she was pretty certain, so it had to be a romantic entanglement.
Something twisted in her gut then, some feeling she didn’t want to examine too closely. She’d not thought of what his romantic life must be like right now. They’d spent a single night together nearly two months ago. Though he’d not been linked with any particular woman in the papers lately did not mean there wasn’t one—or had not been one that night.
A wave of queasiness swept through her, but it had nothing to do with pregnancy hormones. She pushed the coffee away.
“You can drink it,” Nico said. “It’s decaf.”
For some reason, she was ridiculously touched that he’d known she couldn’t have caffeine. But she shouldn’t be. It wasn’t a romantic gesture; it was a practical one. “Thank you for remembering.”
The smile he gave her threatened to melt all her good intentions to remain detached and controlled. How could she even begin to feel that way? He was threatening her—threatening her family. But what he said next cracked the ice she tried to keep around her heart.
“I spent a couple of hours this morning looking up pregnancy. I admit I know nothing.”
Tina swallowed. Hard. “I’m afraid I don’t, either. I had thought to beg Faith for information.”
Nico looked suddenly thoughtful, and the ice cracked a little more. “There is a website with pregnant women on it. They talk about everything. You can even track the stages of your pregnancy. It is quite amazing.”
Tina picked up her cup with shaky fingers—mostly because she needed something to do—and took a sip.
She didn’t want to see this side of him, not when he’d threatened her with a custody battle and harm to her family if she didn’t bow to his will. But when he looked at her like this, when he spoke so earnestly and honestly it made her heart hurt, she remembered the old Nico, the one who used to work in the garage with Renzo and laugh freely.
And remembering made her ache with longing to see them reconciled, though he’d told her yesterday that would never happen. How could it be that bad between them? That unforgivable?
“I’ll look into it,” she said softly, keeping her eyes downcast while she worked to find her center.
The food arrived then, and once more they were alone and eating together on this gorgeous balcony overlooking the beautiful azure lake. Everything was delicious and plentiful, and she found herself eating more than she’d thought she would be able to.
“I’m glad to see you eat,” he said. “You were very pale yesterday when I first saw you.”
“The medication helps tremendously. I’m just happy I didn’t miss breakfast. I thought I’d slept too late.”
His eyes gleamed like purest silver in the shaft of sunlight slanting through the laurels. “You will never miss breakfast so long as you are here, cara. The meal will wait until you are ready for it.”
A dart of pain pierced her right in the center of her chest and she found herself blinking rapidly to dispel the tears that threatened to fall. Why? Why?
It was nothing to cry over. It was ridiculous to think of crying. Niccolo Gavretti was not holding meals for her. He was taking care of her because she carried his child, nothing more.
She absolutely would not read more into the gesture than it contained. He was not being thoughtful.
But when had anyone ever put her needs and feelings first? When had anyone ever treated her as if she were the center of their universe?
Mama and Renzo loved her, she had no doubt, but Renzo had always been the one around whom the family orbited. Because he was male. Because he was older. Because he was wildly, insanely driven and successful. She’d grown up in his shadow. It hadn’t been a bad place to be, but it had also not been a place where she could flourish on her own merits.
“Thank you,” she managed to say finally. “That’s very kind of you, but there’s no need to hold meals for me. Tell me what time you wish to have breakfast, and I will be here for it.”
His phone buzzed again, startling her. Again, he sent it to voice mail without looking at the screen. He did it so casually that she almost felt sorry for the person on the other end of the line.
“We will eat when you are ready. A pregnant woman needs plenty of sleep.”
Heat suffused her then, made her skin glow. There was something about the way he said pregnant woman that made her blush. Absurd.
“I will still endeavor to awaken at a reasonable hour,” she said stubbornly. “You shouldn’t have to wait for me.”
He grinned, and her heart squeezed tight. So, so handsome when he wasn’t scowling—and even when he was, damn him. “Truthfully, cara mia, I am a night owl. I prefer to sleep in myself. But if you begin to awaken at dawn, then dawn is when breakfast will be.”
Tina shuddered. “Never fear, dawn is definitely not my style.”
He reached for a roll. “Perhaps this night owl lifestyle will do us well when we have a newborn to take care of. I understand they do not sleep much.”
Tina could only gape at him. “Exactly how much reading have you been doing anyway?”
Though, truthfully, that wasn’t why she was stunned. No, it was the implication that we would be taking care of a newborn. Not her. Both of them, as if he, too, would get up in the middle of the night to feed the baby.
It was a mental picture she did not need.
“I couldn’t sleep last night, I’m afraid.” He picked up his coffee. “Do you have any idea how much work a baby can be?”
“I have some idea,” she said, thinking of Renzo and Faith and the haggard, sleepless looks they’d worn for the past few months.
He looked so serious. “It’s rather frightening how much attention such a little person needs.”
“Well, they can’t do it themselves.”
“No,” he agreed.
His phone buzzed again. This time he glanced at it before swearing and sending it to voice mail. It was just what she needed to pierce the bubble of dazed delight swirling around her head. He would not lull her with talk of babies.
“Why don’t you just answer it?” she asked a bit more sharply than she intended.
There was a sudden chill that blanketed his eyes, and she almost wished she’d kept her irritation to herself.
“Because it will do no good,” he told her mildly, though she wasn’t fooled he was anything other than angry about the calls. “Some women are incapable of listening to reason, and I refuse to bash my head against the wall repeatedly in an effort to be heard.”
Tina’s spine stiffened. “I’m rather surprised you would even bother. I thought your usual method was simply to leave once you were finished.”
His
