon with Dottie?”

He pursed his lips and shook his head. “I hope I got through to her, but I doubt it. She’s hard-headed, that’s for sure.”

“Next time,” Nikki said, putting everything down and turning to glare at him, her arms braced on the countertop, “do not send me out of the room. I think she needs to see us as a unified force. And I can handle her; believe me, I can. But as long as you keep pulling that ‘go away and let me handle this, baby’ crap on me, she’s going to think she has a possibility of, well, you know . . .” Her eyebrows arched.

“Not a chance in hell!” Tony bellowed. He sat for a minute, thinking, then admitted, “Yeah, maybe that is the approach to take. But I hope there won’t be a next time – I was pretty clear about that. I told her I’d have her arrested for trespassing if she came back around.”

“I hope she listens. But you need to know – she may be scary-looking, but I’m not scared of her. Never was, never will be.”

Tony was in the shower getting ready for work on Monday morning when his phone rang. Nikki reached over to the nightstand and picked it up without looking at it. “Tony’s phone,” she answered, half asleep.

“Nikki? It’s Jason. Jason Miller.”

Nikki shook herself awake. “Yeah, Jason, Tony’s in the shower. He’ll be there in a little while. What’s up?”

“Yeah, that’s why I called. We need him at the Franklin University site. As soon as he can get here. Please.”

“Something wrong?” she asked, picking up on the tension in his voice.

“Yeah. A body’s turned up over here. Please ask him to get here soon.”

“Oh my god! Of course! Don’t worry, Jason – it’ll be okay.”

“Thanks, Nikki. See ya.”

Jumping out of bed, she ran into the bathroom. “Honey, Jason Miller just called. They found a body at the Franklin University site!”

The water stopped, and Tony stepped out, soaking wet and looking incredibly delicious. Nikki drew in a breath and let out a low whistle. He turned to her and grinned. “A body, huh?”

“That’s what he said!”

“No biggie. That happens all the time. We start digging and unearth an old burial site. I just hope it’s not Native American or the whole thing will get shut down. Sometimes they even revoke the building permits, which is really bad. But I doubt that will happen. I’ll get over there and see what’s going on. Nothing to worry about.” He kissed her as he walked out of the bathroom.

“Having lunch with me?” Nikki asked later as Tony left for the jobsite.

“I don’t know. I’ll give you a call later when I find out where I’ll be.” He wrapped his arms around her waist and gave her a big kiss goodbye. “I’ll see you at the office.”

“Yes sir!” she grinned and saluted him. He was still laughing when he hopped into his truck.

When he pulled up to the jobsite, Jason met him at the truck. “Hey, boss. Sorry to call you so early. The cops were leaning on me to get you down here.”

Tony rolled his eyes. “All this fuss for an old skeleton? Don’t they have better things to do?”

“This is no old skeleton, boss. This is a fresh body. Well, within the last few days.”

That wasn’t what Tony expected to hear. A fresh body? He’d had someone out on the sites constantly over the weekend. How could that happen?

When he got closer to where the police officers were clustered, he called out, “Hey, guys, what’s up?” They turned, and he recognized Bryson Hawkins, a friend from elementary and junior high. Bryson had become a homicide detective, and seeing him there shocked Tony. Bryson walked toward him at a brisk pace and put a hand on Tony’s chest. “What?” Tony asked, puzzled at the expression on his old classmate’s face.

“Hey, Tony. Man, I’m sorry about this. You need to prepare yourself.” The detective was speaking in hushed tones, and Tony was getting very confused about what was going on.

“Jason says this is a fresh body. I thought it would be just an old skeleton. I don’t understand what’s happening.”

“Yeah. Apparently it was dumped in here Thursday night or Friday morning and when the guys started pouring the concrete this morning, it floated to the top. We need you to identify the body. But be prepared; it’s pretty bad.”

Identify the body? It was someone he knew? He nodded to Bryson. “Okay, let’s do this.” The detective walked with him to the tarp on the ground, and the group of officers surrounding the spot parted and let him through.

“Ready?” Bryson asked.

Tony shrugged. “I guess so.”

Bryson pulled the tarp back and all the air vacated Tony’s lungs. He felt his stomach wrench, and things started to get blurry. Turning away, he ran to the closest trash drum and lost his breakfast, and he couldn’t stop heaving and choking. Tears burned his eyes as he heaved over and over.

Then Tony heard a voice: “Hey, Dad, what’s up?” He looked up from the drum to see Clayton striding toward him. Clayton stopped and, looking at Tony standing over the drum and clutching its rim, he got a funny look on his face. “What’s going on?” Tony didn’t, couldn’t, speak. “They said they had a body down here . . . Dad? Oh my god, what’s going on?” Clayton walked past Tony, but Tony grabbed his arm and tried to hold him. Clayton shook Tony’s grip off and walked on.