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Upon impulse, he whipped out his wallet from his jeans lying on the floor. Kelsey's insistence that he look at the check had him curious. He dug it out, carefully unfolding it for the first time. He had plans for the check. He'd frame it, and hang it on the wall of the garage, so that every time he glanced at it, he'd think of the baby, his baby. Oh God, his baby, and the one he was giving away.
No, he sighed heavily, it would never be his. It was Kelsey's baby. Could he live with that? He didn't like the way his mind was racing, but he couldn't channel it. He should have quizzed Kelsey more about her reasons for wanting the baby. He had signed the contract at the lab, damn!
Did she have any prior experience with babies? Would she be a good mother? Why did she see this need to have a child in this particular fashion?
His eyes fell like a rock on the check, but in the dim moonlight he couldn't quite make it out. At least he thought he couldn't. He went to the window and put the check up to the moonlight. He blinked heavily for a few seconds trying to adjust to the light. Perhaps his eyes were playing tricks on him. But no, it wasn't a mistake. It was real! Oh God! He physically banged his flat palm against his forehead.
Who in their right mind would pay such a sum for a baby? The figures on the check stared at him. This made no sense.
"No, she can't do this to me!" he yelled out, then clamped his mouth tight. The anger building in him until he could no longer contain himself, an exploded, "I won't let her do this! What does she think this is some kind of black market? This is all so damn wrong." He punched his pillow.
His voice woke Tony, and he ambled into the room, rubbing his eyes and yawning, "Something wrong, Nick?"
"Nah." Nick shook his head, pushing the check behind his pillow, and smiling at his brother. "Everything is okay, go on back to bed."
"Okay, I guess something woke me. They turned the electric off. But we got the candles out. See ya in the morning. Hey, stop worrin' so much about Tina. She got in real early."
"What? Do you mean she's still datin' Joe?" Nick ran his hands through his thick hair, trying to clear his mind, and unable to accomplish his task. More problems to deal with, would life ever smooth out?
"They went to the movies a couple of times. He's been extra nice since you talked to him."
"Great. You better get some sleep; you got school in the morning."
"Night, Nick."
"Night Tony," Nick smiled at his brother and sat on the edge of his bed, glaring at the check from time to time. If the check could talk, it would temp and tease him to put himself and his family out of their misery. This one little bit of paper could get his family out of Hell's Kitchen, and into Queens. It would stop the war with the skyscrapers for him and his family. He never was one to give up quickly. Just like his neighbors he wanted to fight this and win.
Besides, how could he live with himself if he took the money? And could he live with the consequences if he didn't?
Kelsey told him she would pay well for his services, but he never guessed how well. They hadn't talked price. Nick refused to consider the issue. His intention hadn't been to take her money.
If he took it, his problems were over—right? Wrong! He couldn't live with himself, and damn her all to hell for subjecting him to such a temptation. It was bad enough fighting the landlord, the utilities, and the skin shops, now he battled a temptation.
With great purpose he jerked on his jeans, threw on a pale green shirt, and scrambled out of the apartment in the heat of the night, careful not to wake anyone else.
He had to rid himself of temptation, and end this problem now. At least this was one war he knew he could win.
His little Mazda wheeled through the streets with the power of a tiger, like his temper, short fused. A gentle rain blanketed the windshield. Switching on the wipers he grimaced at the drumming sound.
Her apartment wasn't that far away, in what she called a modest mid-income neighborhood that had shocked Nick when he first saw it. He expected a more glamorous setting from her.
But whatever Kelsey was, she wasn't pretentious.
Pulling into her parking lot, he cut the engine and gripped the steering wheel for a long moment. It had taken forty-five minutes to get here, and his fury hadn't abated. He knew he should calm down, but if he did, he couldn't impress upon her what needed to be made clear.
Miss Moneybags, Miss Goody-Two-Shoes had a real shock coming. He strode to the lobby door, took the stairs, and then banged his fist against the thick hard wood of her apartment building. He banged so loudly that her neighbor opened their door, and dogs began to bark, but he simply didn't care.
A husky sounding voice called through the door. Nick didn't respond, and the door opened slightly. A big, middle-aged woman, with curlers in her hair, and a robe that didn't quite come together, stared at him.
"What do you want?"
"I'm looking for Ms. O'Sullivan," Nick answered, his voice tight with restraint.
"She's not available at this hour. She's—"
"Sleeping?" He finished for her. "Too bad," he muttered brushing past the woman, and striding into the hallway. Glancing about, he ignored the woman's loud objections. Instead, he began opening the doors down the narrow hallway. He found nothing but empty rooms until he came to the end of the hall. The last door was slightly ajar, and he flung it open with his foot.
There, in the dim moonlight he could only see a silhouetted figure on the bed. Storming up to the bed, he ripped the satin covers from the woman slumbering there, and waited.
