Page 21 of His Unexpected Heir

Astra froze, staring at Macie, who continued to input data into a spreadsheet. “Why can’t I have coffee?” she asked, her voice still low.

Macie didn’t bother looking up as she replied, “Because you’re pregnant and shouldn’t have caffeine.”

That was true, but…? “How do you know?”

Macie snorted, her fingers flying over the keyboard without pause. “Because you’ve stopped drinking wine and coffee, have gained some weight, all of it in your stomach, and you’ve been wearing big sweaters to hide your growing baby bump.” She glanced up and grinned at Astra’s shock. “I’m a very clever assistant, you know.”

Astra held her breath for a long moment, then let it out in a rush. “I’m sorry that I didn’t tell you.”

Macie shrugged. “I figured you had your reasons.” She eyed Astra for a moment. “And the main reason was that you only put it together recently, am I right?”

Astra hesitated, then nodded. “Yeah. I figured it out about two weeks ago.”

They were quiet for a long moment, then Macie offered, “Congratulations?”

Astra laughed and nodded. “Thanks. I’m actually excited.”

“Do you have plans for after the baby is born?”

Astra shook her head. “Not yet. I’m working on it though.” She tapped her pen thoughtfully against her notebook. “I think I might need to focus my event business in Philadelphia instead of traveling around the world. At least, for a while.” She paused and peered at Macie. “Would that be horrible?”

Macie grinned. “It would be pretty nice, actually. My mother passed away several years ago and I inherited her old house. It’s a big house outside of Philly with a barn and lots of character. I’ve recently started playing with the idea of moving out there and fixing it up.” She tilted her head slightly, as if considering the possibilities. “It might be nice to stay in one place for a while, to be honest.”

Astra sighed with relief, then leaned in and hugged her assistant. “Thank you!”

Macie laughed and hugged her back. “You’re an amazing boss. Just let me know what I can do to help. We’ll get through this together.”

“Is this where the party planning is?” a new voice called out.

Astra and Macie looked at the door to find a beautiful woman with dark, curly hair and big, dangly earrings smiling at them. The smile seemed oddly forced, and the flowered sundress wasn’t really appropriate for the chilly weather. Macie and Astra weren’t sure what to say.

“I’m Maria,” the woman explained, stepping forward on four-inch heels. She reached out, extending her hands and Astra inhaled sharply, hoping that the woman’s voluptuous breasts wouldn’t fall out. It was so low cut, the woman’s nipples were in jeopardy of peeking out over the neckline if she took too deep a breath.

“Maria, it’s a pleasure to meet you,” Astra replied. She shook the woman’s hand, then gestured to Macie. “This is my assistant and computer expert, Macie.”

After Maria shook both of their hands, she took a seat in one of the chairs. “You finished off the tea?” she said with a frown, then looked at them expectantly.

Neither Macie nor Astra were willing to admit they’d dumped the tea in the garden. There was something odd about the smell and neither wanted to risk it.

“It was delicious,” Astra lied. “And thank you so much for offering to help with the village festivities. But we’re all set.”

Maria’s fake smile faltered slightly. “Well, how about if you tell me what you’re planning? I’m very close,” she explained, adding a secret smile, “with Antonio and I can run everything by him to ensure that you’re on the right track.” She leaned back in the iron chair, smiling benevolently. “We…have an understanding.”

A short man stepped out into the garden, an eager smile on his face. The smile faltered when he noticed Maria. “I am…” he paused, his eyes narrowing on the younger woman. “What are you doing here?” he snarled.

Maria’s shoulders straightened and there was an awkward look that swiveled from the man to Macie and Astra. “Why wouldn’t I be here?” she asked, offering a fake laugh. “I’m here all the time. You know that, Jeb.”

There was a flurry of conversation in a different language between the two and Astra assumed that they were speaking in the local dialect. Astra spoke French and Spanish fluently, and was conversant in Mandarin and German. But when someone broke off into a dialect, she was completely lost.

Finally, the two turned back to Macie and Astra, looking uncomfortable. “Jeb used to be the Marquesso’s chauffer before…well,” she waved a hand dismissively. “Well before all of that nasty business was discovered.”

Astra barely restrained her mouth from falling open. The “nasty business” that Maria was referring to was Antonio’s father being arrested and convicted of money laundering, drug trafficking, human trafficking, and a host of other charges. The man had been sentenced to nearly a century in prison. His conviction had made international news and his absence from the village was the whole point of her and Macie being here.

“I was his personal advisor,” Jeb corrected firmly, leveling a glare in Maria’s direction before turning to Astra. “I can assist you with any of your endeavors.”

Astra wasn’t sure what to say. “Well, thank you so much for your help. However–”

“We can definitely use the help with this one,” Macie interrupted, pointing to a line item on Astra’s notebook. “The more people we can get, the better this will be.”

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