Take the Money and Come

Chapter 14: The Devil's Advocate

Chapter 14: The Devil's AdvocateNobody at the children's center knew where the anonymous donation had come from. At least, nobody but Sarah knew. She couldn't tell any of her fellow volunteers that the half a million dollars had likely come from her ex-lover, and God only knew by what evil means the money had been obtained. She couldn't provide them with a valid reason not to spend the money, and so it had been used to almost single-handedly get the new program underway. It kept her busy, and as her first trimester came to an end, so did the fatigue that had worn her out for months. But no matter how much time she spent involved in work and at the center, it did little to distract her. Thoughts of Nico plagued her relentlessly, even worse now that her baby bump had begun to show, serving as a constant reminder of him. She'd put off making an announcement and now some of her closer friends were beginning to speculate, and she'd have to come up with a cover story pretty soon.

She mused over potential lies as she climbed the stairs to her apartment. She was so distracted as she turned the key, she didn't notice that the door was unlocked. She entered her living room, turning to set down the groceries she'd picked up on her way home, and came face to face with a dark set of eyes staring at her from across the small table. Her heart leapt and her hands went to her stomach automatically, an innately defensive response. His eyes were so similar to Nico's; she knew who it was instantly, even in the darkness of the room.

Lorenzo's eyes followed Sarah's hands to her stomach, and he could see the softly rounded bump easily. “Damn...” he breathed, caught off guard. He could see the fear in her gorgeous, green eyes, too, and suddenly she wasn't just some hot chick his brother still had a thing for. He was certain that she was pregnant with his brother's child—his own niece or nephew—and she was terrified of him, not only for herself but her unborn child, no doubt.

He'd never been particularly happy in his line of work, but he'd never seen himself as a monster until that moment. Sure, Nico had prattled on about the atrocities of their jobs, but he'd never seen it as quite so dark. But then, he only just realized, it was always Nico who offered himself up to do the unthinkable, sheltering Lorenzo from the more vile tasks of their trade. He'd never noticed it before, but now it was painfully clear that Nico had been protecting him all these years, being the monster to prevent his younger brother from becoming one.

“I won't hurt you, Sarah,” he tried to reassure her in as gentle a voice as he could, taking several steps back and keeping his hands where she could see them. “I had to check up on you,” he told her when she didn't speak. He could see the nearly imperceptible shake in her hands, gripping her rounded belly, and finally he understood what Nico had felt all these years. “In truth, I had no idea what I'd do once I got here, even if it turned out you posed a threat,” he continued, hoping she'd hear the honesty in his tone. “You see, it wasn't only the danger you posed that compelled me to come here. I've never seen Nico like this, and while he'd never admit it to me, it's plain to see you're tearing him apart. And now...” he motioned toward her belly.

“No! You can't tell him. He can't know,” she exclaimed. “I can't be with him...always wondering what horrific thing is going to happen to him.”

“Happen to him? You find out he's a big guy in the mob, and your concern isn't what he does, but what could happen to him?” Lorenzo couldn't believe what he was hearing. Was this girl for real? He'd assumed she'd taken off, disgusted with Nico, seeing him for the monster he'd been hiding. “Damn...what am I supposed to do with that? He's my brother, Sarah. I can't lie to him...”

“Then don't lie. Just don't say anything either. I understand that what Nico does...he has to. But, his child doesn't have to grow up in that. Nico will never know it, but a part of him will have the life he had always wanted. I'll even tell his son that it's OK when he wants to join a band,” Sarah smiled then, her eyes briefly distant as she remembered back to the conflict Nico spoke of between himself and his father.

Lorenzo was silent for a moment, realizing Sarah was right. On her own, she could give this child a life that neither he or Nico could ever have. But who did he choose? His brother or his unborn niece or nephew? Nico wouldn't talk about it, but he could tell that losing Sarah was destroying him. So, did he sacrifice his brother and keep silent, or sentence his niece or nephew to this life, maybe one day having to stand by and watch as he or she became a monster, too?

What the hell had he been thinking coming here? He'd known Sarah hadn't squealed—there would have been some repercussions from it by now. Besides, he'd seen it in her eyes the day she'd left; she cared about his brother too much to talk. In truth, he probably just wanted to put an end to it, confirming once and for all that she couldn't stand the thought of being with someone in Nico's...position. And dammit he couldn't resist the excuse to see her again. She was the most gorgeous woman he'd ever seen...who could resist a good excuse? “And isn't this just the worst of all situations your d**k has lead you into?” he mocked himself scornfully. At the same time though, a thought came to him—a life-changing idea that he needed time to think through.

“I will agree to keep this between the two of us for the time being,” he began carefully, not wanting to upset her further, but not willing to commit to anything just yet—at least not until he'd had time to sort out his thoughts.

Sarah nodded, not looking any more relaxed, but it was the best he could offer right now. His eyes grazed over her one more time—it wasn't his fault he was human—and then he turned to leave, figuring he couldn't offer her any more comfort at the moment. His absence was probably the kindest thing he could offer.

Sarah collapsed right there on the floor the moment Lorenzo closed the door behind him. She had been certain he'd come to eliminate her as a threat, and even now she wasn't entirely certain that this wasn't a ploy in some evil game. But she had to admit that what she'd seen in his eyes as he'd spied her rounded belly didn't look the least bit sinister. She had no idea what would happen now—whether he'd been truthful when he said he'd keep quiet—but she was relatively certain that if he had meant to kill her, he would have done it. Feeling exhausted, she dragged herself up off the floor and forced her feet to carry her to the sofa. She laid there for a long time, sleeping fitfully throughout the entire night. Nico plagued her dreams, her mind torturing her. One moment she was wild in his arms, and the next he was in hers, blood soaking through his shirt as she tried futiley to stem the flow. Long before the sun rose the next morning, Sarah was awake, too disturbed to sleep any longer.

She headed out to work early, glancing around surreptitiously as she left the apartment's lobby, still feeling apprehensive after her encounter with Lorenzo the night prior. There was no sign of him, and so she flagged down a taxi, and from there, the day flew by in a hurry...until Callie showed up five minutes before her shift was through.

“I'll wait for you and we'll grab a bite to eat when you're done,” she told Sarah, heading to the cafeteria for coffee.

Sarah nodded, plastering a smile on her face, but inside she cringed. She could lie to everyone else, but Callie had been with her all that time in Boca Raton; she knew Sarah had spent her days and nights with Nico Rossi, and wasn't going to buy that her pregnancy was the result of some fling with a random stranger. Even worse, Callie wouldn't understand why Sarah wanted to keep the identity of her baby's father a secret. How was she supposed to explain it to her without filling her in on the sordid details? She had to think fast; her shift ended in precisely two and a half minutes.

Callie was there waiting for her as Sarah left the staff room, a smile on her face until her eyes fell on Sarah's telltale baby bump. Her mouth dropped open and Sarah began to worry her eyes were going to bug out of her head. She would have laughed had it been a different scenario.

“You've been keeping secrets!” she cried.

“Alright, let's go,” Sarah whispered, not wanting to draw any unnecessary attention.

Callie was silent as the two left the hospital and walked the short distance to the diner up the road. But once they were seated inside, “OK, spill it!” she exclaimed.

“There isn't much to tell. There isn't much I can tell, Callie,” Sarah told her carefully. “I'm pregnant, and that's all there is to it. It's just me and baby-to-be.”

“Obviously the baby is Nico's, so what gives? I didn't get to hang out with him much, but he seemed crazy about you, and he was...good for you.”

“Good for me? It was just a fling, Callie. Really, it's no big deal. I went home and Nico got back to his life.” Sarah tried desperately to convince herself she was fine with that arrangement, but the words sounded empty even to her. “That has to be all there is to it,” she told her emphatically, trying to convey the importance of leaving the subject alone.

Callie eyed her suspiciously, letting her know she wasn't buying the story. “I think it's more than that, and you know it. I don't know why you had to end things so abruptly. He obviously had the money to jet across the country to be with you. And he wasn't like the other guys you've been with, Sarah. Even I could tell that this one was different.”

“Oh, he was different alright,” Sarah muttered under her breath, but Callie could hear her just fine.

“There's something you're not telling me,” her teasing now turning to concern. “What happened between the two of you? Maybe you had a fight or something, but the guy deserves to know he's going to be a father, doesn't he?”

Sarah didn't know how to get Callie to leave it alone, so she tried the most direct approach she could. “I know it doesn't seem to make any sense, but you have to trust me. I need you to leave it alone. Just be happy for me and help me get through this, OK?”

Callie nodded, obviously not at ease, but willing to accept Sarah's sketchy story for now. “So, do you have names picked out?”

“Not yet,” Sarah breathed a sigh of relief. Now that she'd gotten the worst of the announcements over with, she could move on.

And by the time the month was through, she'd turned her spare bedroom into a nursery. She'd filled the nursery closet with tiny clothes and read dozens of parenting books; anything to keep her mind busy. There wasn't a night that went by she didn't dream of Nico, some combination of unbridled passion and unspeakable horrors, and thinking of him still stung just as much as it had months ago. She had assumed her feelings for him would fade, having known him for such a short amount of time, but she loved him just as much now as she had then. Even worse, she had thought that being away from him would make her worry less, but she found herself scanning newspapers and tuning into the evening news, waiting to find out something horrible had happened to him.