Part 25 (2/2)
”Nick, you'll learn that it's a lot less painful to just get it over with quickly. In her eyes, you're always wrong. Until you grovel, life as you know it will never be the same. There will be no s.e.x, no peace, and if she's like Mona, no sleep until you crawl on your belly like the snake that you are-that, my friend, is a direct quote.
”The absolute worst thing you can do is tell her that if it wasn't for her, you wouldn't have been forced to lie this whole time. You need to tell her exactly what she wants to hear.
”It's not going to be pretty; expect yelling, tears. You may even have to duck if she loses it and throws something at you. You've got your work cut out for you, so you better get your a.s.s in gear.”
Vin took a bar rag and started polis.h.i.+ng the bottles. ”After you grovel, you're going to need to buy out a flower shop. Call Carmine's, have him make you up a nice expensive bouquet and keep them coming. Hit the chocolate place on Avenue M. They sell G.o.diva. Buy twice as much as you think one person can eat in a year. Women have b.i.t.c.hfests when their men do something stupid. They get together to discuss us, compare notes, and sympathize. She has to have enough chocolate to share.”
Nick didn't grovel. He didn't bother telling Vinny that, because obviously, Vin had enough experience groveling to teach a cla.s.s in that, too. Nick knew what Vinny didn't-once you grovel, they know they've got you hooked. Vinny was a perfect example. Mona'd had Vinny by the shorthairs for years.
”Why should I grovel? I didn't do anything wrong- except for not telling Lee who I was in the beginning. But if you're right, she's known all along.”
”You're telling me that you're not gonna take the hit? What are you, nuts? You finally find the right girl, and you're gonna let this blow up in your face? You're gonna lose her.”
”What are you talking about?”
”Nick, you've been putting pressure on Premier since the day you were canned because of that no-good Jack La.s.siter, Jr. Have you done anything since you found out about Lee's involvement?”
”No.” Nick fanned the napkins he'd been writing on and sat up straighter. ”But that doesn't have anything to do with her.”
”Sure.” Vinny took another sip of his drink and sat back looking smug. ”You go right ahead and keep telling yourself that. But if you're stupid enough to believe it, you're more of a putz than I thought you were.”
Nick finished his Jack and coffee, stood, and whistled for Dave. He'd been calling himself enough names lately; he didn't need Vinny's help.
”Look, Nick. Think about what I said. If you're not ready to cut her loose, then don't. Try confessing your sins. Pretend you're talking to Father Francis. Who knows, maybe she's nothing like Mona, maybe she'll go easy on you.”
Who knew that this would be so complicated or would smack so much of commitment? All this talk about love was enough to make him rethink the whole thing. But d.a.m.n, the thought of the alternative was worse. s.h.i.+t.
Rosalie's intercom beeped and pulled her out of the quagmire that was her relations.h.i.+p with Nick. She'd spent the last week wondering what was wrong with him, and she'd made the decision to find out what it was, even if she had to break every rule in the book to do it. Gina's voice filled her temporary office.
”Rosalie, there's a strange man on line one. He says his name is Leisure, and you'll know what it's regarding. He's even more cryptic than Nick, just Nick. Is he as good-looking?”
A smile crossed Rosalie's face. Is Leisure good-looking? She pictured her friend in her mind. Hmm. ”Yeah, I guess he is, but I never thought of him like that.”
”What? Is he your cousin or a priest or something?”
”No, just a good friend. I'll take the call. Thanks, Gina.”
”I live to serve.”
With the smile still on her face, Rosalie punched the flas.h.i.+ng b.u.t.ton on her desk phone, slipped her pumps off, leaned back in her chair, and settled in for a good chat. ”Leisure. Hi. How's it going?”
”Are you alone, Rosalie?”
Rosalie dropped her feet to the floor and back into her shoes. Sitting forward, she grabbed her pen and pulled out a fresh yellow pad. ”Yeah. Why? What's wrong?”
”You remember that issue you asked me to look into?”
'The rumors about Premier Motors?”
”That's the one. Well, it took some doing, but I got my hands on their file. It looks as if your suspicions were correct. There are notes about a telephone conversation regarding La.s.siter, Premier, and their fiscal position. Are you still seeing Dominick Romeo?”
”Yeah.” Rosalie cringed, dreading the answer but asking anyway. ”What does Nick have to do with this?” She heard the blood rus.h.i.+ng though her ears, and her face and hands got clammy. She waited for the answer for what seemed like an hour. ”Leisure, you're scaring me. Tell me what you've found, and stop being so d.a.m.ned cloak-and-dagger about this.”
”It's him, Rosalie. Dominick Romeo is sabotaging Premier Motorcars. He gave a laundry list of reasons we should no longer extend credit to Premier, La.s.siter, and any customers he might have.
”Honey, if word gets out that you're a.s.sociated with him, you can kiss your job-h.e.l.l, your career- good-bye.”
”I can't believe it's Nick. I mean, the thought occurred to me... but-”
”I don't know what to tell you, Rosalie, other than I've got notes in front of me regarding a conversation between Dominick Romeo and the senior VP of finance, as well as the fallout of said conversation. Your boyfriend implied that if we continued to handle Premier, we would lose his business. I don't need to tell you that Dominick Romeo's chain of dealers.h.i.+ps means more to us than one dealers.h.i.+p, even one as large as La.s.siter's. And, if what Romeo said was accurate- and by virtue of your presence at Premier Motors, all evidence points to its validity-Premier is on precarious financial footing. Now just remember. You didn't hear any of this from me.”
Rosalie's mind was spinning as she thanked Leisure and hung up the phone. She tried to rub the tension out of her neck, but the effort wasn't helping. Neither was Nick's name written in three-inch block letters on the yellow pad in front of her. Rosalie calmly took a red Sharpie out of her top desk drawer, pulled the cap off the marker and drew a thick ”X” through the name. Then she picked up the phone and made a call. ”Yes, this is Rosalie Ronaldi. I need to speak with Mr. Las-siter. It's urgent.”
Nick sat at his desk twirling a pen between his fingers, back and forth, back and forth.
Rosalie would be home in a couple of hours. After checking the clock for the hundredth time that day, Nick paced his office, trying to come up with the right words to tell her the truth. He stuck his head out the door. ”Lois, is Ty back with Dave yet?”
”No, they're at the body shop. Do you want me to call for them?”
”No, that's okay. I'll wait.”
”Nick? I don't mean to pry-”
”Sure you do.” He leaned against the doorjamb. ”What is it, Lois?”
”I was going to ask you the same thing. What's wrong?” She held up a stack of letters he'd gone over earlier. ”You were supposed to sign these. What did you do? Take them out of your in-box and stick them in your out-box?”
”I don't know. I thought I had signed them. Here, I'll take care of them now.” He moved toward her desk. She dropped the letters, rolled her chair back, and stood.
”Nick, I don't care about the d.a.m.n letters, but if there's something wrong...” She came around the desk toward him, giving him the concerned-mother routine.
”Nothing I can't handle.”
She nodded, picked up the letters she'd dropped, handed them to him, and looked doubtful. ”Maybe you should take Dave and Lee to your house in the Hamptons for a week. You haven't taken any time off in ages, except when Lee was sick, and that was no vacation. The beach in winter is so relaxing.”
”I don't think so, Lois.”
”Ty and I can take Dave, if that's a problem.”
”No, Dave's not the problem, but thanks for the offer. I wasn't thinking when I started bringing Dave to the office. He's not going to be with us much longer. I know Ty loves him. I'm sorry.”
”Something's wrong with Dave? Oh, G.o.d.” She stepped back and covered her mouth with her hand.
”No.” He reached out and squeezed her shoulder. ”Dave's fine. It's Lee. Things aren't going well.”
”They aren't?” She covered his hand with hers. ”Oh, Nick. Are you sure you can't work things out? I thought everything was different with Lee-better.”
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