by Tina Beckett
“I’m fine.” She forced a smile, desperately needing to escape. “We’ll have to sit down and talk about that. But I think Annalisa is about ready to get up.”
“I’ll come up with you,” Luca said.
“No.” She snatched a quick breath. “I’ll bring her down in a few minutes, once I’ve fed her.”
His mom came over, her smile gone. “You cross...” she pointed at herself “...me?”
Elyse’s heart did the very thing she’d feared. It snapped in a few more places.
She leaned over and kissed her cheek. “No, I’m not cross. I love you.” She hoped the woman would understand those simple words, because she did. She loved Priscilla, Carlos, Isabella and Sarita and most of all, Luca. She’d fallen in love with his whole family while getting to know them this week. But she couldn’t stay here any longer.
The smile came back even as Elyse’s tears floated closer to the surface. She was going to leave. She had to. The thought of telling Luca the truth was suddenly the last thing she wanted to do. He deserved to have those babies. Italian babies. Babies that were part of a large and happy family. She’d seen evidence of that wider family last night. They loved each other, had laughed and conversed. Even if he loved her, she didn’t want to keep him from what someone else could give him.
He would get over her. He had once before. Quite easily, in fact.
She knew exactly what she was going to do. She was going to make sure Priscilla had some quality time with Annalisa today, and then her aunt was suddenly going to call her and ask her to return to the States. Her ticket back home wasn’t for a couple more weeks, but surely she could find a flight out of Italy sooner?
And then she was going to try to forget this trip had ever happened. She would make sure Luca and his family were able to see Annalisa, but as far as rekindling a dead romance, she was going to let those smoldering ashes grow cold, once and for all.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
SHE MADE IT to the airport.
God, she couldn’t believe she’d gotten out of the house without Luca cornering her. Sporting dark glasses to keep anyone from seeing the state of her eyes, she went to the desk to ask about getting on the first flight she could find. Anywhere in the United States would work. She could worry about getting back to Atlanta once she was there.
She should have told him about the hysterectomy from the very beginning, but her stupid pride had kept telling her it was none of his business.
Well, she’d made it his business when she’d had sex with him. But to try to clear it up now?
No way. He’d said he wanted more children. He might be able to unsay it, but he couldn’t un-want it.
“I need a flight to the United States. The first one you have available, please.” Peg, who’d never intended on staying for the entire month, had flown home almost three weeks ago, and Elyse missed her desperately right now. Anna was in her baby sling and Elyse had one suitcase with her. She’d left everything else behind. Not that he’d try to come after her.
Except he might. She had his daughter. This wasn’t like last time, when he had been the one who’d left.
The woman behind the desk leaned closer. “Are you okay? Do you need help?”
Yes. She needed a ticket. Then she realized the agent thought she was in some kind of trouble.
Of course, you dummy. You didn’t give her a destination other than the whole country.
She was eventually going to have to get back in touch with Luca and work out arrangements for visitation. But she could do that with a long-distance phone call—the longer the distance the better.
“I’m fine, sorry.” She reached in the front pocket of the diaper bag and pulled out her original ticket and handed it to the woman. “I need to get home sooner than I expected, that’s all. Are there any flights to somewhere in Georgia or, if not, one of the neighboring states?”
The ticket agent looked relieved. “Let me see what I can do.” She did some clicking of keys, her mouth twisting one way and then another as she seemed to mentally shoot down each option. “Wait. I think I can get you to Atlanta, actually. The flight leaves in two hours. You’ll have a few hours’ layover in Miami, if that’s okay.”
“Yes, that’s perfect. Thank you so much.” She tried to smile but was well aware that it didn’t quite come out the way she’d hoped. “How much for the ticket?”
The price was steep. Very steep. But it was worth it.
“I’ll take it.”
She took out her wallet, only to have a voice behind her say in English, “The lady isn’t going anywhere.”
Elyse froze. No. It couldn’t be.
She whirled around.
Luca! How had he...?
How had he gotten here so fast? Unless he’d left Rome at around the same time she had.
She could hear the ticket agent asking her again if she was okay. She wasn’t. Not at all. But unless she wanted the authorities called and Luca hauled away for something he didn’t do, she needed to allay the woman’s fears. She took a deep breath and faced her once again. This time there was a phone in the agent’s hand. “Would you like me to call someone?”
“No, I’m sorry. He’s the baby’s father.” Then realizing that sounded off as well, she explained. “We’re both her parents. Everything is okay.”
She got out of line, hoping that she hadn’t just sunk their chances of talking this through without getting arrested.
Walking a few feet away, she half hoped he wouldn’t follow her. But of course he did.
He stared down at her, then his hand went to his baby’s dark head, sifting through the wispy strands. Anna looked up at him, her face breaking into a toothless grin.
Guilt clawed at the edges of her heart. This was wrong. She shouldn’t have left without talking to him first, should have realized he would figure out where she was.
This time when the tears came she didn’t try to stop them. “You shouldn’t have come.”
“Yes. I should have. I’m prepared to go back to the States with you if necessary until you tell me why we can’t be together.” He removed her sunglasses and lifted her chin. “Don’t shut me out, Ellie. You did it in Atlanta too, and it tore me apart. Talk to me. Is it something I did or said?”
“No, you didn’t do anything. I—It’s...” She swallowed hard. “Why are you here, Luca?”
“Isn’t it obvious? I love you.”
Oh, God, she was right. But it was too late.
She shook her head, the tears coming faster. “It’s not going to be enough.”
“Why? If you’re talking about the layoff, it doesn’t matter anymore. We’ll work at different hospitals.” He used his thumbs to brush away her tears.
“It...” She closed her eyes and tried again. “You want more children, and I can’t have them.”
He frowned. “What?”
This was where he would hear what she had to say and walk away.
Or would he?
There was only one way to find out.
“The reason I didn’t come to Italy with Anna before now was that when she was born there were complications. I had to have a hysterectomy. I can’t carry any more children.” Ever.
“But the condom... Dio. You said we didn’t need it, not that you didn’t want me to use one.”
“You misunderstood. And I misunderstood when you said you wanted more. I thought you were talking about more...” she lowered her voice “...sex. But you actually meant you wanted more children.”
She sucked down a breath. “And then your mom told me to have more of your babies and—”
“One minute.” He appeared to be working through something. “First of all—how do you say it? My madre isn’t the boss of me. Not since I turned eighteen.”
“I know, but—”
“I am not finished.” He pressed his f
orehead to hers. “I did say I wanted more children, but it was in response to what I thought you wanted when we were in bed. Would I like more children? Yes, maybe in the future. But there are other ways of expanding our family and plenty of time to work it out. For now, you and Anna are enough. You will always be enough.”
It couldn’t be this easy. Could it?
“It’s not fair to you.”
“No.” He plucked her old ticket from her hand. “This is what isn’t fair. You leaving without telling me.”
“You did it to me once.”
His eyes closed. “And I was wrong. What I felt when I realized you were gone... Dio. I put you through hell, didn’t I?”
“I think we put each other through hell.”
“No more. The only question I have is this. Do you love me?”
She licked her lips. One last hurdle. Do it, Elyse.
“Yes, I love you. But what about your job? My job?”
“Those are things we can work out. Together.” He slid his arm behind her nape and pulled her cheek to his. “When I realized you weren’t in your room and that most of your belongings were gone, I couldn’t believe it. My hands shook, and my gut twisted inside me.
“I made a mistake by leaving Atlanta last year. I told myself a hundred times I should go back and talk things out with you, but my pride wouldn’t let me. And the longer it went on, the less likely it seemed that you would want me back. But this time—this time—I wasn’t going to repeat that mistake. I am ready to move heaven and earth to make this work.” He took a deep breath. “I just needed that ‘yes’ to my question about you loving me.”
He kissed her forehead and then his daughter’s. “Whether we’re here or in the States, the only thing that matters is that we’re together. Our little family.”
“I want that too.”
His finger traced down the side of her face. “Anna is going to need both of us. And when the time comes, we’ll add more.”
Before she could react, he smiled. “I’ve always wanted to help children who are in difficult situations. What do you think?”
“Adopt?” She said the word softly, not quite believing that he was saying the very thing she had thought of doing.
“Yes. Would you like that?”
She closed her eyes and sucked down a deep breath, believing at last. “Yes. I would love that.”
“So...there’s only one more question. Will you marry me? My mamma, she’s old-fashioned, remember? And she’s very good at throwing big parties. Or a big wedding.”
Somehow she didn’t think this had anything to do with his mom’s prowess as a hostess.
“Well, we wouldn’t want to disappoint your mom, would we?”
“So your answer is yes?”
“It’s definitely yes.”
With that, his lips came down on hers with a promise of things to come. Of promises kept. Of futures realized.
And this time she was not going to second-guess herself. Or him. She was just going to love him. And let herself be loved.
There was nothing more important than that.
EPILOGUE
THEY’D TIED THE KNOT. Not because of Annalisa or anyone’s parents, but for them. And true to form, Priscilla had put on the wedding of the century, even though they would have been just as happy standing before a justice of the peace. Elyse had talked Luca into letting his mom have her way. It made her happy.
And Luca had chosen Enzo as his best man, despite those earlier fears. It gave Elyse confidence that he trusted their love was strong enough to withstand any storm.
Her parents and Peggy had flown in from the States to celebrate, and Peggy had pulled her aside to whisper, “I knew it wasn’t finished between you two. If Anna hadn’t pulled you together again, he would have come back for you.”
Luca had admitted as much in the breathless moments after the ceremony was over and they were ensconced in their swanky hotel room. “I already knew I’d messed up. My conscience wasn’t going to leave me alone. It might have taken as much as another year, but I would have flown back to Atlanta and confronted you.”
She’d shivered at the confirmation of her aunt’s words. For her part, Elyse told him why she’d withdrawn back then as he held her tight and kissed her on the temple. “I’d had a bad office romance, and I was determined not to do it again. But then you came along, and I felt like I was making some of the same old mistakes.”
“But we won’t. I promise you that.”
Promises were made and kept. She’d promised to talk to him instead of withdrawing emotionally, and he’d promised to call her on it if she didn’t.
She’d torn her plane ticket up and called the hospital administrator and officially resigned, deciding to spend six months in Italy immersing herself in the language and culture. How could she not? Hadn’t Luca done the same in America? Her Italian still wasn’t the best, but she’d learned what some of those naughty words meant, and they made her blush even harder. She still had another month of language school, and then they would decide where to go from there.
Right now, none of that mattered.
Luca came up behind her on the veranda and looped his arms around her waist. “Everything okay?”
Turning to face him, she leaned back on the railing. “Just counting my blessings.”
“You were up late last night and early this morning too.”
“Thanks to you.” She tipped her face up to look into those dark eyes she loved so much. “You know you’re very sexy in the morning.” She reached up to run her fingers along the stubble lining his jaw. He had on an old faded T-shirt and pajama bottoms and his tanned feet were bare. Sexy didn’t begin to describe her husband.
“And you’re evading my question.”
She laughed. “You didn’t ask a question. But I heard what you were asking. No regrets. I’m happy. Anna loves you desperately. I love you desperately. I’m just enjoying the moments we have to ourselves. Now that she’s older, we don’t get many of them.”
So far they hadn’t talked any more about expanding their little family. Adoptions in Italy had stringent requirements and they’d need to be married for three years before going through the process. And there was always surrogacy, if they decided to harvest her eggs. They had time. For once, Elyse was in no hurry to get things done.
“Emilia likes eating with her. You should give yourself a break every once in a while.”
“I’ve had a long break. And I appreciate all her help. I just don’t want to miss anything,” she said.
“I know what you mean.”
She wrapped her arms around his neck. “I’m so grateful for second chances.”
“So am I.” He leaned down and brushed his cheek against hers, before murmuring. “I love second chances. And maybe even third chances. Very, very much.”
Since they’d made love only an hour earlier, he surely couldn’t mean...
Something stirred against her. A sensation she knew all too well. “You’re kidding.”
“Does it feel like I’m kidding?”
The man was insatiable. And she loved it. They had a lot of time to make up for.
“Well, then, what are you waiting for?”
He swung her up in his arms. “Is that an invitation, Dottore Venezio?”
Dr. Venezio.
Oh, how she loved hearing him call her that. And, yes, she loved second chances. Would never tire of them.
“It is indeed, Dottore Venezio.”
Then he was striding back through the French doors that led to their bedroom. Their own private sanctuary, where nothing was taken for granted, and where every kiss, every touch, every sigh centered around the most powerful word of all time: love.
* * *
If you enjoyed this story, check out these other great reads from Tina Beckett
One Night to Change Their Lives
The Billionaire’s Christmas Wish
Tempted by Dr. Patera
The Doctors’ Baby Miracle
All available now!
Keep reading for an excerpt from Falling for Her Italian Billionaire by Annie Claydon.
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Falling for Her Italian Billionaire
by Annie Claydon
CHAPTER ONE
GABRIEL DEMARCO OPENED his eyes. That seemed to be quite enough work for today, so he closed them again.
‘How are you feeling?’ A woman’s voice flowed over him like warm honey. It was a nice voice, quiet yet firm. The kind of voice that any man should take notice of.
‘I could go back to sleep.’ The words slipped out before he had a chance to tell himself that sleeping probably wasn’t what the voice wanted him to do. And at the moment it seemed like a siren’s call, which couldn’t be resisted. ‘Or... I could wake up.’