Pregnant With The Billionaire's Baby. Carol Marinelli

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СКАЧАТЬ did you let me sleep here last night?” she had to ask as she fought against showing the pain his words had caused.

      “I fell asleep.”

      “You never just fall asleep.”

      “There is a first time for everything.”

      So it had been subconscious. She’d wondered and now she knew. He didn’t know why he’d brought her to his bed in his family home. And honestly? That didn’t matter right now. What did matter was that he regretted it. That much was obvious. Anything else he might be feeling was hidden behind the enigmatic mask he wore.

      And she should not be surprised.

      She was the first woman to share that bed since the death of his wife. As hard as his regret was for her to bear, the situation was equally difficult for him. Only in a different way.

      She’d had her own moments of letting go in the years since Taylish and their unborn son had died. She knew how wrenching they could be. Regardless of her own feelings right now, she could not ignore the pain twisting inside Tino. It was not in her nature to do so, but beyond that—she loved him.

      She caressed the statue. It was a beautiful piece. One of her favorites. The one in her studio expressed and brought a measure of peace for an emotional agony she had been unable to give voice to. No one had been there to hear.

      She would be there for Tino now, if he wanted her to be. “Tino—”

      “I won’t be able to see you again until my parents return.” The words were clipped, hard.

      “I understand.” She really did.

      He stood there, silent, as if he expected her to say something else.

      “It’s all right, Tino.” She gave one last lingering glance at the statue and then began dressing.

      He flinched, as if those were not the words he wanted or expected to hear. “I will see you then?”

      She paused in the act of slipping on her sandals. “Of course.”

      “Good.” He nodded, looking at a loss. So different from the typical Tino—business tycoon and suave but distant lover.

      When she was done dressing she stopped in front of him and leaned up to kiss his cheek. “It really is going to be all right.” Letting go was a necessary part of grief.

      The fact that Tino was doing so, even if only on a subconscious level, gave her hope.

      “No doubt.”

      “It isn’t easy for any of us.”

      “What do you mean?” he asked, edgy again. Or still. He hadn’t relaxed since she came out of the bathroom.

      “Letting go.”

      “I have nothing to let go of.”

      She didn’t argue. There would be no point. And it would only make him more determined to prove himself right. He had enough to overcome in moving forward, without adding another dose of his stubborn will to the mix.

      “I’ll see you when your parents return from Naples.”

      * * *

      VALENTINO SWORE AND slammed his hand down beside the statue Faith had admired. His wife letting him go? He did not think so.

      Maura would be in his heart forever. He had promised.

      The memory was as visceral today as it had been an hour after it happened.

      His beautiful young wife had started off not feeling well that morning. He’d had the temerity to hope it meant she was pregnant again.

      But that had not been the case.

      Ignorant of the tragedy to come, he’d flown out of country for a business meeting in Greece with hope in his heart of increasing his family. He remembered that while his wife’s body betrayed her and she slipped further away from him, he had spent the day smiling more than usual, feeling on top of the world. And then his world had come crashing down.

      His meeting had been a success, opening the doors for the major expansion of the Grisafi family interests. He would exchange that success and all that had come later for one more lucid day with the mother of his son.

      Valentino’s mother had called him just before he boarded the jet for home. Papa had taken Maura to the hospital because she had passed out walking up the stairs. By the time Valentino had reached the hospital, his wife was in a coma.

      Petrified for the first time in his life, sweating through his expensive shirt, he’d rushed into the room. Maura had been so damn pale and completely motionless. He’d taken her lifeless hand, his heart ceasing at its coolness. He had begged her to wake up, to speak to him, to squeeze his hand—anything.

      But nothing. Not then. Not later. No fluttering eyelids. No half-formed words. No goodbyes. Absolutely nothing.

      The only sounds had come from him—his desperate pleas and constant talking until his voice was no more than a hoarse whisper in hopes of sparking a connection to her shut-down brain—and from the machines hooked up to her. Machines and medications that had been unsuccessful at saving her life.

      Her first discernable diabetic attack had been her last. Nothing the doctors did brought her blood sugars under control and she died without coming out of the coma.

      He’d spent every minute with her, but it had done no good. And when she’d gone into cardiac arrest, the doctors had called security to force him from the room. He’d been in another country when she’d fallen into the coma and out in the hall when she let go of life.

      The doctors said her reaction to the disease was extremely rare. But not rare enough, was it? His wife, the mother of his child was dead and nothing would ever change that.

      He would never forget the rage, the grief and the utter helplessness he felt holding his small son in his arms as they said goodbye to her. He had promised then, standing over her grave, holding their sobbing son who just wanted his mama. Valentino had promised he would never stop loving her, that he would never replace her in his heart.

      Valentino Grisafi had never broken a promise and he wasn’t about to start now.

      This thing with Faith had to get back on track, or it had to end.

      There simply was no other option. No matter what he might want or think he needed.

CHAPTER FIVE

      TRUE TO HIS WORD, Faith did not see Tino again while Agata and Rocco were in Naples. There were no more phone calls, either.

      She didn’t expect there to be.

      Tino wasn’t going to accept the change in their relationship gracefully. If he accepted it at all. She had to believe he would though.

      Especially after allowing him to СКАЧАТЬ