“Shall we go in?” sounded the deep, velvety male voice next to her.
“Oh—yes!” Abby had been so immersed in thought she hadn’t realized they’d arrived. Night had fallen during their journey here. Vincenzo led her off the funicular and walked her through a hallway to another set of doors. They opened onto a terrace with a candlelit table and flowers set for two.
A small gasp of pleasure escaped her lips when she realized she was looking out over the same view she could see from her own patio at the palace. But they were much higher up, so she could take in the whole city of Arancia alive with lights for the nightly festival celebration.
“What an incredible vista.”
“I agree,” he murmured as he helped her to sit. Of course it was an accident that his hand brushed her shoulder, but she felt his touch as if she’d just come in contact with an electric current. This was so wrong; she was terrified.
Grape juice from the surrounding vineyard came first, followed by hors d’oeuvres and then a luscious rack of lamb and fresh green peas from the restaurant’s garden. Abby knew the chef had prepared food to the prince’s specifications.
She ate everything. “This meal is fabulous!”
His black eyes smiled at her. “Tonight you have an appetite. That’s good. We’ll have to do this more often.”
No, no, no.
“If I were to eat here every night, I’d be as big as that whale you referred to earlier.”
He chuckled. “You think?”
“I know.”
While Abby enjoyed the house’s lemon tart specialty for dessert, Vincenzo drank coffee. “Mind if I ask you a personal question?”
How personal? She was on dangerous ground, fearing he could see right through her, to her chaotic innermost thoughts. “What would you like to know?”
“Has there been an important man in your life? And if so, why didn’t you marry him?”
Yes. I’m looking at him.
Heat filled her cheeks. “I had my share of boyfriends, but by college I got serious about my studies. Law school doesn’t leave time for much of a social life when you’re clerking for a judge who expects you to put in one hundred and twenty hours a week.”
“Sounds like one of my normal days,” he remarked. She knew he wasn’t kidding. “You and I never discussed this before, but I’m curious about something. Didn’t you ever want to be a mother to your own child first?”
Abby stifled her moan. If he only knew how during her teenage years she’d dreamed about being married to him and having his baby. Since that time, history had been made and she was carrying his baby in real life. But it wasn’t hers and that dream had come with a price. How could she be feeling like this when he was forbidden to her?
“Well—” She swallowed hard. “The desire to be a mother has always been rooted in me. I’ve never doubted my ability to be a good one. Despite the fact that Mother died early, I had a charmed and happy childhood. She was a wonderful mom. Warm and charming. Funny. Still, I never saw raising a child as my only goal.
“I’d always envisioned motherhood as the result of a loving relationship with a man, like my parents had. Carolena has told me many times that it’s just an excuse because no man has ever lived up to my father. She said the umbilical cord should have been cut years ago. With hindsight I think she’s probably right, but there’s no one like him.”
In truth, there was no one like Vincenzo and never would be. He was the reason she hadn’t been able to get interested in another man.
“Your father has been a lucky man to have inspired such fierce love from his wife and daughter.”
The comment sounded mournful. “Michelina loved you the same way.”
“Yes.”
“So will your child.”
His eyes grew veiled without him saying anything.
The fireworks had started, lighting up the night sky in a barrage of colors, but she couldn’t appreciate the display because of a certain tension between them that hadn’t been there earlier. She was walking such a tightrope around him, her body was a mass of nerves.
“Maybe coming out to dinner wasn’t a very good idea for you, Your Highness.”
“What happened to Vincenzo?”
Again she had the feeling she’d angered him, the last thing she wanted to do. But it was imperative she keep emotional distance from him. “You’re still mourning your wife. I appreciate this evening more than you know, but it’s too soon for you to be out doing the things you used to do with her.” And too hard on me.
She wiped her mouth with the napkin. “When was the last time you brought her here? Do you want to talk about it?”
That dark, remote expression he could get had returned. “Michelina never came here with me.”
She swallowed hard. “I see.” She wondered why. “Nevertheless, being out on a night like this has to bring back memories.”
His fingers ran over the stem of the wineglass that was still full. “Today as I opened the festival, you could feel spring in the air. You can feel it tonight. It calls for a new beginning.” His gaze swerved to hers, piercing through to her insides. “You and I are together on a journey that neither of us has ever taken. I want to put the past behind us and enjoy the future that is opening up.”
“With your baby to be born soon, it will be a glorious future.”
“There are a few months to go yet, months you should be able to enjoy. I want to help you. How does that sound?”
It sounded as though he didn’t want to be reminded of his wife again because it hurt him too much and he needed a diversion. Naturally, he did, but Abby couldn’t fill that need! She didn’t dare.
“I’m already having a wonderful time enjoying this meal with you. Thank you for a very memorable evening.”
“You’re welcome. I want us to enjoy more.”
“We can’t, Vincenzo. The people close to you will notice and there will be gossip. If I’ve angered you again, I’m sorry.”
Silence followed her remarks. They watched the fireworks for a while longer before leaving. The ride down the mountain was much faster than the ride up. It was much like the sensation when Dr. DeLuca had said, “Congratulations, Signorina Loretto. The blood test we did revealed the presence of the HCG hormone. You’re pregnant!”
Abby hadn’t believed it. Even though she’d wanted to be a surrogate mother and had done everything possible to make it happen, for the doctor to tell her the procedure had worked was like the first time she rode the Ferris wheel at a theme park. The bar had locked her in the chair, filling her with excitement. Then the wheel had turned and lifted her high in the air. That was the way she felt now, high in the air over Arancia. She didn’t know if she wanted this descent to continue, but it was too late to get off. She had to go with it and just hang on. Only this time she wasn’t on the Ferris wheel or the funicular and this ride would continue for the next thirty-odd weeks.
Abby hadn’t been able to tell anyone about her pregnancy except Carolena. But she knew she could trust her best friend with her life, and that news hadn’t been something she could keep to herself on that day of all days.
When she went to work on the day she’d found out she was pregnant, Abby visited with her gorgeous, fashionable Italian friend, who stopped traffic when she stepped outside. Carolena had worn her chestnut hair on top of her head in a loose knot. Though she didn’t need glasses, she put on a pair with large frames to give her a more professional appearance.
She looked up when she saw Abby and smiled. “Fantastico! I’ve been needing a break from the Bonelli case.”
“I’m so happy you said that because I’ve got something to tell you I can’t hold in any longer. If I don’t talk to you about it, I’ll go crazy.” She closed and locked the door behind her before sitting down in the chair opposite the desk.
“This has to be serious. You looked flushed. Have you settled the Giordano case already? Shall we break out the champagne?”
“Don’t I wish! No, this has nothing to do with the law.” She moved restlessly in the leather chair. In fact there’d be no champagne for her for the next nine months. “What I say to you can’t ever leave this room.”
Carolena’s smile faded before she crossed herself.
Abby leaned forward. “I’m going to have a baby,” she whispered.
Her friend’s stunned expression said it all before she removed her glasses and walked around the desk in her fabulous designer sling-back high heels to hunker down in front of her. She shook her head. “Who?” was all she could manage to say.
The question was a legitimate one. Though Abby had been asked out by quite a few men since joining the firm, she hadn’t accepted any dates. No on-site romances for her. Besides, she wanted to make her place in the firm and that meant studying when she wasn’t in the office so she could stay on top of every case.
“Their Royal Highnesses.”
Carolena’s beautifully shaped dark brows met together in a frown. “You mean...as in...”
“Prince Vincenzo and Princess Michelina.”
There was a palpable silence in the room. Then, “Abby—”
“I realize it’s a lot to swallow.”
A look of deep concern broke out on Carolena’s expressive face. “But you—”
“I know what you’re going to say,” she broke in hurriedly. “It’s true that I’ll always love him for saving me from drowning, but that was eleven years ago when I was seventeen. Since then he has married and they’ve suffered through three miscarriages. The doctor suggested they look for a gestational surrogate mother for them.”
“What?”
“His logic made total sense. Gestational surrogacy, unlike adoption, would allow both Vincenzo and Michelina to be genetically related to their child. Even better, they would be involved in the baby’s conception and throughout the pregnancy, so they’d feel a total part of the whole experience.”
“But you can’t be a surrogate because you’ve never had a baby before.”
“There are a few exceptions, and I’m one of them.”
Carolena put a hand on Abby’s arm. “So you just nominated yourself for the position without any thought of what it would really mean and threw yourself into the ring?” She sounded aghast at the idea.
Abby had hoped for a happier response from her friend. “Of course not. But I wasn’t able to stop thinking about it. I even dreamed about it. The answer of how to repay him for saving my life came to me like a revelation. A life for a life.”
“Oh, Abby—despite the fact that you push men away, you’re such a romantic! What if midway through the pregnancy you become deathly ill and it ruins your life? I can’t even imagine how awful that would be.”
“Nothing’s going to happen to me. I’ve always been healthy as a horse. I want to give them this gift. I didn’t make the decision lightly. Though I had a crush on him from the time I was twelve, it had nothing to do with reality and I got over it after I found out he was already betrothed to Michelina.”
Those famous last words she’d thrown out so recklessly had a choke hold on Abby now. She adored him, but had to hide her feelings if it killed her.
By the time she and Vincenzo had climbed in the limousine, she realized her due date was coming closer. In one regard she wanted it to get here as quickly as possible. But in another, she needed to hug the precious months left to her, because when it was over, she wouldn’t see Vincenzo again. She couldn’t bear the thought.
* * *
When Abby’s eight-week checkup was over, Dr. DeLuca showed her into another consulting room, where she saw Vincenzo talking with the psychologist, Dr. Greco. Both men stood when she entered. The prince topped him by at least three inches.
Her vital signs had been in the normal range during her exam, but she doubted they were now. Vincenzo possessed an aura that had never made him look more princely. He wore a cream-colored suit with a silky brown sport shirt, the picture of royal affluence and casual sophistication no other man could pull off with the same elegance.
The balding doctor winked at her. “How is Signorina Loretto today, besides being pregnant?” She liked him a lot because he had a great sense of humor.
“Heavier.”
Both men chuckled before they all sat down.
The doctor lounged back in his chair. “You do have a certain...how do you say it in English? A certain bloom?”
“That’s as good an English term as I know of to cover what’s really obvious. I actually prefer it to the Italian term grassoccia.”
“No one would ever accuse you of looking chubby, my dear.”
Vincenzo’s black eyes had been playing over her and were smiling by now. The way he looked at her turned her insides to mush. She felt frumpy in the new maternity clothes she’d bought. This morning she’d chosen to wear a khaki skirt with an elastic waist and a short-sleeved black linen blouse she left loose fitting.
The outfit was dressy enough, yet comfortable for work. Her little belly had definitely enlarged, but Carolena said you wouldn’t know it with the blouse hanging over the waist.
Dr. Greco leaned forward with a more serious expression. “A fundamental change in both your lives has occurred since you learned the embryo transfer was successful. We have a lot to talk about. One moment while I scroll to the notes I took the last time we were together.”
Abby avoided looking at Vincenzo. She didn’t know if she could discuss some of the things bothering her in front of the doctor. Up to the moment of Michelina’s death, when she’d been through a grueling screening with so many tests, hormones and shots and felt like a scientific experiment, she’d thought she’d arrived at the second part of her journey. The first part had been the months of preparation leading up to that moment.
Abby recalled the smiles on the faces of the hopeful royal couple, yet she knew of their uncertainty that made them feel vulnerable. The three of them had seen the embryo in the incubator just before the transfer.
It was perfect and had been inserted in exactly the right place. The reproductive endocrinologist hugged Michelina and tears fell from her eyes. Vincenzo’s eyes had misted over, too. Seeing their reaction, Abby’s face had grown wet from moisture. The moment had been indescribable. From that time on, the four of them were a team working for the same goal.
For the eleven days while she’d waited for news one way or the other, Abby had tried to push away any thoughts of failure. She wanted to be an unwavering, constant source of encouragement and support.
When the shock that she was pregnant had worn off and she realized she was carrying their child, it didn’t matter to her at all that the little baby growing inside of her wasn’t genetically hers. Abby only felt supreme happiness for the couple who’d suffered too many miscarriages.
Especially their baby, who would one day be heir to the throne of the Principality of Arancia. Vincenzo’s older sister, Gianna, was married to a count and lived in Italy. They hadn’t had children yet. The honor of doing this service of love for the crown prince and his wife superseded any other considerations Abby might have had.
But her world had exploded when she’d learned of Michelina’s sudden death. The news sent her on a third journey outside her universe of experience. Vincenzo had been tossed into that black void, too.
“Before you came in, Vincenzo told me about the meeting with you and his mother-in-law,” said the doctor. “He knows she made you very uncomfortable and feels you should talk about it rather than keep it bottled up.”
She bit her lip. “Uncomfortable isn’t the right word. Though I had no idea the queen had such strong moral, ethical and religious reservations against it, my overall
feeling was one of sadness for Vincenzo.”
“He feels it goes deeper than that.”
Abby glanced at Vincenzo. “In what way?”
The doctor nodded to him. “Go ahead.”
Vincenzo had an alarming way of eyeing her frankly. “When we went out to dinner the other night, you weren’t your usual self. Why was that?”
She prayed the blood wouldn’t run to her face. “Months ago we decided to be as discreet as possible. Since your wife’s death I’ve feared people would see us together and come to the wrong conclusion. But you already know that.”
“The queen put that fear in you without coming right out and saying it, didn’t she?”
This was a moment for brutal honesty. “Yes.”
“Abby—our situation has changed, but my intention to go through this pregnancy with you is stronger than ever. You shouldn’t have to feel alone in this. I intend to do all the things Michelina would have done with you and provide companionship. I don’t want you to be afraid, even if people start to gossip about us.”
She shuddered. “Your mother-in-law is terrified of scandal. I could see it in her eyes. It’s evident that’s why Michelina was afraid to tell her the truth. The other morning I sensed the queen’s shock once she heard you’d saved my life, and that I’d lived on the palace grounds since the age of twelve.
“It wouldn’t be much of a stretch for her to believe that not only am I after an inheritance, but that I’m after you. I even feared she believes I’ve been your mistress and that the baby isn’t her grandchild.”
“I knew that’s what you were worried about the other night,” Vincenzo whispered.
“I wish Michelina had talked to her mother before the decision was made to choose a surrogate, Your Highness.”
Expecting the Prince's Baby (Harlequin RomancePrinces of Europe) Page 5