Page 103 of Nicki's Fight

Micah grinned at me sardonically, then shook his head. “Nah, I’ve had my fill of Devereaux’s, thank you very much.”

We said goodbye, then headed inside. We walked up the concrete stairs to the building and Nicki unlocked the door. As we walked up the hall, I could smell the wonderful aroma of spaghetti wafting through the hall, but smelled a hint of something burning, as well.

“Wait until you try this!” he exclaimed. “You will not believe the Dunwoody secret ingredient!”

“As long as it’s not sardines, I think I can handle it!” I teased. Nicki made a face.

“Ew! No, no sardines. They actually use coffee in their spaghetti sauce. Coffee!” he exclaimed.

“Bishop would be scandalized!” I answered, laughing.

“Scandalized, or enamored, one or the other…” he said.

As we walked up the stairs I noticed the door to the apartment was standing open.

“Uh, oh, looks like Viv burned the bread again,” Nicki said, his lips twitching. “You’ve got to promise not to tease her. She had our oven have a hate-hate relationship.”

“Hey Viv! Everything okay?” He called as we walked into the apartment. He turned around to look at me, and all I saw was a flash of surprise and alarm on his face, then something slammed into the back of my head and darkness descended.

19

Nicki

I hadn’t even gottena warning out before my father brought the butt of his gun down on Kaine’s head, and my lover dropped like a stone.

“Kaine!” I’d lunged forward trying to catch him, only to find myself staring down the barrel of my father’s gun. Again. I was getting pretty damn tired of this.

“Where is she?” My father demanded, his face red with fury.

“Where is who?” I responded, frozen in horror as blood started to pool around Kaine’s head.

“You know goddamn wellwho!” My dad screamed. “Where’s yourmother?”

I looked at him, stunned. He didn’t know? How could he not know? He always seemed to know everything that happened, sometimes before it even happened! He had informants everywhere. Surely one of them had told him about my Mom’s accident?

“She’s not here, Dad!” I yelled back. “She’s dead! She was hit by a car months ago!”

“You lying piece of shit!” he yelled, backhanding me. “I’m not falling for your lies again! Youpromisedme! ‘I’ll stay’ you said! ‘No matter what!’ you said! You’re a fucking liar, just like that goddamn whore of a mother of yours!”

My hand flew to my mouth and came away smeared with blood. I looked at the man I’d called Dad my whole life, and I could only stare at him in sadness and confusion.

A distant part of my mind wondered what had happened to the man I used to love and respect. He had always seemed so much larger than life, an honest-to-God superhero. I remembered him, but as I looked at my father now, I realized that the man who had taught me to ride a bike, to drive a car, to hook a fish… was gone. All that remained was a small, angry man, whose impotent rage lashed out at everyone around him. I was sick of being the target of his rage.

I straightened up and watched with a growing, icy calm as he held the gun pointed at me, a plan beginning to formulate in my mind. My eyes narrowed in fury.

He must have seen some change in my posture, something in my face that challenged him, because the next thing I knew, I was doubled over on the floor, struggling to scrape oxygen into my lungs after a second, savage blow to my midsection.

My eyes fell on Kaine’s form as I tried to breathe, and I saw his eyes twitch and snap open, then close again quickly. I doubled over on top of his body in the hopes my father wouldn’t notice his movement.

“Don’t you fuck with me, boy. I brought you into this world, and I sure asfuckwill take you out!” he yelled. “Where is she?”

My automatic response was to duck from his blows, my mother’s voice whispering in my ear.Don’t rile him. Don’t rile him. Don’t rile him.

I loved my mother, but I had three words for that voice my ear.

Fuck.

That.