Chapter 2
Mila sat on a park bench outside Conroy Limited. Her rolling suitcase sat on the grass nearby with her laptop case on top. She crossed her legs and folded her arms over her chest. She gazed out at the ducks gliding over the lake.
This was just flippin' great. This was the absolute capper to three years of lucrative contract work with one of New York's most powerful billionaires, and it had to go and end like this.
What was he thinking? How could he propose she have his baby, just like that, just like any other contact? What did he think she was—some high-priced hooker he could snap his fingers and get on her knees at his feet?
Sure, he was drop dead gorgeous. Sure, his wealth and power and magnetic personality made him mind-blowingly attractive. He knew better than anybody how many women would cave at his beck and call. They would do anything for him. They would jump at the offer of $250,000 to have his baby. They would probably do it for free.
So why did he have to go picking on her? Why did he have to pick the one woman in his life who wouldn't cave at his feet whenever he snapped his fingers? She didn't have to ask. He picked her because she wouldn't cave. He couldn't respect those women. He could respect her. She did her work. She never let his attractiveness or his power or his magnetic personality distract her from getting the job done. She conducted her affairs as a professional. He didn't want some high-priced hooker, and she wasn't one.
Still, he didn't have to go and blow her whole employment situation out of the water with this lunatic scheme of his. He could have given her some other decent contract and sent her on her way. Now what was she going to do? She would have to spend God knows how long finding another stupid frickin' job.
Just then, her phone twinkled. She flipped it on. “Hello, Mom. How are ya?”
The familiar voice rose to a metallic screech on the other end of the line. “I'm so sorry, honey. I know you must be very busy right now. I know you're always busy at this time of the day.”
“Don't worry, Mom. Actually, I'm not busy at all right now.”
“You have to come home, darling. You have to come home right away.”
“What's going on, Mom? What's wrong?”
“It's your father. He's in the hospital.”
Mila froze. “What happened?”
“He had a massive heart attack. He was out mowing the lawn yesterday and he collapsed. I was at the Ladies' Service meeting in Hayworth. I didn't get home and find him until this morning. He's in ICU, and he's hooked up to every machine you can imagine. They don't expect him to last long. You have to come home right away. I don't even know if he'll last until you get here.”
Mila already moved the phone away from her mouth. “I'm on my way, Mom. I'll be there as soon as I can.”
Mila hung up. She snatched her suitcase handle and slung her laptop case over her shoulder. She set off at a fast clip through the park with her mind whirring in a dozen directions. With one quick glance, she scanned the surrounding neighborhood. She flagged a taxi. “Take me to the nearest car rental shop.”
A few minutes later, she slapped her credit card down on the counter. “Give me a car fast. I don't care what it is. I have to get on the road pronto.”
The young man behind the counter raised his eyebrows. “Okay. You can have that Lexus out there, but it will cost you.”
“I don't care what it costs. My father is dying. I have to get on the road now. Ring it up and give me the keys.”
The guy flew into action. In five minutes, he handed the keys across the counter. “Just bring it back with the gas tank full.”
Mila waved over her shoulder. “No problem. See you soon. Thanks a million.”
She skidded out of the parking lot and hit the highway. She cruised at ten points above the speed limit all the way down the Jersey turnpike until she came to the hospital. She threw the car into park and jogged up the stairs to her tearful mother.
Once she got into the hospital, all the rushing stopped on a dime. She held her mother, then her sister, and finally her aunt. They sat around the waiting room, waiting, waiting, and waiting some more. Nothing happened. Her father's health didn't improve and he didn't die. He just lingered.
After ten hours of waiting, Mila took a walk. She strolled down to the parking lot to buy another parking ticket. She took as long as she could before she went back to the room. She couldn't look at her father lying in the bed with tubes coming out of every orifice. He wouldn't come out of this, and everybody knew it. He might as well be dead.
She got back to find her mother sitting alone outside the room. The old lady stared down at the phone in her hand. She didn't notice Mila sit down next to her. Mila laid a hand on her mother's shoulder. “Are you okay, Mom? Why don't you let me take you home? You need some sleep and a hot meal.”
Her mother didn't look up. “That was your brother Charlie.”
“Yeah? When is he getting in?”
“He's not getting in. He's already here. He's been here all along. He's down at the house.”
“What's he doing there? He should be here with us.”
“He was here this morning before you came. He went to the house to find your father's will. Your father kept his will and mine in a special file folder in his filing cabinet.”
“Did Charlie find it?”
“He found it. He also found a lot of other papers. That's what he just called about.”
“Did he say something that bothered you? Did he find something in Dad's papers that shouldn't be there?”
Mila's mother turned her damp old eyes up to Mila's face. “That's what he just called to tell me. Your father prospected in real estate, but he never told me about it. We owned that house you grew up in for forty years. We worked our tails off to pay it off so we would never have to worry about losing it in our old age.”
“That's good, then. You've got that security if Dad dies.”
“Don't you see, Mila? Your father mortgaged the house to stake an investment in a real estate development. The development went bust. He used his pension to make the mortgage payments so I would never find out. We don't own more than $10,000 dollars equity on the house. I thought I would grow old and die in that house, but if your father dies now, I've got nothing. I'll be out on the streets.”
Mila jumped out of her chair. She paced back and forth in front of her father's hospital room. “How much do you owe on it?”
“$200,000. There's no way on God's green earth I can come up with that kind of money, and my retirement doesn't cover the mortgage payments. Charlie just found out everything going through your father's filing cabinet. He just told me. I'm finished, Mila. I'm penniless.”
Mila spotted her aunt and sister coming down the hall. She had to think fast. She dropped into the chair next to her mother. “There must be a way to make those payments.”
“I couldn't make the payments. I couldn't even afford to pay rent on a tiny apartment if I had to move out of the house. My retirement pays me $700 a month. That's not enough to survive on.”
Mila's aunt and sister stopped in front of the waiting area chairs. “What's going on?”
A piercing siren interrupted them. Mila leaped out of her chair. Everyone crowded around the room where doctors and nurses and orderlies rushed hither and thither. Even as Mila and her family watched, they all noticed the hospital staff moving slower and slower until everyone kept still. They stared down at the lifeless form in the bed. The EKG line flattened to nothing until a nurse turned it off. They turned away to the window with a shake of their heads. Mila's father was dead.
Mila grasped her mother's hand. “Don't worry, Mom. Everything's gonna be all right. Stay in the house. I'm gonna find a way to work this out for you.”
Her mother's head shot up. “What do you mean? What are you going to do?”
Mila shook her head. “I have to go now. Just stay in the house. Keep going on with all the arrangements as if you didn't owe that money. I'll work it out for you. Don't worry.”
“How? How could you get that money? Don't tell me you're going to do something illegal.”
“I'm not going to do anything illegal. You can trust me. Just make the arrangements and call me when you schedule the funeral. I have to go work out this debt thing. Just trust me. I've got it under control.”
“Are you sure? You're scaring me, Mila.”
She smiled down into her mother's face. She couldn't let this beloved person down. “I'm sure. Everything's going to be okay. You'll have your house. You have nothing to worry about.”
Mila rushed out of the hospital. Even before she finished speaking to her mother, she knew exactly what she had to do. She phoned Marcus, and he invited her to meet him in his office. She found him in exactly the same spot. He eyed her up and down like she never left. “I've been thinking about your contract, and I've decided to accept it.”
His eyebrows shot up. “What made you change your mind?”
“That's my business. I only have one favor to ask you. I'm asking this as a courtesy to me based on three years of service to your company. I wouldn't ask you to do this if I wasn't facing extreme circumstances, but I need this.”
“Name it.”
“I want you to reverse the payment structure. I want you to pay me the $100,000 after successful establishment of the pregnancy and the $50,000 on delivery. I'm really sorry about this. I understand if you don't want to do it, but you know you can trust me to go all the way through on this contract. I won't violate your trust. I just need the money for something personal, and I need it now.”
“All right. No problem. You can have the money right now if it helps.” He plucked the contract out of his drawer and scribbled on it with his pen. “There. It's all set. I just need your signature.”
She moved toward the desk and held out her hand for the pen, but he yanked it back. “I don't like you accepting this under duress, Mila. I never thought I'd ask anyone to have my baby in answer to extreme financial hardship. I don't like it. I don't really want to go through with it under those circumstances.”
Mila hung her head. She couldn't meet his gaze. She stared down at the carpet. “Please, Marcus, don't back out on this now. I need this money. If I have to have your baby to get it, I'll do it. I can think of a lot worse ways to get money, and a lot of other people are relying on me. Please don't change your mind, now that I finally agreed to it.”
He sized her up with his glinting eyes. “All right, Mila. I know I can trust you, and your years of service to me and my company have earned you this at least. Sign here, and I'll see you back here bright and early tomorrow morning for our first visit to the clinic.”