Baby Steps

by Lily Zante

  Table of Contents

  Title Page

  Author’s Note

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 27

  Chapter 28

  Chapter 29

  Chapter 30

  Chapter 31

  Chapter 32

  Chapter 33

  Chapter 34

  Chapter 35

  Chapter 36

  Excerpt from It Takes Two

  Booklist

  Acknowledgements

  About The Author

  Baby Steps

  (Honeymoon Series, Book 5)

  Lily Zante

  Author’s Note

  ‘Baby Steps’ is the fifth and final book in the ‘Honeymoon Series’.

  I have also written a spin-off series called the ‘Italian Summer Series’ which tells the stories of some of the minor characters who first appeared in the ‘Honeymoon Series’.

  The timelines of both series are connected and you can find the recommended reading order here.

  Other books:

  Honeymoon Series:

  Honeymoon For One

  Honeymoon For Three

  Honeymoon Blues

  Honeymoon Bliss

  Baby Steps

  Honeymoon Series (Books 1-4)

  Italian Summer Series:

  (A spin-off from the Honeymoon Series)

  It Takes Two

  All That Glitters

  Fool’s Gold

  Roman Encounter

  November Sun

  New Beginnings

  Italian Summer Series (Books 1-4)

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  Chapter 1

  “Don’t tell me there might be a problem,” Nico snapped as he sat in his study, silently cursing to himself. He’d sneaked a call to his project manager, Bruno, while Elisabetta was sleeping. “Tell me you can do it, and then get it done.” He coughed, and then instinctively touched the side of his chest where the tube had been inserted. He was on the mend now and back to normal but it had been a long six weeks since his car accident.

  And he was still pissed.

  Pissed that the Cazale Ravenna, his new spa hotel, still wasn’t open for business, pissed because every moment it remained closed, it sucked up money, pissed because he needed to get back into the swing of things and it was impossible to concentrate on his work, to have conference calls, or business calls while everyone else was at home; his wife, his daughter, his mother-in-law and his housekeeper.

  Now, only two days into the New Year, he was more desperate than ever to get back to the Casa Adriana, the main family hotel and his main place of business.

  “All I’m saying is that we’re on a tight deadline as it is, especially if you still want to open next month. We’ve still got to re-paper, re-paint and re-plaster all the affected walls.”

  “We will open next month.”

  “We don’t even have a date for the next inspection, Nico. Those people take their time.”

  “I don’t care how difficult it is,” Nico replied through gritted teeth. “I just want it done. Use your contact.” Bruno’s friend in the health and safety department was the one who’d alerted them to why the hotel might have failed its safety check. Armando Vieri—his malicious ex-girlfriend’s new lover and a politician old enough to be her father—had meddled in things which were none of his business. Nico was sure of it, though he didn’t have the hard proof to back up his assumption.

  “Hear me out,” Bruno insisted. “You don’t want to mess up again.” There was a slight pause before he back tracked. “Not that you messed up—”

  “I didn’t mess up.” It wasn’t illegal to have old wiring. Nico had been told by his architects and builders that it was fine, but in hindsight, he should have had all bases covered. His father would have. But Edmondo wasn’t here now and this project—this supposed new offering in the Cazale chain of hotels—was something he had a lot riding on.

  His reputation for one thing. People were watching him, the press and business people. Nico was certain they were all waiting for him to fall flat on his face and because of that he was more determined than ever to prove them wrong.

  A lot had happened this year; meeting Ava, falling in love, his father’s death, his marriage and the subsequent birth of their daughter. Thankfully Elisabetta’s arrival had taken his mind off what had happened, and distracted him from the pain and inconvenience of his injuries. He’d nearly missed her birth because as he’d raced to the hospital upon learning that Ava had gone into labor.

  The car accident—completely his fault—could have been fatal and he might never have seen Elisabetta.

  All this he blamed on Silvia and Vieri. He had tried to put on a brave face about it but his resentment towards those vipers simmered not too far below the surface.

  “The inspectors will be stricter this time around,” Bruno warned, interrupting his train of thought. Nico pursed his lips tighter together. Forced to agree, he grunted. “Yes.” Bruno had a point. “Which is why you must ensure it’s done properly.” Nico lowered his head, contemplating events. Bruno was damn good at his job and more importantly, he wasn’t a ‘yes’ man. Nico didn’t need any more of those around. He wanted results and he wanted people who could do the job and Bruno was the right man for it.

  “Do your best,” said Nico, knowing that his irritation was misdirected. It wasn’t only the delay in the hotel’s opening that annoyed him. He hated not being able to do things at full capacity. He wasn’t used to being incapacitated. He was used to rushing around, being capable, having a body that was in peak fitness and while his recovery had been good, resting at home when so much needed to be done, had made him a brooding menace.

  For the first two weeks he’d been too weak and incapacitated to ponder on the recent turn of events. He’d had trouble breathing but at least he was alive. Elisabetta’s arrival had helped but those early weeks had been a blur.

  Elsa, his mother-in-law had arrived soon after and had been a huge help to them both and yet he wasn’t the only one who was trying to get back to normal. Ava was also recovering from the birth which hadn’t been easy.

  Their first Christmas together as a married couple had been quiet and they’d ushered in the New Year without any fanfare. But now that the holiday period was almost over, he felt the pressure starting to build up again. Each day the Cazale Ravenna remained closed, it was costing him money.

  He found himself caught up in the same vicious circle thinking the same vicious thoughts until Elisabetta’s soft cries caught his attention.

  “Is that Elisabetta?” Bruno asked.

  Nico exhaled slowly, a softness melting his tense body. “Yes,” he replied. It was his beautiful little girl.

  “She’s loud,” said Bruno, laughing.

  “She has a pair of lungs on her that would put me to shame,” Nico said as the baby’s cries grew louder.

  Bruno chuckled.

  “She can be a handful, sometimes, but she’s a beautiful handful.” These random bouts of crying that she would suddenly break into—Ava said it was ‘colic’—these were hard to d
eal with. But for the most part, he had enjoyed being at home; though the resentment he felt towards what had happened tainted his enjoyment of being a new father.

  Nico stepped out of his study and into the large hallway entrance, cocking his head towards the direction of the kitchen. During the day, Ava was usually downstairs and they would set the Moses basket in the part of the dining room that connected to the kitchen. Ava often set up her laptop on the large kitchen table.

  His irritation rose with the pitch of Elisabetta’s howls. Where was Ava? He hoped she wasn’t back on her computer in her study upstairs, sneaking a look at her emails. There was no need for her to work and he couldn’t understand why she insisted on it.

  Nico flexed his fingers. He couldn’t think amidst this noise and this, mixed in with him being cooped up at home for so long had made him jittery. Impatient. Frustrated. He walked into the dining room and Elisabetta’s cries amplified.

  “It sounds like you need to go,” Bruno offered. “We can talk about this tomorrow.”

  Nico shook his head. How was he supposed to get his business back in order when he couldn’t even think in peace? “We need to discuss this properly,” Nico said making a decision there and then. “I’ll come by on Monday.”

  “Already?” Bruno sounded surprised. “Shouldn’t you be resting?”

  “Any more rest will kill me,” said Nico, just as Elisabetta’s cries turned into a whimper.

  “Don’t put yourself through the headache, Nico. I’ve got everything under control.”

  “I’m sure you have.”

  “I can keep you updated.”

  “I know,” replied Nico. “But I’ll be over all the same.” He wasn’t surprised that his project manager didn’t sound keen for him to show up on site. They’d had over a month without him and he was anxious to see for himself how they were getting on. The cellphone recordings of the work in progress that Bruno often sent him, and the daily updates didn’t give Nico peace of mind.

  “You’re the boss,” said Bruno and Nico wandered into the kitchen.

  “And don’t you forget it,” he said. “I’ll see you on Monday.” He hung up and stared at Ava. She was sitting at the kitchen table with the laptop in front of her and the baby at her breast.

  Chapter 2

  “That’s better, isn’t it?” Ava cooed softly. She looked up to find Nico watching her. “She needs feeding every two hours,” she told him.

  “She does,” he said, a half-smile settling on his face as he looked out of the kitchen window.

  Did the sight of her breastfeeding put him off that much?

  She couldn’t dispute that he was attentive and caring but she was still silently disappointed. She had expected more. She had expected him to have been more hands on, warmer and more considerate. She had tried to be the same for him. Outwardly nothing had changed much, but she sensed a subtle shift in him which was getting harder to blame on his accident and business problems.

  “She was crying for a while,” he said. “Where were you?”

  “In the shower.” Where were you? “Helena was here when I left. She’s probably sorting out the laundry.” Having their housekeeper around, as well as her mother meant more eyes and ears on the baby.

  “I was on a call with Bruno,” he explained.

  “More updates?” He was always on the phone to Gina or Bruno; most of the time it didn’t feel as though he was really here for her.

  “You know how it is,” said Nico. Yes, she knew exactly how it was. He was here in body but he might as well have been at work for the amount of time he spent brooding and mulling over business matters. “I’ll need to go to Ravenna on Monday.”

  “Don’t you think you’re taking too much on?” But even as she posed the question she knew it was futile to ask this of a man who always took too much on. The fact that he was recovering from his accident hadn’t seemed to slow him down in any way. “I mean you’re still not—”

  “I need to go in, Ava. I can’t sit around waiting for the business to collapse.”

  “Nico,” she murmured softly, sensing his resentment and trying to make him see that things weren’t as dire as he thought. “Your business isn’t about to collapse. You need to get well first.”

  “I am well,” he said, tapping his fingers on the worktop. She didn’t understand why he couldn’t take this time off and spend it with them without worrying about his hotel. Too much had happened in the last few months and while she understood his anger and frustration, she had expected that the arrival of their first child would have made him realize that there was much to be thankful for.

  She’d hoped to have a wonderful Christmas and New Year and while it had been different, having a new baby and being in a different country, the festive season hadn’t quite lived up to her expectations. Her husband didn’t make a good patient and his obvious frustration which stemmed from work matters made him moody. He wasn’t the same Nico she knew, the man she had fallen in love with. These days he seemed more of a desperate man constrained by the limitations of his healing body and eager for the hotel to be operational as soon as possible.

  It was as if he couldn’t make allowances for his recovery, nor see the point of slowing down and obeying the doctor’s orders.

  In the days after they’d come home from the hospital, he had been a walking, barely talking, simmering well of resentment. She understood that the root of his anger had been his former girlfriend, Silvia Azzarone, and her new lover, the ageing dinosaur of a politician, Armando Vieri. Nico blamed them for meddling in his affairs, for somehow influencing the decisions of the safety department and of having a hand in failing the safety check on his soon-to-be-opened spa hotel.

  She didn’t know what to believe and many times she feared that her husband was becoming obsessed by his ambitious grand plans.

  What she resented the most was that he seemed to be taking out his frustrations on her. She didn’t like this side to him, and it unnerved her, as a new mother who was herself frazzled and overwhelmed by the demands of a new baby. She, too, was busy with her online business. Sales had exploded and she could no more shut down her business than Nico could walk away from his hotel problems, but she didn’t let her business pressures determine her moods.

  “Can’t you take it easy for one more week?” she asked. “Work part-time hours again, if only for this week.” That’s all she was asking. He’d been going into work for one to two days each week before Christmas but he also spent most of the time conducting business from home.

  Like her, he never switched off completely. He usually spent the mornings in his ground floor study, while she brought her laptop into the kitchen and flitted around, tending to the baby while keeping an eye on things. But in the afternoons, once the US office opened, she moved her laptop to her own study upstairs and tried to work there, stealing pockets of time while Elisabetta napped.

  “I can’t sit around any longer, Ava. I have a business to run and I can’t leave it all to Gina. We open next month and I can’t have another delay. I can’t. I need to be there.”

  Elsa kept telling her that a lack of sleep and tiredness from tending to a new baby would be difficult, that it would bring out the worst in her if she wasn’t careful and that it would cloud her judgment, but Nico’s sour moods were beginning to wear her down. She tried to remember her mom’s advice but it wasn’t always easy, especially when her husband always seemed to be more concerned about his business than his wife and child.

  “Sit around?” Her indignation flared. “You say it as if it were a prison sentence, spending time at home with me and the baby.”

  “That’s not what I meant,” he answered, taking a step towards her as she switched her baby to the other breast.

  He cleared his throat and turned his head away. “You’re busy. I’ll let you feed her first.” Once more she felt as if the sight of her feeding Elisabetta repulsed him and the thought upset her even more.

  “Do you want to do the next feed
?” she offered. “I expressed some milk earlier.” She wanted to see if he would turn and look at her again but he continued to stare at the floor instead.

  “Okay.” But his voice was flat, and she feared that he had no interest. It left her feeling even more disillusioned. What had she been hoping for? That there would be lots of time for them to talk and grow closer? That they would spend their days counting their blessings and being thankful for this beautiful new chapter in their life? Here she was, a frumpy woman in a loose fitting maternity top—she felt increasingly insecure, unsure and unattractive. Once more she came back to the thing that gnawed at her the most whenever she felt low—she’d only known Nico a year and in that year they’d already had more life changes than most people experienced in five. She’d known Connor for years before he’d shown his true colors. Could it be that she was seeing Nico’s true colors now? Worse, had she made the same mistake again?

  Her mother had been right. Her tiredness and constant fretting over Elisabetta kept her nerves frayed. She didn’t allow herself to rest either and whenever the baby slept, she’d use that time to work. But she had to put on a brave face, needing to show her mother and Nico that it was easy to juggle the baby with her business; to do otherwise would be to fail. She sensed that both her mother and Nico disapproved of her constant attention to the business.

  She stared down at Elisabetta’s mass of dark hair and touched it softly. Her baby made sucking noises, and Ava felt the heaviness in her breasts slowly drain away. He rubbed his brow and made to walk away. “I need to get back into it. I wish you would understand.”

  “I’m trying to.”

  “Maybe later, when it’s all running smoothly. When Elisabetta’s a little older maybe we can take some time away for a family vacation.”

  “Maybe,” she said, watching him walk away. He’d dismissed her concerns easily and wasn’t interested in slowing down. He’d taken too much on. Not only did he now have full responsibility for the string of hotels his father had left him, but this new venture of his—the spa hotel—consumed all of his time and energy. Something new, he said. Something different. Something his father hadn’t tried before. She was all too aware of her husband’s high ambitions and his raging desire to prove that he was capable of running his father’s empire as well as his father had, but he had nothing to prove to anyone.