Page 25 of True North

“Then why are you telling me all of this and not your dad?” She pointed to where his father sat, still eating his salad, and Nico shrugged.

“He heard me,” Nico dramatically whispered.

His father looked up from his almost finished salad and nodded. “I heard him,” he confirmed. Toni made an adorable, frustrated growl that Nico muffled with his mouth, covering hers. He broke their kiss and took her hand into his, turning them both to face his parents.

“Toni and I have an announcement to make,” he said. His mother clapped her hands and smiled at the two of them as if she knew exactly what was about to happen. Hell, his father even put his fork down to listen to their news. “We’re getting married. Toni has agreed to be my wife.” His mother stood and pulled them into a hug that felt more like a physical attack. She was bouncing all around and pulling them along with her. His father stood and shook Nico’s hand and hugged Toni, welcoming her into their crazy family.

All in all, his announcement couldn’t have gone better, and he counted himself lucky that Toni didn’t run for the hills after they all laughed at her earlier. They spent the rest of the afternoon talking about the wedding and Toni promised his mom she could help plan it. His parents promised to visit them down on the Isle of Palms and he and Toni promised to visit Boston more. Nico left the meeting even more in love with Toni and he didn’t think that was even a possibility.

The next day, Toni stood half-naked in the middle of their hotel room and announced she was ready to go home, and Nico told her it was an awful idea. He spent the next two hours trying to scientifically prove to her why it was a fucking awful idea, but Toni refused to listen to reason.

“I have a plan,” she exclaimed.

“I don’t care what the plan is, I don’t like it,” Nico grumbled back at her. She hadn’t shared her plan with him yet, but Nico hated the fucking plan. He could honestly say he didn’t like one blasted part of it. It was a horrible plan, full of holes, that would probably end up getting them both killed.

“How can you say that to me when you haven’t even heard my plan yet, Nico?” He sighed, knowing this screaming match wasn’t going to get them anywhere.

“Fine, let’s hear this fantastic plan. That way I can tell you no and we can continue with my original plan, which is to keep you as far away from that fucking lunatic as possible.” There was no way he was letting Toni anywhere near Zac ever again. He and Jace were in constant contact, and the local authorities were working on every lead they could dig up on Zac. It was only a question of time before he fucked up or did something that would land him behind bars. They just needed to be patient and wait him out.

From the determined look on Toni’s face, she wasn’t about to sit patiently by and wait for Zac to fuck up. Toni was a take-charge kind of person, something Nico always admired about her, but now that side of her scared the shit out of him. It was time Toni accepted just how dangerous Zac was, and if Nico had to scare her into steering clear of danger, he would.

“Well,” she said, “my plan is simple. You drive me back to the island and I take back my father’s company.” Toni smiled up at him and he crossed the small hotel room to sit next to her on the bed. He didn’t want to tell her she was crazy for wanting to go back to the island, but she was. Nico was going to have to find a kinder way of telling Toni no, though.

“Honey,” he started, but Toni held up her hand, stopping his next words.

“I wasn’t finished,” she calmly added. “After we get back home, I call a press conference to let the entire world know that not only am I alive, but I am also the heir to my father’s company and trusts, as his only living blood relative.”

“No,” Nico barked. “Not going to happen, honey. We won’t announce to the entire world that you are alive and well. And publicly challenging Zac for control of the company is a horrible idea.” Toni climbed onto Nico, straddling his lap. She pushed him back against the mattress and as far as distractions went, it was a good one. Nico needed to keep his wits about him and remember he was trying to prove a point, although at the moment, he couldn’t remember what that point was.

“Honey,” he warned as she kissed her way down his naked chest. He should have told her to stop, but he liked the way this whole argument was heading.

“Nico.” She smiled up at him, licking her hot little tongue over his nipple.

“Don’t play with me, Toni. This is serious,” he growled. He watched as she worked her way down his body in just her lacy bra and panties, holding his breath as she dipped her hands down into his boxer briefs. Toni found his cock hard and ready and smiled up at him as if she had just found his secret.

“Ton—” he hissed, just as she sucked his shaft into her mouth, effectively stopping the rest of his coherent thoughts and the ability to make words. Toni sucked him in and out of her mouth, taking him to the edge and he knew that if he didn’t take back control, he would agree to just about anything she wanted. Nico pulled her up from his cock as she tried to hold onto him, licking and sucking her way up his shaft. He finally popped free from her mouth, and she groaned. He chuckled, although he was pretty sure he felt the exact same way as she did about having to stop her.

“What are you doing, sweetheart?” he asked.

Toni shrugged. “I thought we were negotiating, but I guess I was wrong.” She pouted and he was pretty sure it was the cutest thing he had ever seen.

“We can’t negotiate with sex every time we have a disagreement,” he said. Although, he couldn’t believe he was saying those words to her while she was sitting on his lap, so willing and ready. Toni sighed and rolled onto the mattress, and Nico followed her over and covered her body with his own.

She refused to look at him, turning her head to the side and closing her eyes shut tight, like a defiant child. He chuckled against her neck, kissing his way to her mouth. “Toni, look at me,” he whispered against her lips. She refused to do as he asked and even gave him a little head shake, just to drive her determination home.

“Please, baby,” he begged.

“No, not if you’re going to tell me I can’t do what I know is right,” she grumbled.

“Are we still talking about the blow job here, or have we moved back to the whole wanting to go home thing and putting yourself in danger?” Tony opened her eyes and looked at him, and a part of him wished she hadn’t. Her glare told him everything he needed to know. His girl wasn’t about to give up on her scheme to bring down Bierman and she would go through him to do it. He wanted to be on her side because there was no way he’d go up against her. Nico would bet on her winning every single time.

“Fine,” he conceded. “We can go home.” Toni pushed at his body to get off hers and sat up in bed once she was free. She looked about ready to get up and pack their belongings and he knew she wasn’t going to like this next part. “We don’t leave for a few more days. I need to make sure we’re not jumping into a trap or worse. If your father’s letter is correct, and Zac did try to kill you, I won’t take the chance he won’t do it again,” Nico growled. He hated thinking that anyone was capable of taking Toni away from him, but the possibility of losing her was made all too real by the threat Zac posed.

Toni looked as if she were working everything out in her head and finally, she agreed to his terms. “All right,” she said. “That actually gives me time to get a few things into place.” Nico moaned at the thought of Toni having time on her hands to scheme about her next move. Zac Bierman better be on his A-game because judging by the wicked look in Toni’s eyes, she was about to rock her ex’s world.

Toni

Toni spent the next few days planning press conferences and meetings with board members, to put her plan into place. She was lucky to find that some of her father’s old cronies were still loyal to him and ultimately, to her. They were never in favor of Zac taking over the corporation when James passed, and Toni had no trouble convincing most of them she was capable of taking over the helm in her father’s stead. It helped that she worked for the company for so many years with her dad. It gave her credibility with the board members, and they trusted her when she said she knew what she was doing. Toni just hoped she could live up to their expectations.

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