Page 43 of Surprise Baby for the Mafia Boss

I make sure that I’m awake an hour before breakfast is supposed to be served, so that I can get ready slowly, and fetch Luca before any of the Mexicans leave their rooms.

Keeping up appearances is taking a lot of planning and preparation.

I shower, do my skincare, and dress in a frilly sundress with tiny daisies on it. The dress is nowhere near as revealing as the one I wore last night, but it’s still flattering—just better-suited for a breakfast affair.

I slide on a pair of white sandals and leave my hair down in beachy waves. Looking in the mirror, I feel like this is exactly how a Baldini wife would dress to greet business associates for breakfast.

I only hope that as a Baldini wife, I won’t be banished to a separate room from my husband’s.

I leave my room and knock on Luca’s door. He opens it, dressed and ready as well.

“Buongiorno.” I smile. He doesn’t reply, and instead walks past me and starts heading towards the stairs. I follow him. As we reach the stairs, he takes a deep breath and reaches back for my hand.

We walk down to the dining room, meeting up with Grazia and Enzo at the table. The room is filled with an awkward silence until Carlos, Raul, and Pedro come bouncing in, their wives following behind them.

Despite the amount of alcohol they all consumed last night, they all look fresh-faced and happy this morning.

If anything, the cheer that this group has brought into the house is so very needed right now. It feels like there’s been a heavy cloud over the mansion since Ginny died, but the Mexican party has brought loud laughter back.

Ginny was always laughing and insisting that we all have fun, and besides Luca’s always-serious face, we all usually complied. But without her here, and with everything that has happened since she left, it seemed almost impossible to find the laughter again.

“Morning, morning,” Carlos greets everyone as the rest of his party starts to join us. We all sit down and tuck into the breakfast feast that Luca has organized, again prepared by a chef and served to us.

I feel like I’m sleeping over at the Royals' home, rather than my lifelong friends’ house. I’ve never seen the Baldini home this lavishly decked out.

Breakfast lasts for over an hour and there is just as much laughing and joking as there was during supper. Carlos’ wife gives a toast to us all for having them, and for convincing her husband to bring her on vacation for a change.

When all of the food is gone, and the mimosas have run dry, the Mexicans get their bags together and say goodbye.

I know from our conversation that their arrival here had been because of Luca being angry and throwing a bit of a fit. But they all look like they’re very happy with how things worked out, even Carlos. That was good news for Luca.

Luca holds onto me again, and I slide my own arm around his waist, enjoying the feeling too much to let it slip away too fast. As soon as Carlos and his men have left, though, Luca lets go and walks away to his office.

I go after him, calling out, “Luca, can we talk?”

His strides are so much longer than mine, and I almost have to run to keep up. He walks into his office, and I follow him in, closing the door behind me to avoid any awkwardness with Grazia.

I just need to get Luca to listen to me for a minute.

He walks over to his desk and picks up an envelope. I see my name written on it, and guess that it’s the money he promised me. He hands it to me, but I ignore him.

“I just want to talk to you, please. We need to figure things out, if not for ourselves than for this baby.” He’s still holding the envelope, and I cross my arms to show that I won’t be taking it.

“Emelia, I don’t have time. Here is your pay. Thank you for keeping your side of the bargain this weekend.” He pushes the envelope at me again and I fight the tears that want to come.

“I don’t want the money,” I say. “I came because I love you and I care about this family and this business. All I want is to see you successful and happy, and if me pretending to be your lover for a weekend is going to help with that, I’ll do it gladly.”

He puts the envelope down. “You don’t want the money?”

“No. Luca, I love you. This baby is not a pawn I'm using to try to get into your family. It’s a link to how I feel about you. I want nothing more than to have a family with you. To raise this child—and maybe more of them—in this house, just as Ginny would have wanted.” My voice sounds like a plea, but I am so desperate for him to hear and understand me.

"I’ll admit that before you and I spent so much time together, what I felt was nothing but a crush, and lots of lust. But we got to know each other and I fell in love with you. When my father told me that you came over to ask for his blessing before you proposed to me, I couldn’t deny what I felt anymore. I wasn’t sure that what you felt was real, but after hearing that, I know it is. We love each other, and that love created this baby.” A single tear does escape from my eye, and I wipe it away quickly.

“I’m just not sure I can trust you,” is all he says, his tone flat, his steel eyes looking past me and not at me.

I feel a sharp pain in my chest as I hear his words, and I wonder if this is what a broken heart feels like. He picks up the envelope again.

“I’d feel better if you take this, Emelia. You earned it, and I like to keep my word.”

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