Page 78 of Dangerous Deception

Oh.

He’s right.

I haven’t told Caterina about the pregnancy, and I can’t discuss it while she’s here. Clearing my throat, I smile brightly at her. “I’ll be fine, Caterina. I just need some time with my father, actually. It’s been too long since it was just the two of us.”

Caterina looks doubtful for a moment, then she nods and excuses herself from the dining room.

“Is she always hovering?” he asks with a sigh, immediately loading up his fork with a mountain of pasta.

“She’s just doing her job,” I reply. “She’s my friend as well as my guard, so we get on well.”

“Indeed. So tell me, how is that husband of yours?”

In the past, such a word from my father had disgusted me, but my rapidly growing feelings for Raffaele make me smile uncontrollably.

Husband.

“He’s good. He’s been pretty busy with some construction at the manor. There was some kind of accident while we were in Italy, so that’s taking up a lot of his time. But he’s been letting me have pretty free rein of everything. Actually, you know the hospital that I spend so much time at? The one that took such good care of Mother? With the children teaching art classes and painting for the walls?”

My father nods.

“Well, I’ve become a board member!”

My father chokes suddenly, and I half rise out of my chair in alarm. “Papà!”

“I’m okay!” He coughs quickly with short, sharp barks. “I’m okay. Just a hiccup.”

Lowering back down, I sigh in relief. “Be careful, Papà.”

“Yes. I’m sorry, you’ve become a board member?”

“Yes. While I was in Italy, I did some soul searching, you could say, and I realized I wanted to do more than just paint for those kids. With Raffaele’s—our—money, there’s so much more I can do for them. We can support the exhausted parents and get better treatment for the kids, access to a higher quality of healthcare and medications previously out of their budgets, y’know? I met with the board a few weeks ago, and I can be pretty persuasive. Although I’m still not sure how I ended up on the board.” Chewing thoughtfully on a floret of broccoli, I laugh. “Maybe I just bought my way on.”

“Why would you do that?” My father watches me intently.

“What do you mean?”

“Doesn’t Raffaele consider that a waste?”

“One, I wouldn’t care even if he did,” I reply. “It’s important to me. And two, he encouraged it. In fact, he was the one who pointed out that I have access to his billions through our marriage, so I really could have thought of it sooner. Why?”

“It seems very… costly.”

“And?” My brows tighten. “Those children and their families are in the same situation we were in, Papà, having to sit back and watch as nothing works to save the one you care about.” Memories of my mother flash briefly before my eyes. “I don’t know if any of it will help, but the least I can do is bring comfort to those parents by helping them try every single last chance to help their children. I think that means the world.”

“And what of your own?” He reaches for his glass of wine. “You haven’t told Raffaele yet, have you?”

I lower my form and subconsciously slide one hand over my stomach. “No,” I say softly. “I want to, but I’m also worried that I’ll get his hopes up and if something happens, I’ll have nothing to give him. I also want to be sure that this is what I want first.”

“Of course it’s what you want.” My father tilts his head, sipping slowly. “What else could you possibly want?”

I snort gently, amused. “Believe it or not, I haven’t spent a lot of my time thinking about kids. And Raffaele is so much older. I’m a little surprised he could even get me pregnant.”

“It’s brilliant that he did.”

My father seems more excited than I’d imagined, given that I’ve never once spoken to him about children. “You think so?”

“I know so.”

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