The little imp in him had found a way to get to her heart. Was it Luca or his nonna who’d mailed the letter? It had to have been mailed the very day she’d come back to Padova. Realizing Dino had printed those words himself, she knew her heart had already grown three sizes, big enough to blot out past fears forever.
“Forgive me, everyone, but I need to talk to Edda.”
Clara got up and handed her the letter. After giving her a hug, they all clapped and wished her buon Natale.
Edda read the letter and asked Gabi what she was waiting for. “I expect to be invited to the wedding!”
Gabi flew home, threw some clothes in her suitcase and drove to Maniago at full speed beneath a semisunny sky. On the way, she phoned her mother, who was at work, and told her another miracle had happened. She’d be in touch.
After reaching the villa, she hurried up to the front door and knocked. Her heart was pounding so hard, she was almost ill with excitement.
“Ah,” Ines cried when she opened the door and saw her.
Gabi put her finger to her own lips. “Is Dino here? I want to surprise him.” The older woman nodded. “He’s in the family room with his papà.”
“Thank you.”
When she dashed through the house and entered the room, the first thing she saw was Dino seated at the table putting a puzzle together. As she got closer, the dog yapped. Dino raised his dark head.
“Gabi—” In the next instant he’d reached her and flung his arms around her waist. She hugged him hard.
“We got your letter this morning at the Start with a Wish foundation.”
He threw his head back. “You did?”
“Yes, and as soon as I read it, I said goodbye to Edda and drove straight here to tell you I want to be your new mamma more than anything in the world.”
She felt a pair of strong male arms enfold both of them. “What took you so long, bellissima?” Luca whispered against her neck. He must have been over in the corner taking care of Nero. “Don’t ever do this to me again. I couldn’t take it.”
* * *
Christmas Eve had finally arrived. Their wedding day.
“Dino? We need to leave for Padova. What are you doing?”
“I’m coming. I had to go to the bathroom.” He came running to the foyer. “I hope Nero will be okay at Paolo’s house.”
“For one night he’ll be fine.”
Ines had helped him dress in a new navy blue suit. Luca had also purchased a formal midnight-blue suit for the wedding. They both wore spotless white shirts and lighter blue ties.
“You both look splendid,” Giustina commented.
Luca thought his mother looked lovely in a champagne-colored suit and told her so. The three of them hurried out to the car for the drive to Limena.
Maria and Tomaso were bringing Ines and Pia in their car. They would be congregating at the elegant, private, nineteenth-century villa located in the heart of Limena for the 10:00 p.m. ceremony. Once the priest married them, they’d proceed to the Valbrenta hotel for dinner and an overnight. Christmas morning they’d drive back to Maniago and spend all day at the villa celebrating.
Luca promised Gabi to get there in plenty of time while she dealt with the final arrangements. They’d both wanted something small and private with only immediate family. All their friends would celebrate with them at the hotel.
When he reached the villa, he drove around the side to park. They went inside to the foyer, where Luca kissed his mother and left Dino with her. Between the red flowers and Christmas candles, plus the greenery, everything looked out of this world.
“I’ll see you in a few minutes, figlio mio.”
His son beamed before he hurried to a room that would lead into the living room for the ceremony. In a minute Tomaso joined him. The absence of Luca’s father was glaringly obvious, but Luca had known he wouldn’t be coming.
Tomaso smiled at him as they pinned the red flowers Maria had brought in to attach to their lapels. “My wife and I have fallen in love with Gabi. We know she’s going to make you very happy.”
“Thanks, Tomaso. Coming from you that means a lot.”
“I couldn’t imagine happiness two years ago. Now I can’t remember what it was like to feel terrible. Dino is a different child. He adores her.”
Luca nodded. “She has a way that hooked me within five minutes of meeting her.”
A moment later, a villa staff worker summoned them into the living room, where Father Giovanni stood in front of a beautiful stained glass window resplendent in his vestments. Luca couldn’t believe the time had finally come. In ways he felt like he’d been marking time forever. Yet it had only been a month.
From the doorway leading in from the foyer he saw Gabi enter. She walked slowly in a cream-colored lace suit and met him in front of the priest. One creamy rose had been tucked in her blond hair. Could a heart fail you? Luca didn’t know, but for a moment he couldn’t catch his breath at the gorgeous sight of her.
They clasped hands to face the priest.
“Dearly beloved, what a special time this is to repeat vows of love in this holy place filled with the love of our Lord. Tonight we celebrate the time of his birth and rejoice that two hearts are being joined as one. Tonight a third heart also joins us. If Dino Berettini will come forward, please.”
Luca was as stunned as Gabi to hear his name said. They both turned to watch his son walk up to them wearing a red flower in his lapel, too. “Dino, if you’ll stand at your father’s other side.”
Dino did his bidding.
“Dino talked to me in private and expressed his desire to be part of this wedding ceremony because he is so happy. Certainly our Lord is happy on this sacred night. Let us pray.”
The rest of the ceremony was a blur to Luca, whose heart was so filled with love for this woman and his son, it didn’t seem real. They shared a sweet kiss. It had been arranged that Tomaso would hand Luca the simple gold wedding band to put on her finger. But it was Dino who performed the service in a princely manner with a face that glowed.
“...and now I pronounce you Luca Berettini, and you Gabriella Russo, man and wife.”
* * *
Luca gave Gabi a loving kiss before Dino came around to hug her. The three of them embraced with the man and the boy on either side of her. This was Christmas joy beyond measure for her.
As she looked into Luca’s blue eyes, she thought she’d never seen anything so beautiful. They were a real family now. She could feel his love.
Then she turned her head and stared down into Dino’s blue eyes, alive with light. Gabi felt overwhelmed by love for her own little boy who had the most amazing personality. When he wanted something with all his heart, he didn’t let anything stop him. Who else but Dino would have asked for such a favor from the priest? This wedding ceremony would be remembered forever.
Once they reached the foyer, Gabi was hugged by her mother, then Luca’s mother and the Guardinos. Luca finally caught her around the waist and ushered her through the villa to the car. They left for the hotel and the celebrating.
“Ooh,” Dino said while his blue eyes took in everything.
“It’s so beautiful,” Gabi exclaimed!
“Not as exquisite as my new wife.” Luca gave her a husband’s kiss in front of everyone.
The hotel had gone all out for their wedding. Besides dozens of Christmas trees with white lights, they’d twined glittering white wedding bells among the Christmas greenery. With white candles lighting every table in the dining room, Gabi couldn’t believe it was real.
Besides fish, they were served agnolotti and gnocchi, more pasta stuffed with ricotta and spinach, potatoes and pumpkin covered in butter and sage sauce. For dessert, panettone, Dino’s favorite Christmas bread. The eating didn’t stop until Luca slid a possessive arm arou
nd her hip, reminding her of the wedding night to come.
Outside the hotel, church bells were ringing all over the city. “It’s the midnight hour. Buon Natale, Signora Berettini.”
Christmas had come, and with it a new life for the three of them.
Gabi kissed Dino good-night, then her mother, who was keeping him with her for the night.
“Everyone has been taken care of,” Luca whispered against her ear. “Now it’s time to take you to bed, something I’ve been wanting to do forever.”
“You think I haven’t wanted the same thing?” Her legs shook like jelly as he helped her out of the dining room to the elevator of the hotel. Luca had booked the bridal suite, but she hardly noticed it because he carried her over the threshold to the bedroom.
They fell into each other’s arms, consumed by the need to pour out their love and forget the world. “Ti adoro, mia moglie. Love me, Gabi,” he cried. “Love me and never, ever let me go.”
CHAPTER ELEVEN
DINO’S EIGHTH BIRTHDAY party fell on December 23. The festivities were in full gear in the family room of the villa when Gabi started to feel pains in her lower back.
At first she thought it was because she’d been doing a lot of work and was just tired. But no matter how she moved or sat, the pain wouldn’t go away, and it was getting worse with stinging sensations. These had to be labor pains.
They’d invited Dino’s school class. Paolo’s mother, Bianca, had been helping her along with Ines and Luca’s mother. Bianca’s baby was now six months old, and Bianca looked in fabulous shape already.
Gabi felt like a walrus even though Luca told her she’d never been more beautiful. She walked over to Bianca to tell her she needed to visit the bathroom and got there barely in time before her water broke.
In another minute she reached the kitchen. The clock said four thirty. “Pia? Will you call my husband? He’s in the study. I’m in labor. He needs to drive me to the hospital.”
“Aiee!” She picked up the phone while Gabi stood there in shock, clinging to the counter. Their baby was coming. They’d found out it was a girl, and no one had been more excited and attentive than Luca.
“Tesoro?”
She could hear her husband’s voice as he ran down the hall and burst into the kitchen.
“It’s really coming?”
“Yes! My water just broke. Will you grab my overnight bag in the bedroom? I’ll meet you at the car.”
What a far cry from the last time she was in a hospital with Dino. This time Luca helped her inside the ER, and she was immediately wheeled up to the maternity ward. She was taken into her own labor room where Luca could be with her the whole time.
His face had a slight pallor. It had been so long since he’d been worried about anything, she felt terrible for him. But there wasn’t anything she could do about it. Her pains were coming hard and consistently.
She was checked several times but told that a first baby took its time. When she saw that it had gotten to be 10:00 p.m., the anesthesiologist came in and gave her an epidural. It helped the pain, but the baby still wasn’t ready.
Luca held her hand, looking like death. He finally got up and said he was going to find a doctor. In a way she was glad he left the room. When he came back gowned with a mask, another doctor was with him. He did a check.
“It’s still going to be a while. Your obstetrician will be here when you’re ready, so don’t worry.”
“He should be here now,” Luca muttered after the resident left. “I wish I could do something for you. I’ve never felt so helpless in my life.”
“You’ve done enough by getting me in this condition,” she teased him, but her joke didn’t go over. “Now it’s up to me.”
Finally, her obstetrician came in at five after twelve, gowned and masked. “Let’s have a baby, shall we, Signora Berettini?”
“Please,” Gabi half cried. She was exhausted.
“Do you realize it’s December 24? This little one is a Christmas Eve baby. That’s a special blessing. Luca? You sit by her head while I do the rest. Now that you’ve put on gloves, don’t touch anything.”
“Can you believe it’s finally happening?” she cried to her husband.
The pediatrician and two medical staff members came in to get things ready. She kept her eyes on Luca. He was her rock, her lover, her life! “Remember where we were a year ago tonight?”
“As if I could ever forget our wedding, innamorata.”
“The head is coming. Bear down again, Gabi. Everything looks good.” Before long they both heard a gurgle and the baby emerged. “That’s a fine, lusty cry,” the doctor said.
“Our baby girl—” Tears trickled from her eyes.
“Here she is, Mamma.” The doctor put her on Gabi’s stomach. “Luca? Come around to this side and you can cut the cord. Your first job as her papà.”
Gabi started crying as she looked at the baby. “She’s gorgeous!”
“She’s just like you with a dusting of golden hair,” Luca exclaimed.
After he’d cut the cord, the pediatrician took the baby to weigh and check. “Three point one-eight kilograms, fifty point eight centimeters,” he called out. “Her breathing is excellent. She looks perfect. Complimenti!”
The nurse cleaned her and wrapped her up before bringing her over to Gabi, who was dying to hold her.
“Oh, darling—can you stand it? We’ve got our little girl.”
Luca’s color had returned. He took his time examining every inch of her. First he’d kiss her, then he’d kiss Gabi.
The doctor smiled at them. “She’s a beauty. What are you going to name her?”
“We’re still debating. We all have a favorite, but it’s going to be a family decision as soon as our son gets here.”
No sooner had the doctor left than the room started to fill with all the relatives, including Gabi’s mother. But it was Dino who beat everyone and came running over to them.
“Here’s your new sister, Dino. What do you think of her?”
He got up close to her and studied her for a long time. “She looks kind of funny.”
Luca put his arm around him. “You should have seen what you looked like when you were first born.”
Dino giggled. “Where’s her hair?”
“There’s a little bit there, figlio mio. It’ll all come in soon.”
“Her eyes look kind of muddy.”
“They’ll probably turn green or blue,” Luca explained. “We’ll have to wait and see.”
How she loved this son of theirs. “Do you think she looks like an Alessandra?”
He made a face. “No.”
“How about Elana?” Luca said.
“Hmm, no. Can we call her Daniela?”
Gabi eyed her husband. “What do you think about that name?”
“I like it. What made you think of it?”
“She’s in one of my favorite cartoons.”
“It’s a good thing she’s not a boy or you’d probably want to name him Diabolik,” Gabi teased.
Everyone laughed, Luca loudest of all. He turned around to talk to the family. “It’s official. Meet the latest addition to our family. Daniela Berettini.”
Carefully he passed the baby around so everyone could hold her. While they were all engrossed, someone else entered the room. Luca’s father. Gabi couldn’t believe it.
He looked at Luca. “Please may I come in, son? I missed Dino’s delivery. I didn’t want to miss this one.”
Gabi locked eyes with Giustina. The two of them realized this was a turning point for better relations between Luca and his father. “Why don’t you hand the baby to him?” she whispered.
Giustina lifted the precious bundle and showed him their new granddaughter. He studied her
for a moment before kissing her head. “She’s beautiful, just like her mamma.”
With those words Gabi knew this was the closest thing to an olive branch they’d ever receive from the older man. She smiled up at the misty-eyed husband she adored. “Our Christmas Eve baby really is a blessing.”
While everyone continued to marvel over Daniela, Luca leaned over to hug her to him the best way he could. He didn’t have to say a word, but she knew. No matter how terribly his father had hurt him, he’d never wanted their estrangement. Thank heaven it was over.
“Ti amo, Luca. I love our new baby. I love Dino. I love you.”
She felt his tears drip down her neck. Nothing could have felt more wonderful or healing.
* * * * *
If you enjoyed this story, check out these other great reads from Rebecca Winters
WHISKED AWAY BY HER SICILIAN BOSS
BOUND TO HER GREEK BILLIONAIRE
RETURN OF HER ITALIAN DUKE
THE BILLIONAIRE’S PRIZE
All available now!
Keep reading for an excerpt from THE BILLIONAIRE’S CHRISTMAS BABY by Marion Lennox.
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The Magnate's Holiday Proposal Page 15