Page 44 of Saved by the CEO

“No, no problem,” she said.

Marianna’s reply was preempted by a high-pitched wail coming from downstairs.

“Looks like I didn’t need to bring the monitor after all,” the new mother said. “Rosa has inherited my lungs.”

* * *

“Ryan and Marianna are going to have their hands full fending off the boys when Rosa’s older, that’s for sure,” Louisa said as they crossed the plaza a short while later. “I won’t be surprised if Ryan decides to ship her off to a convent when she’s older just to keep them away.”

“Yes,” Nico replied. “Because naturally Italy is full of convents where the residents can hide their children.”

“It’s an expression, Nico.”

“I know what it is.” He tightened his grip on the shopping bag he was carrying, the plastic handle threatening to snap in two from the pressure. The knot at the base of his neck had been tightening since they’d left Marianna’s villa, fed by his companion’s continual gushing over baby Rosabella. How beautiful, how sweet, how tiny, how wonderful. Every adjective reminding him of his shortcomings, because he felt nothing.

“I’m sure Ryan will deal with the onslaught of suitors when the time comes,” he told her.

“I’m sure he will, too.” She looked at him with a frown. “What gives? You’ve been in a bad mood all morning. Is everything all right?”

No. Everything was horrible. How else could it be when the world decided to remind you of unvarnished truths? “I have a lot to do at the winery, is all.”

“You sure that’s all it is?”

“What else would it be?” he asked, in a casual voice. Thank goodness for his sunglasses. He wasn’t sure his eyes looked nearly as impassive as his voice sounded.

“I don’t know. I was wondering if it had something to do with baby Rosa.”

He stumbled over a cobblestone. “Contrary to what you think, the birth of baby Rosa is not the biggest event taking place in this town.”

“No, but it is the biggest thing to happen to your family. I would think you’d be happy for Marianna and Ryan.”

“I am happy for them.” Granted he hadn’t been thrilled when he’d first discovered Marianna was pregnant by a man she barely knew, but since then Ryan had proven himself devoted to both his sister and their child. “I hope Rosa is the first of many children.”

“Good, because back at the villa you looked like you didn’t want anything to do with the baby.”

On the contrary. He turned to look at her. “I wanted plenty.”

If Louisa caught the pointedness in his comment, she let it pass. They’d reached the town center. It being only a few days until the festival, tourists crowded the cobblestone square. Camera phones at the ready, they posed in front of the fountain and raised them to snap pictures of brightly decorated balconies. Many carried shopping bags like his. Monte Calanetti’s economy was still going strong. Rafe would be happy. A lot of these people were no doubt eating at Mancini’s this evening.

As though by mutual agreement, he and Louisa stopped in the square where they’d had their first kiss. He wondered how often she thought of that afternoon. As often as he did? Thinking of their kiss had become practically an obsession.

He wasn’t sure if nature was trying to soothe him by pointing out that he could at least feel physical passion, or if she were mocking him by giving him a pointless attraction.

To rub salt into his wounds, he stole a long look at Louisa’s profile. The way her hair turned white in the bright sun was something he’d never grow tired of studying. He loved the way her hair wasn’t one color but a collection of platinum and gold strands woven together to create a shade that was uniquely Louisa. It was her hair, no doubt, that had caught Steven Clark’s attention on the elevator. Had his fingers itched to comb through the colors the way Nico’s did?

Louisa turned in his direction, and he quickly looked away.

“Did your sister tell you she asked me to be Rosabella’s godmother?” she asked him.

“She did?” He hadn’t known, but he wasn’t surprised. Marianna had told him how much she’d come to care about Louisa these past months.

“She said she picked me because I could teach her daughter about being strong. Funny, but I don’t think of myself as strong.”

Because she didn’t give herself enough credit. “You’re stronger than you think.”

“Maybe,” she said, looking away. The knot at the back of Nico’s neck returned as he guessed what her next comment would be. “She told me they asked you to be the godfather.”

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