by Lily Zante
“I know. But I bet only a small percentage of those business owners are pregnant and planning to get married in a few months, on top of everything else.”
“You’re not getting cold feet?”
“Never,” she turned her lips to his and let him kiss her. He rested his hand over her soft stomach and kissed her deeply. She almost moaned with disappointment when he pulled away; her hormones had just begun to do the happy dance.
“Good,” he murmured, and she saw the fire in his eyes, his lips slightly open, and loved being here, in this moment. “I don’t want you to be worried, or have regrets about anything.”
“I don’t have any regrets. I’m not complaining. I’m overwhelmed, that’s all. I love that I’m marrying you. But I’m trying to decide what I need to do.”
“What do you need? I can help.”
She paused. He couldn’t help and she didn’t want to distract him from his own work. “I don’t think I can fly to the US until a few months after the baby is born.”
“Of course not.”
“And even though I have two helpers now it’s snowballing out of control.”
“It’s not the only thing getting out of control,” he murmured, with a look that sent her pulse soaring.
She giggled as he kissed her belly.
“It’s a good problem to have, but not for someone who is almost halfway through her pregnancy; it will get harder, and I would rather you take it easy. Have you considered giving up work completely?” She was horrified by his suggestion and it showed for he said quickly. “Just until the baby is born. You could wind things down perhaps?”
This wasn’t what she’d expected. Usually, his advice was what got her through her difficult times. “But Nico, this is what I’ve been working for. This is what I put my heart and soul into.” Besides, she wouldn’t know how to slow things down. They’d taken off on their own it seemed like. She didn’t know how to slow it down, even if that was an option for her.
“I know you’ve worked hard and I’m not asking you to give it up forever but looking at you I can see you’re exhausted. And look at your feet, they look a little swollen.”
“That’s just being pregnant,” she said. “The heat and sitting at my desk all day.” He moved down to the other side of the bed and took her feet into his hands.
“Don’t,” she cried out, embarrassed that after a whole day her feet would be sweaty and smelly. She’d much rather he fixated his efforts at the other end of her body where he’d been just now. But he ignored her and, oh goodness, his fingers and thumbs gently massaging the soles of her feet made her mewl in ecstasy. The man had a magic touch when it came to using his fingers.
“I want you to take care of yourself.”
“I do. I have naps during the day. This was a nap.” Though she was happy to be wide awake again and looked forward to him showing her exactly how much he’d missed her. She hoped it would be soon.
“Andrea told me you nearly fell asleep at the desk in her warehouse the other day.”
“I’m fine, Nico. Really I am. This baby means the world to me.”
“I’ll support you but you can’t put the baby at risk.”
“I don’t intend to but you’re one to talk,” she said sullenly. “The only difference between you and me is I’m the one carrying the baby. You’re working harder than ever.”
“That’s because I want to get the hotel up running and operational by November.”
“You killing yourself to get that done isn’t going to help us,” she countered. “I can’t have the baby born any other time believe me if I could I would.” She stopped talking and instead enjoyed the pressure of his thumbs into the ball of her foot. “November’s already a busy time as it is and you have enough going on what with the new hotel.”
“You don’t have to worry about the new hotel. That’s my problem, not yours.”
“Is it a problem?” She asked. He didn’t burden her too much with what was going on with him but sometimes she caught a snippet of his conversation while he was on the phone to the architects and the builders, or the bank manager, and she knew things weren’t easy.
“The building works are taking longer than I thought.” Sometimes he stayed in Ravenna for a day or two during the week, in order to oversee the building work. He didn’t like being away at all from her, but sometimes he had no choice in the matter.
“Do you think it might be better to postpone the opening to sometime next year?”
She already saw the defenses in his eyes come down; it was like a barricade he had erected, almost as if he was tuning her words out. He had no intention of considering a postponement of dates. She knew why he was so adamant. He felt he owed it to Edmondo; it had been the thing his father had been proud of and Nico felt that he had to honor his father’s memory by opening on time.
He shook his head, as she knew he would. “It will be fine. These things always happen. Nothing ever runs smoothly, Ava. That’s why being a business person requires balls of steel. Just as you’re finding now. It’s never smooth sailing. But we figure out ways to get over the hurdles. I’ll take care of it.”
He might think he could take care of it but looking at him, she could see that it was taking a toll on his health. Dark shadows below his eyes gave him a gaunt look. She ran her fingers through his hair and then brought her fingers down along the side of his face until they finally came to rest along his lips.
He kissed them.
“I’m excited about the baby; I’m excited about the hotel too. I just wish that my father was here,” he told her, and his expression turned solemn.
“I know.” She propped herself up on her forearms. “I miss your father too. We all do. He would have loved this.”
Nico shrugged and changed the subject as she knew he would. She often caught him sitting in Edmondo’s office for hours. Gina had said the same and she didn’t like to question him about it because she figured it was his way of thinking about his father.
“If Kim and Rona are having problems getting on and the US side is expanding, then maybe it’s not a good idea to start up the European side just yet. Focus on one thing: products, sourcing, and getting the orders out. Don’t take on too much too fast. Do one thing properly, not many small things badly.”
She considered his suggestion. If she put a stop to getting the Italian site up, then she could concentrate solely on the US, but it didn’t completely solve the nightmare of Rona and Kim.
“What if you asked Kim to work more days and got Rona to help you in something else? Kept her completely out of that loop?”
“I was already thinking along those lines.” Ava could find plenty for her to do. She could even train her up to deal with the website maintenance, and get her to help with other time consuming tasks such as retouching product images.
He turned serious again and sat up, with his legs dangling off the bed.
“If you delegate enough work to Rona to do from home, you’d free yourself up to concentrate on other issues and separate the two of them.” He had a point because Kim by herself managed to send out about twenty-five percent more orders than Rona was able to, in the same time frame. Plus, Kim was also dealing with customer queries.
“I was thinking more along the lines of getting her over,” said Ava.
Nico looked puzzled for a moment. “Here?” He asked, then shrugged. “If it would help you, why not?”
“She could help in many ways.”
“Good,” he said. “We’ll worry about the warehouse later. Once the baby is born, I’ll help you where I can.”
“How can you help?” she asked, getting excited by the way his fingers traced along her bare arms. “You have enough on your plate.”
“Not when it comes to you. I will make time.”
She knew what it was she could do. If she asked Rona to come over a month or so before the wedding, then Elsa wouldn’t be bogged down with so many childminding duties either. It would give her mom time to re
cover, and resolve the problem with Kim and Rona working together.
“Thanks,” said Ava.
“For what?” he asked, slowly letting his gaze roam around her blossoming body. He was doing that undressing with his eyeballs thing he did so well.
“For listening. For advice.”
He smiled.
“Would the pensione be available?”
His gaze had dropped down to her cleavage. “You’ve grown,” he said, licking his lips and reaching out to stroke her breasts.
“Nico!” she said, trying to get his attention. “Will the pensione be available?”
“Yes,” he said, looking at her hungrily. He’d say yes to anything right now.
“Then I’ll suggest to Rona that she—” but he’d already leaned in and hooked his hand behind her neck, then moved in to seal her lips with his, his kiss hot and urgent, and full of promises.
Chapter 9
“How come you’re now asking us to record the number of packages we’re sending out each day?” Rona complained. “Is this her idea?”
“Whose? You mean Kim’s? No,” insisted Ava. “It’s mine. I need to measure everything.”
“Why?” asked Rona. Not that she had anything to hide, but this meant she’d have to note everything down. Everything. It wouldn’t surprise her if her sister installed CCTV cameras to monitor her every move. She’d have to cut down on the amount of time she spent watching TV and catching up on her soaps.
Rona thought she heard her sister cough lightly. “I have to get all my metrics in place so that I have the data to balance our workload.”
Ava didn’t trust her. That’s what it was. Rona rested a hand on her hip and considered having a few words with Kim.
“You never had to do that before. What’s changed?”
“Do you have a problem with your rate of output?” Ava asked her.
“Do you?”
“Like I told you, I need to see how long everything takes. I have to start putting procedures in place.”
Neither of them said anything.
“Mom’s got high blood pressure,” announced Ava, completely off-topic.
“She seems okay to me,” remarked Rona.
“No, it’s definitely high. She finally went to the doctor.”
“And what did he say?” It seemed odd to Rona that she was hearing news about her mother who lived not more than a fifteen-minute drive away, from her sister who was on another continent.
“It’s one eighty over ninety.”
“Is that high?”
“It’s very high.”
“Oh.”
“She’s on medication, but we need to keep an eye on her diet and exercise.”
“Oh, don’t worry about that. Tori gives her plenty of exercise.”
“I’m sure she does,” retorted Ava. Rona wasn’t sure if that was a hint of sarcasm in her words. “How are you and Carlos?”
“We’re good, why?” she asked suspiciously. “He’s working all the hours as usual.”
“Are things okay between you both?”
“Why wouldn’t they be?” She wondered if her mother had said anything to Ava.
“No reason.”
“We’ve been married nearly seven years. The novelty soon wears off.” Rona told her. It’ll happen to you, too.
Ava cleared her throat. “How would you feel if I…” Her sister hesitated and Rona’s hopes began to soar. She wondered if she was due for a promotion or a salary increase. Or, hopefully, both.
“If I asked you to come over here a little earlier than August.”
“Earlier?” Rona’s spirits inflated at the idea of being back in Verona.
“I won’t be able to make a trip to the US until after the baby’s born.”
Good luck with that, thought Rona, gleefully, knowing that Ava had no idea of the disruption that would come her way soon once that little thing escaped out into the world.
“What did you have in mind?” Rona’s ears were on alert for Ava’s suggestion but in her mind she was already sitting at Gioberti’s enjoying a crisp white wine and a Caesar salad.
“If it wouldn’t be too much to ask, and only if you want to—it would help me if you came over here—”
“For wedding help?”
“Uh…not exactly. I was thinking more along the lines of you helping me out with sourcing products. If I could train you to update the website, prices, retouch the images. I’m a little behind, what with my wrist injury. I’m trying to catch up, but the wedding is not far away. And then the baby, and it’s…too much.”
She heard the anxiety in Ava’s voice and noted that her sister sounded slightly overwhelmed. Perhaps she wasn’t the assured and confident woman Rona had her down for.
“But it’s really busy over here right now. I don’t think Kim will be able to get all the orders out on time if she’s the only one here.”
“True,” said Ava, slowly. “But I was looking for you to put together the process of how you deal with orders. Maybe put together a procedures manual—since you know the order process so well. Only you could do that. It would help me to have you nearby when it comes to re-ordering stock and looking at new products. You’ve handled the products and you know them better than I do. If it’s too much for you—don’t worry.”
“No, no, it’s not too much.” Rona had already considered and accepted her sister’s idea. The things she didn’t want was to deal with were the website or anything to do with figures, both of which were guaranteed to make her head hurt. Packaging was easy. Reading orders was a breeze. She was more of a hands on person. “I can’t do website stuff.”
“I’ll teach you. It’s not too hard.”
“Can’t Kim do that?”
“She’ll be doing the orders and dealing with customers.”
It looked as though she wasn’t going to get out of it. “Do you think Kim can handle it by herself?”
“I think so.”
“Do you trust her? With your apartment and Connor’s garage?”
“Of course. She looked after my business when I first went to Italy. Why don’t you think about it and discuss it with Carlos, then let me know?”
Rona was far too excited. “When did you want me to come over?”
“I was hoping you could come in the next few weeks, whenever you are able to.”
“I’ll have to bring Tori with me.”
“Of course,” said Ava, in a what-else-did-you-think voice.
Rona’s heart leapt for joy. Verona was within her reach…and summer days beckoned. Perhaps even the allure of love and romance again…
The way she saw it life was giving her a second chance to make the most of her opportunities.
“A few weeks?” She was looking good. She’d just had her hair done; maybe she could go shopping for summer clothes, with the extra money she had earned.
“Obviously you’ll need to discuss it with Carlos.”
“Obviously,” Rona replied, already feeling like a bird let out of a cage. As far as she was concerned she was going. Whatever Carlos thought or said didn’t factor into her final decision.
Chapter 10
Carlos had noticed a subtle change in his wife.
Sometimes she was so up and down that he couldn’t work out the cause of her mood swings. He couldn’t put it down to her periods since she was constantly miserable, the slightest thing set her off and it lasted more than a week.
If he thought about it, she was like this most of the time. She would be moody one minute and then happy the next, demanding one minute then distant the next.
It was as if she couldn’t make up her mind how she wanted to be. He’d noticed this change ever since her return from Verona. Sometimes he suspected that she had something on her mind but when he questioned her she didn’t say anything.
Nothing had changed as far as he could tell. But at the same time something had changed. He was lost and mystified, and none the wiser. He couldn’t figure out what he was doing
wrong since he worked harder than ever just so that he could provide for them all.
His wife liked nice things, not too fancy, because they couldn’t afford real fancy, but a few nice clothes for her and the baby, some evenings out, her hair appointments and that was about it. She didn’t ask for much.
But he still liked to give her what he could.
She’d been mad at him for missing out on that date night she’d planned, but the thing was, he’d completely forgotten about it and he’d already agreed to help out with the party booking that night. Truth was, most days he was so exhausted by the time he got home that he fell asleep the moment his head hit the pillow.
She got mad at the smallest of things—even when he hadn’t noticed her latest haircut. She looked good—to him she always looked great.
He tried to come home early some nights so that he could spend more time with his girls. It seemed harder to find that time lately especially with Rona working for her sister. His days off were spent looking after Tori and while he loved having her to himself, it meant that the time he and Rona had together became even more limited. At first it started off as being a couple of hours but lately, she seemed to spend the whole day there.
This newer, moodier, discontent Rona was hard to live with. He wished she’d go back to being the feisty little tigress he’d fallen in love with. She wore the pants around the house, only because he let her think she did. She could be a little thoughtless at times but he knew her bark was worse than her bite. Though her being so downright moody and miserable had got him thinking. Maybe news of Ava’s pregnancy had gotten her feeling broody again. It was something to consider.
He was determined to get to the bottom of it and had decided that he’d order a takeout when she got back. Meanwhile, he’d bought her favorite wine and had straws. She had this thing about drinking it through a straw because she didn’t want to stain her teeth.
So he got Tori fed and bathed by the time she would be back. He didn’t know what time that would be because whenever he called her she’d be so busy and tell him she couldn’t talk. She had too many orders to sort out.
In the end, sensing her irritability he left it to her. He could wait.