by CC MacKenzie
"Falling in love is not easy, my friend."
Sean nodded. "At least Ana loves you back."
Olivier looked thoughtful for a moment, opened his mouth and then closed it before he spoke, "T.C. has been badly hurt by something that happened in the past."
Sean gave him a steady stare. "What?"
Olivier shook his head, his brow creased as he considered. "I do not know. Those three keep secrets. They are a tight knit group. It takes them time to trust."
Sean received the message loud and clear.
He'd need plenty of patience to get close to Theresa Catliff, to discover what made her tick. It wasn't as if he had a lot of choice, not now there was the baby involved.
"What are you going to do?" Oliver asked the question that had been dancing on the edge of Sean's mind for hours.
"Marry her of course."
Olivier's eyes went wide. "Good luck with that plan."
Sean nodded. "Thanks. Something tells me I'm gonna need all the luck I can get."
***
"I hate hospitals," T.C. said.
Ana rubbed her hand. "I know the feeling. But, you're in the best possible place for you and the baby."
T.C.'s eyes stung. "I'm so scared," she whispered.
Danni leaned in to give her a hug. "I know, babe. We're all scared for you. But, Ana's right."
T.C. clutched Danni's hand and stared at the empty ring finger.
Oh no.
Her gaze clicked to Danni's pale face and the desperate sadness in her hazel eyes.
"Omigod," she whispered.
Ana frowned. "What?" Then her blue eyes registered the problem. "What happened?"
Danni's eyes filled even as she shook her head. "This isn't the place—"
T.C. couldn't believe Danni's selflessness at times. "Of course it fucking is."
Danni's slim shoulders slumped. "I found Pascale kissing another woman."
"Where? When?" Ana demanded, her face fierce.
"At your engagement party."
Ana's jaw dropped. "No way!"
"Yup."
T.C. eyes narrowed as she studied Danni's hard mouth. "Who?"
Danni took a deep breath and then her gaze met her friend's. "My mother."
Cue a stunned silence.
"I do not fucking believe it."
Danni whipped out her phone, found the pictures and video Linda had shared and shared it with the best friends in the whole wide world. Friends who stood by one another through whatever shit life threw.
Right now, her friends were slack-jawed and wide-eyed as, heads close together, they studied the damning evidence.
Ana sat back in the chair and folded her arms. "I simply will never understand what the hell it is Gillian has over men. The woman is like catnip to them."
T.C. held Danni's phone and watched it again, her brow creased. "This is so fucking weird. Honestly, these days I feel as if I'm living in the Twilight Zone."
Danni plucked the phone out of her hand, switched it off and dropped it into her bag.
She'd no intention of telling them that Pascale had made the first move by calling her this morning, or that her mother had sent her a letter filled with the biggest bunch of emotional lying bullshit she'd ever read.
Apparently, according to her voicemail, Pascale wanted to see her to explain.
Well, she wasn't interested in anything either her mother or her ex-fiancée had to say.
Her heart might be broken, but she refused to be destroyed.
Hadn't she seen how her poor father had suffered years of torment after believing the emotional blackmail and lies? How many times had he taken her mother back and then had his trust and his heart broken again and again?
Therapists often say a family history repeated itself when it came to intimate relationships.
Well, what happened to her father was not going to happen to her.
As far as Danni Pebbles was concerned, her short-lived liaison with Pascale Wolfe was over.
End of.
T.C. lay back in her bed and studied the faces of her best friends, thought about the Big Mess she'd made of her life and poor Danni's even bigger Big Mess.
She narrowed her eyes when her gaze rested on a rather pensive looking Ana.
"Okay, Banana. Spit it out. What's going on with you?"
Dark head bowed, Ana's fingers plucked at the blanket on the bed. "I haven't said anything to Olivier about it because I wanted to be sure."
Uh-oh.
T.C. knew that tone. "Sure of what?"
Ana lifted her head and her eyes flicked from one to the other.
"I'm pregnant."
They all knew Anastacia Morgan had a life plan.
A plan which had been totally derailed when she'd met Olivier.
These days, Olivier came first, then her career and then marriage.
And in a dim and distant future, far far away, maybe a family.
Maybe.
Danni's mouth made an O shape as she watched emotions fill Ana's eyes and tip over.
T.C. knew the feeling.
Hell, she was emotional herself.
"Are those happy tears?" T.C. demanded.
Ana shook her head. "I don't know," she whispered.
"Holy Mary, Mother of God," Danni whispered.
"Amen, sista," T.C. whispered back.
CHAPTER NINETEEN
"You are very quiet, bella."
Ana lay on a lounger on the balcony of their apartment. The night was balmy. Stars glittered like diamonds tossed upon a black velvet sky. Far below, the sounds of a busy City going about its business ebbed and flowed on a gentle breeze.
Olivier set a couple of glasses of wine on the small coffee table, lifted her legs, sat and placed them on his lap.
When they'd arrived home, they'd changed into what Ana called their cozy clothes.
In her case, blue jeans gone soft at the seams and a cotton vest, while Olivier wore knee length cargo shorts and a tatty T-shirt. The thought crossed her mind that they were already acting like an old married couple. The scary part was that it felt right.
"I'm sad for Danni and I'm sad she didn't tell me sooner."
"I find it hard to believe Pascale would do such a thing. He is deeply in love with Danni. I wonder if judgment was passed without knowing all the facts. I always regretted jumping to the wrong conclusion with you."
Ana frowned. "Thing is, Gillian has always been malicious. But this time she's taken her unhealthy obsession with Danni's love life too far."
He rubbed the sole of her bare foot. "I do not understand."
"When Danni was dating her first boyfriend, her father found him and her mother in bed together. The boy was sixteen."
"Mio dio," Olivier whispered.
"And that's not the worst of it, either. It's taken Danni's father, Tom, a long time to begin to live anything like a normal life. But he still can't seem to let Gillian go. Some people in this world are simply toxic. They live to create drama."
Olivier's mouth curved as he placed a kiss on the arch of her foot. "We like a quiet life."
She narrowed her eyes. "I led a perfectly quiet life, until I met you."
He regarded her with steady eyes. "You worry for T.C."
It was a statement rather than a question.
"I am worried. We're all worried. Did you see Sean? He's crazy about her."
"Si. I did not see that relationship coming."
"Me neither. I think he'll be good for her."
Ana knew the time had come to destroy any peace and quiet they'd found in their lives. Although she also understood that there was a deep excitement brewing in her heart. Olivier was a family man through and through. He'd be happy when she told him the news.
Wouldn't he?
When Oliver sprawled on top of her to kiss her senseless, Ana let him have his way. Until his searching hands slid beneath her top to cup bare breasts. When her breath hitched with incredible pleasure, she eased him back to stare into the d
evastatingly handsome face of the man she loved beyond all reason.
Oliver Conti was beautiful inside and out.
She rubbed her knuckles over his manly scruff, then ran her fingers through his hair.
All the while the love for her in his eyes was clear to see.
"I have a surprise for you," she whispered.
Dark brows rose and his mouth curved. "Si? Is it a good surprise?"
Aware her heart was beating too fast, she bit down hard on her bottom lip to stop its sudden tremble.
No matter what she did, she couldn't stop the sting in her eyes. "I hope so."
The emotions swimming there made him blink. "Tell me, cara mia."
"I'm pregnant."
Between one heartbeat and the next, he was on his feet and staring at her face, then his gaze dropped to her flat belly and back to her face.
"Truly?" he whispered.
When she read the stunned belief and sheer joy in his eyes, Ana's tears flowed freely.
"Yes. You're going to be a papa."
She was scooped up in his arms and spun until she was dizzy.
When he set her on her feet, he held her so close she could feel the way his whole body trembled. The words he muttered in Italian made absolutely no sense to her, but she got the gist of them.
Her man was happy.
Very happy.
So how could she tell him she was scared to death?
What on earth did she know about being a grown up?
Her mind flew back to the horrors of her own childhood, memories that made her bury her face in his chest and hold him tight.
God, she'd be such a crap mother.
What the hell was she going to do?
***
"Wow!"
It wasn't often Ana managed to stun her PA, but Linda looked as if she'd been hit by a two-by-four.
"It's early days. Six weeks. I don't want the news to go viral until we're over the first trimester. Olivier's desperate to tell his mother, but I think I've convinced him to hold fire. You should see him. He's strutting around like the cock of the walk."
Linda grinned. "I could say something disgusting and filthy in response to that, but we have a child to consider."
Ana lay her palm on her belly. "It's a mass of cells. I doubt anything that comes out your mouth is going to matter much."
Her eyes filled and immediately Linda was at her side. "You will be a great mother. Don't ever doubt it."
Ana sniffed. "How do you know?"
"Because I know these things. Look at how you are with the Ferranti kids? They adore you."
"The baby loves playing with my hair."
"There you go. You might have a tough exterior, but inside you are mush and children pick up on that. Even Jimmy Chew loves you," Linda said, referring to the Ferranti's adored Bichon Frise.
She had to laugh.
"He's gorgeous." Then Ana took a breath and spoke from the heart. "I never thought, never dreamed, I'd ever have a man who loved me or a home and family of my own. Life is strange. We never know what's around the corner."
Linda nodded wisely. "True. Look at Danni and T.C. - a month ago we could never have imagined what's happening in their lives right now."
Danni's unhappiness was a dark cloud in Ana's life. "I'm so worried about Danni. What exactly did you see that night?"
Linda sat on the edge of the chair, her eyes dark behind her glasses. "Pascale was in a clinch with Gillian. At first I thought I was imagining it, you know? Took out my phone and recorded the whole sorry scene. But Danni was right behind me and saw it, too. Poor girl. She was terribly brave the way she walked right up to them and called them out."
Ana frowned. "She didn't tell us that bit."
"Yeah, well, you and T.C. have a lot going on at the moment. Talking about T.C., how's she doing?"
"If she continues to improve, she'll be allowed home later today, under Sean's supervision."
"When I saw Pete this morning I received the message Sean wouldn't be here."
"I've told him to take all the time he needs."
Linda sniffed. "I must admit I did not see that one coming."
"Me neither. She seduced him in his hospital bed."
Linda barked out a laugh. "The girl is a pistol."
"Sean will handle her."
Linda's brows rose over the top of her glasses. "You think?"
"I'm hoping he'll help her move on."
Linda's eyes filled with pity. "She deserves to be happy."
"If anyone can do it, it'll be Sean. He's determined and persistent."
"Two things a person needs to get ahead in this world."
Ana tapped her pen on the glass table of her desk. "Speaking of getting ahead. Don't we have work to do today?"
"Yes, ma'am."
CHAPTER TWENTY
"You will marry me," Sean said, his voice low and hard.
In response to that outrageous statement, T.C.'s laugh pealed, echoing in the cavernous sitting room of her apartment.
Then her eyes narrowed. "In your dreams."
The muscle of his strong jaw clenched. "My child will not be born a bastard."
T.C. didn't even blink, didn't move, as she stood before him and wondered how it was through sheer physical presence alone he managed to dominate the space.
"Carry on like this and you won't see her at all."
Sean's face paled. "Her?"
T.C.'s super-white smile didn't reach her blue eyes. "Yep. A female. Bet you're the type who'd have loved a boy. Tough luck."
When the world tilted, she sat down on the couch with a distinct bump.
Sean opened his mouth then shut it with a snap.
Seemed she'd won this round.
Sean had never met anyone, man or woman, who drove him fucking crazy the way she did.
Although T.C. with the Big Mouth and Bad Attitude was back, he recognized she appeared pale and fragile, even vulnerable. Fragile and vulnerable—two words he'd never have dreamt to apply to this girl.
In spite of the mouth, it was clear she was unwell and needed support. And that meant him.
However, his business interests needed attention. He couldn't spend all day with her. He had Anastacia Morgan to protect.
"I'll hire a nurse," he muttered his thoughts out loud.
Right on cue her blue eyes flashed.
"No. If you want to be useful, hire a cook. I'm crap with food."
He smiled, a real one this time.
The woman refused to ever give in.
Hell, he loved that about her.
"Are you scared?" he whispered after a while.
"To death," she whispered back.
"Me, too."
She lifted her head to look him in the eye. "Seriously?"
He nodded. "Seriously shitting bricks here."
She closed her eyes. "This is all my fault."
"Um. I took biology. I believe it takes two."
"You know what I mean."
"Darlin', do you really believe that if I hadn't wanted you, I wouldn't have stopped you?"
She dropped her head to his chest and took a deep sniff that made him smile. "You were hurting and not in a position to stop me."
He wrapped her in his arms and held her close, his cheek resting upon her blonde head.
"I'm ex special forces. Trust me. If I hadn't been all in one hundred percent, you'd have been out of there."
"You don't even like me," she whispered.
"Do, too. I more than like you."
After a silence that went on, and on, she finally spoke, "I'm not a good person."
"You're a hard-ass all right. And one day we'll get to the bottom of why you are the way you are. But for now what you need is bed rest."
Since he was a man who believed in action rather than words, he scooped her up and took her to bed.
Once she was settled, he stood back to study her pale face, the glassy blue eyes.
"Want something to eat? To drink?"
She shook her head. "Too tired."
"Headache?"
She shook her head.
When she closed her eyes, he kept watch.
Well, who'd have thought he'd end up spending the night with a woman pregnant with his child?
Sean decided life was strange.
When his phone vibrated with incoming, he plucked it out of his pocket to check his messages.
Danni was worried.
Ana was worried.
Well, including himself, that made three of them.
He responded to their messages to tell them all was well.
Then he stripped and slid into bed to be with his woman and to hold her through the night.
Theresa may not need a hug, but Sean did.
***
The sound of water running in the bathroom sink had Sean switch on the light and out of bed to investigate.
He found her washing her hands.
"You feeling okay?"
Her eyes caught his in the mirror. "Fine. I had a drink of water."
"You managed two hours. Come back to bed." When she didn't blink, he added, "To sleep."
He held out his hand.
When she took it without a murmur and he towed her back to bed, he reckoned things had levelled out between them and he thanked God for it.
When she settled beneath the comforter, he wrapped an arm around her and drew her right in.
Once she rested her head wearily on his chest, he closed his eyes to take a moment. A moment to let everything that had happened to both of them sink in.
"I'll never forget the way you took me. You used me for your own pleasure. Selfish. Bad girl."
Her body shook with laughter. "You're over thinking it."
"You kissed me, touched me, had your wicked way and then strolled out. I didn't even get a hug."
"I don't do romance."
"But, you told all the doctors and nurses you were my fiancée."
"Fake fiancée."
"You bought me a big ugly purple teddy bear with a silver balloon."
"You hated it."