Passionately Ever After. Metsy Hingle

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      “If you think giving me that ice-princess routine is going to make me give up, then you don’t know me as well as I thought you did. I’m not leaving here until I get the answer I want, Maria.”

      And she wanted to give him the answer he wanted. Because it was what she wanted, too. Only she couldn’t do that. Not with the threat of the curse hanging over her and their unborn child. The idea of something happening to her own baby sent a surge of panic through her, and before she could stop herself, a sob escaped her lips.

      “Damn,” Steven muttered. He could just kick himself for causing Maria to cry. And although he couldn’t see her face, he’d bet his last dollar that Maria was already regretting that outburst of tears. He knew her well enough to know that she would consider those tears a show of weakness. But then, Maria had always been her own harshest critic, he thought. Probably the result of having a family that expected far too much of her.

      It simply wasn’t fair. Why did she have to be the one designated to carry on Angelica Barone’s legacy? Why couldn’t someone else run the popular Baronessa Gelateria in Boston’s North End? Why did it have to be Maria? There certainly were enough Barones to share the load. But no, for some reason, they all dumped it on Maria’s shoulders. And as far as he was concerned, the entire lot of them had taken advantage of her for far too long. It simply had to stop.

      He stared at Maria’s slender shoulders, could only imagine the enormous weight of responsibility they carried. Not only had she been burdened with the problems of running the gelateria and trying to live up to everyone’s expectations of her, but she’d also had to face the pregnancy alone. He should have realized what was wrong long before now, he told himself as his own guilt escalated. But instead of helping her and relieving some of that stress she was under, he’d only managed to add to it. The realization made him feel ten times worse.

      Regretful for having upset her, Steven moved behind Maria and placed his hands on her shoulders. “I’m sorry,” he said softly. “You know I’d sooner cut off my arm than hurt you. I hate knowing that I’ve made you cry.”

      “You didn’t. Make me cry, I mean. I’m not crying,” she fibbed even as she swiped at her eyes.

      “Well, that’s a relief.” Hoping to lighten the mood, he quipped, “Because when a fellow tells a girl he loves her and asks her to marry him, tears aren’t exactly the reaction he’s hoping for.”

      “Oh, Steven, I’m sorry,” she said, tears once again in her voice.

      Steven sighed. Since his attempt at levity hadn’t worked, he tried honesty instead. “Is the idea of marrying me so awful?”

      “No,” she said and he didn’t miss the hand swiping at her eyes again.

      “Then why the tears?”

      “I’ve got something in my eye. Probably just an eyelash,” she offered in explanation.

      “Want me to take a look?” he asked, hoping to get her to turn around and look at him.

      “Thanks, but it’s out now. I…I’m all right.”

      “You don’t sound all right. You sound sad, and I don’t ever remember you being sad—not even when things were a mess.” Even amidst the disaster of the new flavor launch in February when she’d had plenty of reason to cry, she hadn’t shed a single tear. Nor had she given any indication of feeling defeated—not like she was doing now.

      She let out an audible breath. “It’s my hormones. The pregnancy has them all messed up.”

      “I think we both know it’s more than just hormones at work here.” When she didn’t respond, Steven squeezed her shoulders. “Talk to me, Maria. Whatever it is, I promise we’ll work it out.”

      “We can’t work it out.”

      “How do you know if you won’t at least talk to me?” he asked. When she still remained silent, he pleaded, “I love you. Please, don’t shut me out.”

      “I’m not shutting you out.”

      “Aren’t you? What do you call running away from Boston the way you did?”

      “I didn’t run away.” She straightened her spine and stepped away from his touch. Picking up the fire poker, she prodded at the logs in the grate. “I told you, I needed to get away. I wanted some time to think, to figure out what I should do about the baby.”

      Steven froze at her remark. Stunned he took a moment to find his voice. “You can’t mean that you considered…that you even thought for a minute about getting rid of…”

      “No!” She whipped her gaze from the fire over to him. “How could you even think such a thing?”

      “You’re right. I’m sorry. It’s just that for a minute I thought…” Steven rubbed the back of his neck. “I don’t know what I thought. I obviously wasn’t thinking straight.”

      “You obviously weren’t thinking at all. If you had, you’d know that I would never do anything to harm my baby.”

      “Our baby,” he corrected.

      She didn’t comment, simply turned her attention back to the fire. “Anyway, I left Boston because I needed some time by myself so I could figure out how I’m going to handle things.”

      “You mean how we’re going to handle things, don’t you?” Steven asked because he fully intended to be a part of her and their baby’s future.

      When his question was met with silence, Steven took the poker from Maria’s fingers and set it aside. Then he turned her around so that she was forced to look at him. But one look at her face and he realized she was under even more strain than he’d first thought. Tear streaks stained her pale cheeks and there was a sadness in those big brown eyes that ripped at him. He wanted to take her in his arms, kiss her and tell her not to worry. That he would handle everything. That he would take care of her and their baby.

      Yeah right, Conti.

      Considering that mile-wide independent streak of hers, he’d be damned lucky to even get the words out before she tore a strip off of him. And then she’d be even more determined to deal with everything on her own. Well, Maria wasn’t the only one with a stubborn streak. He had one, too. And he had no intention of letting her call all the shots. Besides, he reasoned, Maria was under way too much stress—which couldn’t be good for her or for the baby. Somehow he had to convince the lady to marry him if not for their sakes, then for the baby’s sake. “I think it’s pretty obvious what we need to do first.”

      “You mean we should get married.”

      Ignoring the fact that she’d made the idea sound as about appealing as having a tooth pulled, he said, “That’s right. And I think the sooner we do, the better.”

      “I knew that’s what you’d say,” she accused and pulled away from him. “It’s the reason I didn’t tell you about the baby in the first place. Because I knew the moment you found out you’d start pressuring me to marry you.”

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