Secrets & Surrender 3 (8 page)

I hadn’t known what to think. I’d been so confused. But when I heard the same agony in her cries that had been in mine when I thought Nic had died, I knew that we were in the same place. We both loved Nic. We were both thankful that he was alive. Both of us held vigil over him, with her on one side and me on the other, until Dad had asked me to meet with chicken shit Juan.

I seriously thought Dad was going to cream her after what she did to Mom. Even if they’d gotten Mom out and paid for Juan’s bail, Mrs. Marcelli deserved to get her ass nailed to the wall by my dad. Instead, there he was, patting her hand and giving her a sympathetic smile.

“Dad.” I stayed by the doorway and gestured for him to come over.

He nodded and then patted Mrs. Marcelli’s hand one last time.

She smiled gratefully at him before turning her attention back to Nic.

“I don’t get it, Dad. How can you be nice to that woman after what she did to Mom?” I whispered furiously.

“Manuela, I raised you better than that,” he chastised. “Who are we not to forgive when someone asks for forgiveness?”

I blinked. “She apologized?”

“Yes, she did.”

“And you accepted it?”

“Of course, I did. Just as you forgave your mother and me for our mistakes, I also forgive others for theirs. Look,” he gestured to Mrs. Marcelli, “she almost lost her son with her mistake. And if not for her son, I could’ve lost mine.”

Tears welled in my eyes as I watched Mrs. Marcelli sit next to Nic. It was hard to stay mad at her. God knows I wanted to hate her, but she looked so pitiful. Her normally perfect hair was disheveled, and there wasn’t a trace of makeup on her tear stained cheeks. Her clothes were wrinkled. She hadn’t left Nic’s side since she’d arrived. It was like she was a totally different person.

“Find it in your heart to forgive her,” he whispered. “After all, she is the mother of the man you love.”

After Dad left, I sank back down in my spot next to Nic, taking his hand in mine. Mrs. Marcelli’s green eyes looked up at me.

“Is everything alright with your brother?”

“For now.”

She nodded and turned her attention back to Nic.

Nic looked so peaceful. It was as if he were asleep. I let out a breath and closed my eyes, thankful that we’d been given a second chance. I squeezed his warm hand, vowing that the moment he woke up, I was going to let him know that I was his forever.

“Victoria, we have an issue to discuss.”

I stiffened at the sound of Mr. Marcelli’s voice.

“There’s nothing more to discuss, Frank,” she snapped.

My jaw dropped. The woman has some backbone. I’d never once heard her raise her voice, and I definitely never expected her to do it to her own husband.

Her green eyes blazed. He blinked, looking almost as shocked as I was. She turned away from him, running her manicured fingers through Nic’s hair as she spoke. “Whatever Dominic wants is what I want.”

She gave me a soft glance.

I almost fell out of my seat. I was so not expecting that.

“Dominic’s too young to know what’s good for him or his future. I’m sure even Ms. Ruiz can see that it’s better for him to attend Princeton. He’ll meet people who can help his career, not destroy it.” He glared at me. “An incident like this would’ve never happened if he was around...well, when he’s around people who have some restraint.”

My eyes darted to him, glaring at the insult. He could say anything he wanted to about me. I didn’t care anymore. What really pissed me off was that he didn’t really care about Nic. All he cared about was his own stupid reputation.

I lifted Nic’s hand, kissing it before placing it gently by his side. Standing, I marched over to give him a piece of my mind.

“I don’t give a shit if you are Nic’s father. Don’t you
ever
talk about me like that ever again!” I jabbed his chest with my finger. “And you had better get used to seeing me because if you want Nic in your life, I’m going to be there. Where he goes, I go. Got that?” I poked him in the chest even harder this time. “And if he wants to spend family holidays or dinners with you, well, bring out the tamales because I’m gonna be there. And they better be fresh ones too because the stuff that comes out of the canned ones are nasty.”

“Now, look here, Ms. Ruiz—”

“No, Frank, I have had enough of this.”

My eyes widened as Nic’s mother came to my side, placing an arm around me. Each word that came out of her mouth was like a bullet. “You will accept Mandi and her family into ours. You
will
accept Nic and his wishes to attend SWT with Mandi. And you’ll cover all the expenses they’ve incurred because we were too blind to see that Mandi
is
good for him.”

“Victoria, I—”

“I’m not finished,” she growled. “You
will
apologize to the Ruiz family or so help me you’ll soon have five inches of Armani stiletto where the sun doesn’t shine.

“You were wrong about them and so was I. Nic saw them for the kind, gentle, and hard-working family they are. He fell in love with a beautiful, promising, and intelligent young lady, who, even after all we’ve put her through, is still by his side.” She squeezed my shoulders. “Can’t you see how different Dominic has been since he’s met her? So caring, so unselfish, so willing to sacrifice his happiness for the sake of others.”

She let out a sob and turned me to face her. “Forgive me for not seeing this until it was almost too late. It was you, dear. You brought out the best in him, and I was too blind, too selfish to see what you’ve done for him. I made a mistake. I thought I knew what was best for him. And for that I am truly sorry. I’m sorry for everything I did to hurt you and your family.”

Gazing into glistening eyes, I studied her carefully, wondering if this wasn’t some trick. The haughty expression that I was used to seeing was gone. All I saw was a mother desperate to make amends for her mistakes. And as her soft hands cupped my cheeks, showering me with gratitude, I felt a weight being lifted. I felt accepted.

“Thank you,” I whispered.

Keeping an arm around me, she whirled back to Mr. Marcelli. “So what’s your answer, Frank? Do you want a family by your side when you run for governor or will you be standing alone?”

His jaw tensed as he looked from me to Nic and then back to his wife. “Fine. I’ll take care of everything. Ms. Ruiz, all I ask is please give me a heads up if there are any family additions. I don’t want any surprises.” Then he turned and walked out the door before I could tell him that I already had a list of names ready and ask if he wanted me to fax them to his office.

“I’m sorry, dear. I think that’s the closest to an apology you’re going get from that man,” Mrs. Marcelli said.

“I...uh...wow. I wasn’t expecting him to give in so easily.” I thought it was going to be much harder. I had been pumped to fight both Nic’s mother and father for at least a decade.

“Mandi, please believe me when I say I’m truly sorry, and I hope that someday we may even grow to be friends.”

I nodded, stunned. This couldn’t be real. I mean, I get the apology, but now she wanted to be friends. This was just too crazy.

That’s it!
I was crazy. I was just imaging all of this. I was probably locked up in some padded room, rocking back and forth in restraints or having a drug-induced hallucination.

“Mandi?”

“Nic,” I sobbed as hazel eyes looked at me.

“Oh, my son,” his mother cried as we rushed to his side.

“Mother, you’re crying,” his hoarse voice whispered in disbelief.

“That’s what mothers do when they’re relieved that their baby is going to be alright.”

“I like it.” He lifted his hand, reaching out to brush the tears from her cheek.

“Oh, my baby!” she sobbed, planting kisses all over his face.

“Mother...Mom.” He ran his fingers through her hair with a smile that lit up his entire face.

Then he winced, letting out a small groan.

“I’ll get a nurse,” I said.

“Let me.” Mrs. Marcelli kissed his cheek. “I’m sure you two want to be alone for a few minutes.”

The moment she was out the door, I bent over Nic, gently pressing my lips to his. Slowly, I slid my tongue over the seam of his lips, sucking on his lower lip. I grabbed onto his hair and, and he moaned, opening to me, and I couldn’t resist the temptation of deepening the kiss, of showing him how much he meant to me. I slipped my tongue into his mouth, swirling it with his, pouring every ounce of love and emotion I had for him into the kiss. I never wanted Nic to go another moment without knowing how I felt about him or what he meant to me. It was the first kiss of the many kisses I planned to give him for the rest of our lives.

“Wow, if I’d known you’d kiss me like that, I would’ve gotten shot a lot sooner.”

I scowled. “That’s not funny.”

He chuckled. “You still look cute when you’re pissed.”

I rolled my eyes. Man, it felt good having him tease me again. I took it as a sign that he was getting better.

“Juan? Is he—”

“Don’t worry about that little chicken—er, Juan’s fine. You should be resting.”

“Mandi, there’s something I need to tell you.” He struggled to sit up. “It’s about your mother—”

“She’s out, Nic.”

“That’s good.” He let out a breath, falling back into his pillow. “At least Father kept his end of the bargain.”

“What are you talking about?”

“Mandi, I’m probably going to have to leave for Princeton after I recover. You see, I made a deal with Father that I’d go to Princeton and that I’d,” he gulped, “stay away from you in exchange for him helping your mother get out.”

“You did that for me?”

“I’m sorry, Mandi. There was no other way. But I’ll figure something out. We’ll be together somehow. I promise.”

“No.”

“What?” His face paled.

I busied myself with fluffing his pillows. “You’re not going anywhere.”

“But it’s already done. My father—”

“Your father did squat. It was your mother who got my mom out.” I chuckled, thinking about the look on Mr. Marcelli’s face when she told him off. “Actually, your mother handled your father pretty well. It was so cool. Sorry you had to miss it.”

“What did she say?”

“Well, let’s put it this way. She made it quite clear where her foot was going if he didn’t knock off his shit and stop trying to keep us apart. She’s Team Ruiz all the way now.”

“She did?” His face beamed. “And my father actually gave in? No way.”

“Way.”

“Whoa! How much morphine did they put in this thing?” He tugged on the tube dangling from the stand.

I laughed. My Nic was back, my family was back, and no one was ever going to get in the way of our love again.

“You know what? If she wasn’t so bougie, I could see us being really good friends. I guess I’ll just have to settle for her being my mother-in-law.”

His lips curled into that sexy smile of his. Then he pulled me to him, his lips brushing against mine as he spoke. “Are you trying to give me a hint?”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about.” I gave him another deep kiss and then pulled back when I heard voices coming from down the hall. “Just in case you were wondering, the paramedics found a little velvet box in your pocket. I have it in my purse whenever you’re ready to use it.”

“I
can’t believe you sold the Porsche.”

Smiling, I watched Mandi as she checked her makeup in the car mirror. Not that she needed any. She was so beautiful with her dark hair slicked back away from her face and pulled into a high ponytail, showing off a kissable, slender neck. If she didn’t stop looking so damn sexy, I was going to have to pull over and ravish her...again...for the third time today.

“It was totally worth it seeing Bianca throw a hissy fit when she had to give the beamer back to me. Besides, I want us to have a fresh start. That car had strings attached to it that I don’t ever want to remember.”

“Okay. I get it. Still, I have to admit, I miss watching you make sharp turns on the back roads. Your face scrunches up so serious. You looked so cute.”

She puckered her full lips in the mirror, sensuously sliding red lipstick over them. I groaned.

“What’s wrong?” Turning to me, her large hoop earrings tapped against her cheek.

“What would you say if we just drop off Leonardo and then I take you somewhere we can be alone?” In the rearview mirror, I eyed the masked three-foot turtle sitting in the back seat.

She closed the gap between us and slid a hand down my abdomen. I felt myself harden and without thinking, I turned to kiss her. The car swerved.

“Shit!” Quickly, I threw my hands back on the steering wheel and forced myself to concentrate on the road.

She chuckled.

“I’d say that’s an offer that this godmother will have to refuse, Godfather Marcelli.” She leaned in closer. The smell of her perfume was intoxicating. I clutched the wheel tightly, trying to keep my focus as her hot breath gently hit my ear. “But I promise to make it up to you after the party.”

I groaned again as her fingers teased around the top of my waistband.

“What are you doing?” I looked down in shock when she freed my shirt, lifting it up.

“Just giving you a taste of what you have to look forward to tonight.” She bent down, lips pressed against my abdomen. Her tongue slowly glided up my stomach to my chest and then over my wound. I shuddered. The pain and pleasure of her hot, wet tongue over the scar was exquisite.

“God, Mandi. You’re killing me.”

She popped her head back up, wearing a sexy smile and batted her eyelashes. “You like?”

I cupped her cheek, wearing what was probably the goofiest grin known to man. “I like—a lot.”

* * *

A
rriving at Cody and Cassie’s house, we made our way to the backyard. Because I was carrying the world’s largest mutant turtle piñata, I couldn’t see a thing. I followed the sound of Miguelito and Selina’s squeals and laughter. It sounded like they were already having fun at J.D.’s, my godson’s, first birthday party.

“Nic, is that you?”

“Yep,” I said, trying to look over the turtle to see Cassie. Mandi was busy chasing after Willa Mae and her cakes. I chuckled, making a mental note to remember to ask Willa Mae to give me a recipe. I wanted to give Mandi a big surprise for our anniversary and baking her something would definitely blow her mind.