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He hadn't expected or wanted to desire her in the middle of a family crisis. Hell, he hadn't expected to want her period. Silently scolding himself he declared vehemently, "Look, you don't belong here. You're really out of place. Don't expect much. It's no mansion, but it's clean. Nothing here bites either, okay?"
"I never—"She cleared her throat and backed up.
It wasn't until she retreated, that he realized how badly he must smell, but she was doing a great job of not noticing. A great job of not noticing a lot of things. After all, she was caviar, he was hot dogs. But damn, caviar sure smelled good!
Whipping about he stomped through the apartment, like a storm erupting into a tornado. His mind should be on Tony. But the truth was he had lost it back on the stairwell... What was wrong with him, bringing a woman like her here?
"Mama, where are you? What's going on? Where's Tony?"
Mama came running out of the bedroom, her hands raised in frustration. Sweat peppered her brow, her dark eyes full of worry.
"He's in here, Nicky. How many times have we told him not to fight?" Her voice shook.
Nick stormed into the small bedroom. Just the look in his mother's eyes convinced him he was right to come home. He hated to see that look. But she worried endlessly.
"Tony, what the he—". Nick saw Tony laying on the bed, but no blood like he expected. There were no huge lumps on Tony's face or body, only one obnoxious black eye, staring back at Nick. Nick let out his breath in one long rush.
Slowly, Nick sank to his knees, covering his face with his hands. "When's she gonna learn?" He moved his head back and forth. He shook for a moment. Lord, when would Mama stop pulling him off jobs for something as trivial as a black eye? The way Mama had described it, Tony had been beaten.
Nick fought his temper, then looked up at his brother and smiled crookedly. Running a hand through Tony's thick black hair, he asked, "First shiner, huh, Tony?"
"Pretty cool, huh?" Tony seemed amused by all the fuss.
"Yeah, really cool." Nick sighed aloud getting to his feet. His shoulders hunched tensely and his face felt frozen into a permanent frown. He quickly decided it would do no good to yell at Mama. It would only hurt her.
Going to the kitchen, he passed Kelsey again and realized how quickly he had squashed the strange sense of desire within him. But the look of concern on her face lit another flame inside him, and he had to turn away to keep from grabbing her to him. Something about this woman made him feel things he hadn't felt in years. Her compassion threw him, confused, needled him. He hadn't expected her to care one way or another. Why should she? But one look into those unfathomable blue eyes and he knew she did care. She was almost as bad as Mama.
He rinsed a cloth in cool water and took it to Tony. "Here kid, try this."
Mama stood by the doorway, her hand on her chest, her eyes filled with worry. "I wasn't going to call you Nicky."
Nick's eyes rolled before he turned around, but he said nothing.
"I promise, I wasn't. But his teacher said he'd been fighting at school. They expelled him and the others for three days. He has to go to the counselor's office before he can return."
Nick glanced at his brother's guilty face. "That true? You were fighting?"
Tony hung his head, shame erasing his smile. "Yeah, I guess so. I'm sorry, Nick. I know what you said, but you don't know how they talk about us. Some kid popped off about you takin' Tina everywhere and I lit into him."
Nick's mouth firmed and he nodded. "Look, Tony, how often have I told you, you can't change what people think? Someone's always gonna laugh at you, me, or Tina, or someone else for that matter. Is it so important what they think? You have to learn to ignore it. Rise above it. Deal with it now. It's just talk, kid. Crazy talk. I told you, they're stupid. You are a Leonetti and don't you ever forget it. Be proud of what you are, of who you are."
Tony nodded. "I know, Nick. I know. But it's hard. The kids are always teasing me. Calling me a baby. Sometimes it just gets to me. Everybody knows I don't do gangs or dope, they think I'm a complete Nerd. Sometimes it just gets to me and I have to do something."
Nick smiled.
"Sure it does. And if you let it, it always will, kid. I understand, I was young once, too. But if you don't deal with it now, you never will, Tony. I'm doing what's safe for you and Tina, whether you like it or not. Someday you'll understand it." Nick reached his hand to Tony's head and ruffled his hair, this time with more patience. "Growin' up is always hard. Not much in life is easy, kid. Maybe this time you learned your lesson. Fightin' ain't the answer. I've told you that before. Now maybe you'll believe me. You only fight when you have to, Tony. Remember what I've taught you. You can handle yourself."
Tony placed the cool cloth to his eye and jerked it away quickly, then looked past Nick's shoulder. "Who's she?"
Nick glanced at Kelsey and got a quick glimpse of a shyness he hadn't expected. He swallowed. It had seemed natural for her to come along, almost as if she belonged. But who was he kidding? Goody-Two-Shoes would never belong in 'Hell's Kitchen'.
"Oh." He glanced around to see his mother staring at Kelsey as well. "I'm sorry. This is Kelsey O'Sullivan. She gave me a lift home."
Mama went to Kelsey, taking her small hand in hers and smiling. "How do you do? I'm sorry you had to see us at our worst. This doesn't happen all the time. Kelsey, that's a pretty name, Irish isn't it? She's lovely Nicky, and Irish women make good wives. Good Catholic wives. What beautiful children you could make. But I'm sorry if my saying it embarrasses you. I simply speak my mind, without thinking."
Nick wiped his face with one hand, and stood, looking sheepishly at both women. "Kelsey, my mother, Rosa and my brother, Tony."
Kelsey smiled warmly. "Please to meet you."
