Broken Pieces (Riverdale #2) (9 page)

“What are we going to do when we get to Atlantic City?” Ava asked, her legs kicking in the air as she stared at them.

“Did you have anything planned?” Nick asked, Sam, who surprisingly hadn’t untangled their hands.

“I thought we’d go to the Steel Pier, it’s across from our hotel on the boardwalk.” She opened her eyes and looked at Nick. “Think you can manage, taking a walk on the boardwalk with two gorgeous blondes?” She smiled slightly and Nick wondered where the Ice Queen had gone, not that he was complaining, he’d take this version of Sam, any day of the week. Hell, he’d do just about anything for her if she kept smiling at him.

“I think I can handle it.” He tore his eyes from hers and looked back towards Ava. “What do you say, kiddo? You’re not afraid of rides are you?”

“Ha! No way! I love going on rides.” She showed off her missing teeth as she smiled at Nick.

“I love a girl who’s not afraid of rides.” Nick said as he winked back at her, glancing at the traffic he noticed it wasn’t moving and for the first time he was happy to be stuck in it.

“You know what else the boardwalk has?” Sam said, bringing
down the sun visor and opening the mirror so she could look at Ava who sat behind her.  “Funnel cakes! And Nick’s favorite.” She looked at him, and said teasingly. “Fried Oreos.” She raised her eyebrows and let her lip trail across the seam of her mouth.

His eyes darkened as they fell upon her lips, and he felt the bulge in his pants strain against the cargo shorts he wore. Christ, that mouth would be the death of him.

“What else is on the boardwalk?” Ava asked, interrupting his dirty thoughts of Sam’s mouth and the places he wished those delectable lips would visit. Sam tore her eyes away from his and looked over her shoulder to give Ava her attention.

“Well, let’s see, there’s a bunch of games we can play and win prizes.” She looked back at Nick. “I bet Nick would love to win you the biggest stuffed animal there is!” She said basically daring him.

“Are you good at winning prizes, Nick?” Ava asked happily. Sam turned around and sat back in her seat properly.

Nick looked at Sam before he looked at Ava through the rearview mirror. “I’m really good at winning prizes. When your aunt was a teenager, she had a collection of stuffed animals I won for her.” The traffic was beginning to open up and he let go of Sam’s hand reluctantly, shifting the truck into drive.

“Do you still have the prizes, Aunt Sam?” Ava asked, curious and Nick couldn’t help but wonder too. Sam pushed her sunglasses down from the top of her head, and shielded her eyes.

“Of course not, that was a long time ago, sweetie.” And just like that the temperature grew cold again in the confined car. Nick sighed and turned the radio louder, keeping his eyes firmly on the road, hoping it wouldn’t be long until the softer side of Sam, emerged again.

* * * * * *

Luke lifted his shirt up over his abdomen and looked away as the doctor injected him with one of three injections he needed in order to donate the marrow to Jake. Leah had warned him that it would be more painful in the stomach, still it was the most effective and Luke was all about results. He looked over at Jake, who hooked up to a huge machine that was filtering his blood, or at least that’s what he thought it was doing.

He couldn’t have been sure, since they had arrived at the hospital everything had been a blur for Luke. He hissed out a breath as the doctor finished with his task. He sighed and sat down, preparing himself for the rest of the process.

“Jake, we’re ready for you now,” said a nurse, with an inviting smile. Jake glanced up and stared at her blankly for a minute. They all looked at him the same, like they pitied him and envied him all at the same time. He nodded towards her before turning in his seat to face Cara. She took both of his hands in hers, squeezing them ever so tightly. She leaned her forehead against his and peered at him from under the fringe of her eyelashes.

“I’ll be waiting for you, baby.” She untangled one of her hands from his and lifted it to his face, with the back of her hand she softly caressed the slight stubble that emerged along his jaw. “I love you.” She whispered and he closed his eyes, relishing in the way the words sounded from her lips. She was his heaven on earth. When he opened his eyes, he leaned forward and pressed his lips against hers softly.

“I love you more than anything, Cara.” He said huskily between kisses. When he reluctantly began to pull away from her, she grabbed his face, and cradled it in the palms of her hands.

“September nineteenth.” She said as she stared into his eyes. He furrowed his brows and tried to rack his brain for what was on September nineteenth. Surely, it wasn’t an anniversary or a birthday. He’d remember that.

“What?” He asked cautiously, praying he hadn’t forgotten an important date. Shit, why couldn’t he place that date.

“It’s the day you’re going to marry me.” She smiled. “I thought I’d let you know.” She winked at him and then dropped her hands, letting him process that she had set a date for their nuptials. “Go get yourself well because I have big plans for you Jake Lanza.”

Jake stood up and felt as if his legs wouldn’t work. She had set a date. His heart was heavy as he stared at the nurse. A vision of Cara walking down the aisle flashed in his head, and he closed his eyes, hoping to cement the image of her, dressed as his bride, to his mind. Slowly, he opened his eyes, and with newfound courage, he turned to Cara. He bent down and pressed his lips to her forehead. “I can’t wait.” He whispered.

* * * * * *

Nick crouched down over the toy rifle and aimed it at the clown’s mouth. He glanced to his left and then to his right, sizing up the competition. Sam rolled her eyes as she watched him from the sidelines. She already had a huge stuffed animal tucked under each arm, but
Ava had set her sights on the large pink unicorn that loomed over Nick’s head.  The buzzer sounded and the race was on to see who’s balloon filled with water quickest.

“Go Nick! Go!” Shouted Ava, from beside Sam, she looked up at her aunt, her face covered with powdered sugar from the Fried Oreos they had consumed. “Do you think he’ll win?” She asked hopefully, and Sam looked over at Nick as the bell rang signaling there had been a winner. By the smug look on his face as his hands released his weapon, Sam expected they would be adding the unicorn to their list of conquests.

“He did it!!!” Ava ran into Nick and wrapped her arms around his waist. Sam watched him bend down and lift Ava in his arms as if she weighed nothing at all. The attendant handed her the unicorn and she hugged both the toy and the man who had won it for her, with all her might. Watching Nick with a child, did something to her, it chipped away at the walls around her heart. He was a natural, and for the briefest of moments she allowed herself to picture the fantasy of them with a family of their own. It was a dream she had put to rest the minute she came home from Seattle, but still a dream that played heavily in her head for some time.

Seeing Nick with Ava when she was a baby had provoked the dream originally, and seeing him with her now, resurrected the dream.

“Samantha!” Nick said, waving his hand in front of her face. She jumped at the use of her full name and shook her thoughts from her head.

“What?” She said trying to recover. Nick placed Ava down gently on her feet and rose to his full height. He lifted her chin with the tip of his finger and stared at her. The sun was beating down on his tanned body. He had on a white wife beater tank top that showcased every ridge of his muscular arms and shoulders. There was the slightest hint of sweat on his brow and he squinted as he studied her face.

“You okay?” He asked. Just the way he looked at her had her body temperature rising.

“I’m fine.” She put her poker face on and shoved one of the oversized stuffed animals into his chest. “It’s your turn to carry one of these monstrosities.” A moan escaped the back of her throat and she cringed when she realized it was just as audible to him as it had been to her. His chest was solid as a rock, and she yearned to run her fingers along it. He smiled slightly and threw one of his arms around her shoulders, tucking her snugly against his body.

“Why don’t we go on a few more rides, before we head back to the hotel and grab something for dinner?” He said, as his fingertips moved in a circular motion around her bare shoulder. One simple touch sent tingles straight down to her core. Ava looked up at them, still hugging the unicorn that was almost as big as she.

“Can we go on the Crazy Mouse again? Please? Pretty Please!!” She begged and looked up at the two adult’s doe-eyed. Sam nudged her hip against Nick’s, hoping she was affecting him the same way he was affecting her.

“I don’t know, Nick, what do you say?” She bit her lip as he dropped his hand from her shoulder. She shouldn’t have cared, but she couldn’t help feeling the loss. He wrapped his arms around her waist, taking her by surprise and leaned his chin on her shoulder, where his hand had been. He squeezed her slightly and smiled down at Ava.

“Let’s do it!”  He said, and she shivered in his arms, his breath grazing her shoulder. She watched Ava dance around them happily before Nick released Sam and took
one of Ava’s hands in his. She stood there as if her feet were tied to cinder blocks
. Nick walked hand in hand with Ava a few steps ahead of her. He paused and looked over his shoulder at her, cocking one of his brows at her. “Are you coming, Samantha?”  

If she wasn’t completely unraveled by his nonchalant touches, the use of her full name was enough to take her over the edge. When he winked at her and grinned at her knowingly. She grimaced, so maybe she wasn’t immune to Nick Foti, at least not as much as she thought.

* * * * * *

Luke was resting his eyes, in the darkness of his hospital room. They had extracted his bone marrow a while ago, and he was very weak and extremely tired. A knock sounded from his door, and when he opened his eyes, his mother poked her head inside of the room.

“Luke, are you awake?” She asked softly.

He tried to sit up, but all he managed was to lift his head slightly off his pillow. “Is it over?” He whispered hoarsely.

Deb stepped into the room and made her way to the foot of her eldest son’s bed. Her face was drained but she managed a smile. “Just about, he’s still hooked up to the machines, but your blood is being pumped through him.”

Jake closed his eyes and nodded slightly. “Good. That’s good.” He let out a heavy breath.

“How are you feeling?” Deb asked him as she moved to the side of his bed. “Is there anything I can do to make you more comfortable?”

“I’m fine, I’m just tired.”

“You look very pale, but Leah said that was to be expected.” She eyed the IV that dripped nutrients into his veins. “I’ll let you rest. I just wanted to check on you.”

“Stop worrying about me. I’m going to be fine.” He smiled slightly. “So is Jake.”

Deb leaned down and kissed his cheek softly. “Thanks to you.” It was all Luke needed to hear, before he closed his eyes and drifted into sleep.

* * * * * *

Nick cranked his neck from side to side, working out the tension in his muscles. He lifted his tank top, and discarded it fluidly with one hand. He leaned back, once his chest was bare, and cracked his back, he wondered if he could persuade Sam, to give him a back rub. He laughed out loud, that was definitely a stretch. They had, had a great day, but asking her to give him a massage was pushing it.  He had chipped away at some of the
ice, but hadn’t completely melted the ice queen.

He glanced over at the bedroom door, and pondered if she would join him for a little while. She was tucking Ava in for the night, and he hoped she hadn’t decided to tuck herself away too. His phone rang from inside his pocket. It was probably Luke with an update on the transplant. They hadn’t heard anything, except from a text Sam, had received from her mom, saying it went well. He reached for his phone without even glancing at the caller ID.

“Hello?” He said, holding the phone to his ear with his shoulder.

“So you are alive, well that’s good to know.”

Nick rolled his eyes as his shoulders slumped. Apparently not only did his mother have a flair for the dramatics, but his father as well. He was not in the mood for the bellowing voice that belonged to Nick Foti Sr.

“I’m sure you would’ve heard if I died.” Nick said curtly into the phone and walked towards the window that overlooked the ocean.

“I’ve been calling you for weeks, son. I’m starting to get the feeling you are ignoring me.”

“What could I do for you dad?” Nick said, hoping his father would get to the point so he could hang up on him and figure a way to block his calls.

“Well, for starters, you can stop playing grease monkey and get your ass back to the office. I have a major development deal in the works.”

Nick set his jaw, agitated with his father’s derogatory remarks regarding his career.

“I thought I made myself clear, when I left that I wasn’t interested in any future deals.” He ground his teeth as the anger began to settle in.

“You were serious about that?” His father asked incredulously. “You’re going to throw away a million dollar deal so that you can play with cars?”